Tea In The City books

This series of three Tea In The City books  (New York, London & Paris) is a wonderful addition to my tea library.

They are on sale right now at Elmwood Inn Fine Teas.  They normally sell for $18.95 each, but you can purchase the set of three for $14.99 right now.

These books are filled with lots of interesting tea facts and history, as well as wonderful photographs of interesting landmarks, antiques, tea foods, etc.  Since they serve as a tea lover’s guide to sipping and shopping in the city, there are many tea rooms listed.  It is quite entertaining to see the photos and visit them on their websites.

I’m discovering a lot of things that I didn’t know about the history of tea.  For instance, the New York book tells me that in 1808, John Jacob Astor’s ship, The Beaver, sailed for Canton loaded with $45,000 worth of fur and other goods.  She returned with $200,000 worth of Chinese tea.  This helped the once-penniless German immigrant to become America’s first multimillionaire.

It looks like I’ll be enjoying many hours of armchair tea travel with Tea In The City. 

Royal Albert Pacific Dogwood teacup

The other cup that I found at the Goodwill last week was a teacup from the Royal Albert Provincial Flowers series.

 

The Pacific Dogwood was adopted as British Columbia’s floral emblem in 1956.  This Dogwood tree can grow between 15 to 40 feet tall and flowers in April or May.  It has clusters of bright red berries in the fall, with brilliant foliage.

The cup has a Montrose shape.

I found this dainty teacup (without a saucer) at another thrift store for one dollar.

The pale pink band around the top is pretty and there is a lovely rose on the inside of the cup.

I can’t seem to find any information on Gold Coast China.

For lots more Teacup Tuesday be sure to visit Terri and Martha.

Crown Trent Teacup

Today was a great day for new china finds.  Since I had an appointment in a part of town that I don’t often visit, I decided to stop at the area Goodwill store on my way home.  I’m so glad I did!  There were two bone china teacups just waiting there for me.

I’ll show you the Crown Trent cup today and save the Royal Albert for next week.

The teapot in the background was another find from the English company Pristine China and was a bargain at $4.94.  It will become my everyday teapot for the next little while.

This cup and saucer has such a dainty pink roses pattern.

It is fine bone china made in Staffordshire England.

Are you curious to know what I paid for this beauty?  It was what I thought was a very fair price of $5.95 (less actually with my senior discount).  I’ll take some time later to research this teacup and see if I can find the pattern name, etc.

Be sure to visit Terri and Martha for more Teacup Tuesday.

Wedgwood Fine Tea

Wedgwood is one of my favorite makers of fine china, but did you know that they also make fine tea?

I tried the Pure Ceylon tea from the Dimbula region of Sri Lanka.  As you can see it is a fine cut loose black tea that infuses quickly and produces a nice full flavored cup.

The tin itself is quite pretty with its two shades of blue and Jasper ware designs.

I’ve learned that Cunard Cruise Line introduced the Wedgwood Tea Service onboard the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 in December 2006.  They provide their passengers a white glove afternoon tea experience including 23 premium teas developed by Wedgwood to suit the tastes of their well-heeled guests.  I’m curious as to whether the full line of Wedgwood teas is still available on the Cunard liners that are presently in service.

I’ll be on the lookout for other Wedgwood tea selections including Assam, Darjeeling, Earl Grey, English Afternoon, Japanese Green, Queen Ann, Orange Pekoe and others.

This is the Ceylon tea the way I like it with a splash of organic 1% milk.  The teacup is Wedgwood Queen’s Ware in the Edme pattern.

Late July Cookies

This morning I came across another product that includes organic green tea extract.

This looks like a great cookie for those who enjoy Oreos.  I’m not sure how healthy any cookie can be, even with all those added antioxidants, but I think I’ll look for the Late July Vanilla Bean cookies on my next shopping trip.  I’d love to hear your review if you’ve tried these.  

The World in Your Teacup book

One of the new tea books that I’ve been enjoying lately is The World in Your Teacup by Lisa Boalt Richardson. 

Her first book Tea With A Twist was a wonderful volume on entertaining and cooking with tea.  It was divided into chapters that each featured a different theme tea party.

Ms. Richardson has a blog Lisa Knows Tea with lots of interesting content on her tea travels to Taiwan and more.

In her latest book each chapter represents a different country with their tea traditions, recipes, etc.  There are boxes highlighting cultural tips throughout the book.  One interesting fact was the explanation of “finger kowtow” in China.  This is where a guest will show gratitude to the server by tapping two or three fingers on the table three times.

The photographs are terrific as you can see by this example from the chapter on Russia.  There are delicious recipes to try such as Basil Burgers with Goat Cheese in the USA chapter.

This book is a welcome addition to my ever expanding tea library.

Happy New Year

Sending wishes for a peaceful and Happy New Year.

May you find joy in the simple pleasures of life all through 2011.