Tea with a Few Friends

I've been enjoying tea with some friends at Elaine's Tea Shoppe.  

More and more guys like me are having tea these days, and when Dr. Marvin Scheer and his friend came in, I just had to join them. (Tea with another Doctor, although not Dr. Who!)  These gents enjoy tea, treats, and a chat regularly and it was fun to hang out with them for the afternoon. This day it was cinnamon apricot scones and gluten free chocolate chip shortbread cookies. 

Then one day Elaine's long time customer and friend, Karen, came in for tea and a chat.  There's certainly a lot of tea and chatting going on there!  Elaine often keeps company with regulars who come in for tea, and sometimes the shop feels like the Cheers of tea.  

Then, I got to join in for our Black Tea Tasting.  It's part of a three part series, and when one attends all three tastings:  one on Black Tea, one on Green Tea, and one on Whites and Oolong, they become a certified "Tea Snob".  I am hoping to become an official tea snob after the last tea tasting next week.  

In this class, we tasted all the basic black teas side by side, which really helps in understanding the difference between the teas.  We examined the leaf and learned how to properly prepare each one.  We all wondered what the mystery tea was, under the cup at the end.  Can you guess?  It was Lapsang Soughing!  Boy is that tea smokey, and so, hostess keeps it covered so it won't taint the other teas.  I have to say, it was one of my favorites, as well as the final tea-- Golden Monkey --always the best for last.  

I got to pour all the teas for the tasting, which was great fun!  We tasted Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, Yunnan, Sikkim, Ching Wo, and the two listed above.  Wow, I'd certainly had my fill of tea by the end of the day, but it was fun and I learned a lot!

Looking for more adventures next week, and maybe some fun with the Easter bunny this weekend.  I'll show you my Tea Snob certificate when I've earned it.

Ta-Ta for now!