Exploring Tea Part 1

For all my tea loving friends across the world I have a treat in store. I will be doing a series of posts over the coming weeks/months. Two things recently got me thinking about posting on the subject of tea again.

The first was the fact that my son recently visited some tea plantations while on holiday in Bangladesh.

He brought back bags of tea direct from the plantations.

Secondly I came across  Newby Teas when looking for a good quality Peppermint tea

It certainly was good and tastes more like the fresh tea I make at home during the Summer when my own Mint plants are growing

I am looking forward to trying more of their many teas over time.

For now I will leave you with a taster of interesting facts from Newby website

Victoria and Albert Museum (in London) Tea Gown

The tradition of taking tea in the “afternoon” conjures up images of sophisticated, beautifully-dressed ladies socialising over cups of steaming Assam tea. Tea gowns were invented for such events. Above we have a picture showing a tea gown by the celebrated designer Charles Worth, with luxurious flowing fabrics of pink satin, silk and lace. The tea gown could be worn without a corset and this allowed women to feel relaxed and liberated whilst taking tea with their friends.

The custom for fashionable ladies to take tea in the afternoon existed from the end of the 17th century- Madame de Sévigné (1626-1696) often referred to “five o’clock tea” in her letters. The tradition for Afternoon Tea gained popularity in the Victorian era and such social occasions called for larger and more impressive sets of silver and ceramic tea services.

Hope you enjoyed - do come back there is much more to come.