Table of contents for May - June 2016 in TeaTime

When the weather turns warmer, it seems only natural to take tea outside where we can enjoy the beautiful foliage of the season as well as the cheery chirping of birds. These teatimes call for more casual table settings and attire than does a formal afternoon tea, yet they can still be beautiful, enjoyable, and memorable. Our Porch Tea (page 40) certainly fills that bill. Our Garden Party (page 32) offers a slightly whimsical and somewhat modern approach to teatime, while our celebration for a bride and her attendants (page 23) takes on a very elegant air. For each of these occasions, hot tea is still most appropriate. Guests might, however, prefer theirs over ice, depending on the weather. After all, June is National Iced Tea Month. Take a look…

May 6 Sleeping Beauty Princess Tea 4:15 p.m. Tea Leaves & Thyme Tea Room Woodstock, Georgia Boys and girls ages 3 and older, dress as your favorite superhero or princess, and come meet Sleeping Beauty at Tea Leaves & Thyme’s Princess tea. Everyone can have a photo made, enjoy afternoon tea, and listen to a story read by Sleeping Beauty. Parents must accompany children. Reservations are required, and advance payment of $21 per person is nonrefundable. For reservations, call 770-516-2609. 7 Midwest Tea Festival 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Ararat Shrine Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri Experience a day all about tea in Kansas City, Missouri. You’ll learn about tea, its preparation, and tea culture and history and, of course, enjoy plenty of tea tastings! Be one of the first 1,000…

It was a common occurrence in the colonial era to receive an invitation to “share a dish of tea.” In 18th-century Boston or Bath, a dish of tea referred to a teacup or a tea bowl containing black or green tea, placed on a saucer. The terminology for tea equipage, including teacups, was evolving as Western tea drinkers refined their rituals and porcelain makers, silversmiths, and furniture makers raced to invent new and more refined “tea things” (a Jane Austen term) that made their way onto increasingly crowded tea tables. Tea wares first arrived along with chests of Chinese tea imported by the East India Company. A typical shipment of Chinese tea ware in the early 1700s would have included crate upon crate of teacups—now known as tea bowls—without handles.…

Gluten-free Pineapple-Macadamia Scones Yield: 13 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour blend* ¹ / ³ cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into pieces ½ cup chopped sweetened dried pineapple † ¹ / ³ cup chopped macadamia nuts 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon cold heavy whipping cream ½ teaspoon vanilla extract • Preheat oven to 350°. • Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. • In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, whisking well. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add pineapple and macadamia nuts, stirring to blend. • In a liquid-measuring cup, combine 1 cup cream and vanilla extract, stirring to blend. Add to flour mixture, stirring until…

Coffee is far more popular than tea in Switzerland, and many people will be surprised to learn that the country has an active tea club and a number of very stylish specialist tea stores in several major cities. But perhaps even more surprising is that the country actually grows tea on and around a mountain in the Alps in the south of the country. Although most tea lovers would not expect to find such a wealth of tea venues and activities in Switzerland, the specialist stores and tearooms in most of the large towns—especially in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lucerne, Ascona, and Zurich—offer surprising tea treats. SHUI TANG LIQUID DELICACIES Spiegelgasse 26 • CH-8001 Zurich • +41 44 555 91 61 • shuitang.ch Step into Shui Tang and discover a magical…

Long before tea bars and tea lounges were considered hip and trendy, Tealuxe was winning over college students and business people alike with loose-leaf teas and specialty drinks. While its Cambridge, Massachusetts, store has been a fixture in Harvard Square since 1995, the Providence, Rhode Island, location near Brown University wasn’t established until four years later. Company management insists the customer experience is its motivation. “We like to engage all the customers’ senses when they’re trying to choose a tea,” says Cambridge-store manager, Jamie Giammarino, who was a patron of that Tealuxe location before she came to work there. Staff recognize that selecting from among the company’s 100 offerings can be rather daunting. Customers may see, smell, touch, and, in some cases, taste the teas before placing an order at…

Midwest Tea Festival May 7, 2016 Ararat Shrine Auditorium • Kansas City, MO midwestteafest.com Los Angeles Iced Tea Festival September 17, 2016 Japanese American National Museum • Los Angeles, CA icedteafest.com Northwest Tea Festival October 1–2, 2016 Seattle Center Fisher Pavillion • Seattle, WA nwteafestival.com  • 206-448-4054 Coffee & Tea Festival Philly November 5–6, 2016 Greater Philadelphia Expo Center • Oaks, PA coffeeandteafestival.com/philly  • 631-940-7290…

Cantaloupe Scones Yield: 16 2 cups all-purpose flour¹ / ³ cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided2 teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon salt4 tablespoons cold salted butter,cut into pieces1 cup chopped dried cantaloupe*¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon cold heavywhipping cream, divided½ teaspoon vanilla extract • Preheat oven to 350°. • Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. • In a large bowl, combine flour, ¹ / ³ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt, whisking well. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add cantaloupe, stirring to combine. • In a liquid-measuring cup, combine ¾ cup cream and vanilla extract, whisking to blend. Add to flour mixture, stirring until mixture is evenly moist. (If dough seems dry, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.)…

Hail to the Queen The new British Issue of TeaTime is the best ever! SUZI BARBEE Port Charlotte, Florida What a great magazine! I have been buying the issues since the beginning. I always look forward to the new ones. I am particularly excited about the gluten-free recipes now. Over the years, I have used several recipes and ideas for afternoon tea parties, which were very successful and appreciated. Thank you for making my tea experiences even more enjoyable. MARIE CLAIRE BOURGEOIS via Facebook In Search of TeaTime I just found your magazine through Royal Albert Facebook. I am very interested in buying your wonderful magazine. Where can I purchase it in Canada? Thanks so much! KIM BUI via Facebook We have a feature on our website that can help…

Hammock Blend Black Tea PLUM DELUXE plumdeluxe.com • 503-482-8658 GLASSWARE: Lorren Home Trends RCR Fire “With pieces of orange peel and crème flavor, this tea is aptly named—I can easily imagine whiling away an afternoon, swinging in a hammock and drinking this tea.” —Betty Terry, associate editor Brûlée Mint Iced Tea ART OF TEA artoftea.com • 877-268-8327 GLASSWARE: Home Essentials Solar “This smooth iced tea greets the palate with a balanced mint flavor and leaves a lingering sweet yet toasty cream finish.” —Janece Maze, editorial assistant Iced Tea Blend SIMPSON & VAIL svtea.com • 800-282-8327 GLASSWARE: Style Setter Uptown “Simpson & Vail’s Iced Tea Blend is an old-fashioned, sitting-on-the-front-porch-on-a-hot-day, refreshing tea! I like to add a little sugar and a twist of lemon.” —Janice Ritter, dealer program…

Corn, Goat Cheese & Chive Scones Yield: 13 2 cups all-purpose flour2 teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon salt¹ /8 teaspoon ground black pepper4 tablespoons cold salted butter,cut into pieces½ cup fresh corn kernels½ cup crumbled goat cheese1 tablespoon chopped chives¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons cold heavywhipping cream, divided • Preheat oven to 350°. • Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper, whisking well. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add corn, goat cheese, and chives, stirring to blend. Add ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cream, stirring until mixture is evenly moist. (If dough seems dry, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Working gently, bring mixture together with hands…

They’re very small—measuring less than 2 inches across and weighing less than 1 ounce. And they go by different names—in English, tea-strainer basket and en français, passe-thé. Often made of sterling silver or silverplate, these dainty tea accessories can be ornately decorated with swirls, engraving, and even miniature lion heads. Who would imagine that something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand could create so much controversy? Tea-strainer baskets, the ornate gadgets that can be fitted on the end of a teapot spout, are one of the lovely tea accessories commonly used during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Before the invention of tea bags in the early 20th century, the ritual of afternoon tea included spooning loose-leaf tea into a delicate china teapot and adding boiling water.…

Grace and Roy Fong established America’s first traditional Chinese tea house in San Francisco in 1993. Together they introduced Americans to the classic green, Pu-Er, and oolong teas from the homeland of tea at a time when most of us had never guessed all tea was not black. Roy’s perfectionism led him to work with carefully chosen tea growers to achieve ever more astonishing levels of quality and always more amazing new varieties. The prices were necessarily high, but the quality was reliably spectacular. Tea lovers beat a path to the Imperial Tea Court in constantly growing numbers. People who previously had never heard of Dragon Well or Monkey Picked Tie Kwan Yin began to discover they could not do without them at any price. The more knowledgeable customers learned…

COVER Royal Crown Derby Darley Abbey salad plate ($125), teacup ($105), tea saucer ($65), covered sugar bowl ($265), cream jug ($210), teapot ($670) from DeVine Corp., 732-751-0500, devinecorp.net. Ruffle-edge large glass cake stand ($38) from Fancy Flours, 406-587-0118, fancyflours.com. TITLE PAGE Page 2 : Royal Albert Debutante Series Romance cup and saucer set, Shelley Stocks 13428 dinner plate available for rental from Fancy That, 888-323-2832, afternoontea.com. Vintage Avon jam spoon and 12-inch cotton tea napkin from private collection. MASTHEAD Page 5 : Bordallo Pinheiro Cabbage Green dinner plate ($23.99); Royal Doulton Clovelly salad plate ($11.99), footed cup and saucer set ($23.99)*. Ranunculus Flower napkin ring ($3.16) from Pier1 Imports, 800-245-4595, pier1.com. Flatware from private collection. OUR FAVORITES: ICED TEAS Page 15 : Lorraine Home Trends RCR Fire set ($9.99), Home…