Teacup Tales

Please join me as we discover or rediscover some tea time accessories that often go unnoticed. While the teapots and teacups garner all the attention, other items deserve praise as well. They embellish our tablescapes and provide for a well rounded tea service. Tea Caddies or Tea Bag Holders This small accessory is a must if you are serving bagged tea. It provides a place to rest a steeped tea bag without a mess. A guest may also place a spoon on it as well. Here are a few of my gifted bone china holders. Porcelain one from a 2016 Teacup Exchange Plastic ones which are ideal for a casual outdoor tea A very special royal one! My Anglophile friend gifted me this one after attending the wedding as a spectator. I prefer drinking loose tea, but I do have a variety of teabags on hand. I notice my new-to-tea friends prefer choosing a certain tea in bag form than a given tea from a teapot. Thank you for visiting and come by again

Hello Tea Friends, This summer I was blessed to travel to London. Our schedule was tight and there wasn't that much time for antique shopping. I've always wanted to go to the booths and stores on Portobello Road.  It just seems like a dream place for antique and tea cup collectors. I could spend literally hours sifting through all of the tea cups in search of a Shelley (my favorite). (Internet stock image) Such fun exploring! My close friend arrived in London a week after we left. She is a complete Anglophile and visits London quite frequently. I've taught her a bit about afternoon tea and my favorite potteries. For the last couple of years she has searched for a Shelley among the tables of teacups to no avail. Finally this past June she found the most exquisite pre-Shelley teacup and saucer in pristine condition and gifted it to me for my birthday. Foley   Antique Cup Shape or early Queen Anne Some History The original "Shelley&qu

Happy New Year! Happy Winter Time! Hello Tea Friends, I hope this finds you well and refreshed. While I certainly enjoyed my share of holiday teas this season, I was pleasantly surprised to experience some tropical tastes yesterday during tea time. I wanted to start the new year by going to afternoon tea at a local tearoom. Our first course was ambrosia salad served in a teacup. This took me back to my childhood as ambrosia was a fun sweet treat.  The dusting of cinnamon on the salad was wonderful and a fun, interesting start to our tea time. I selected a flavored black tea: Pina Colada. I really enjoyed its smoothness and the cute cottage teapot. The rest of our afternoon tea was the standard wonderfulness and boy was I full at the end. I even had to bring some of the sweets home. Before the holidays, I ordered two bags of "Coconut" from adagio teas along with a favorite blend of theirs ~ Pumpkin Spice. I really enjoy the mild sweet