A Perfect Pot of Christmas Tea!

Lately, I've really been drinking alot of good tea. I've reread every book about tea that I own and went out and bought a few more. I've fantasized endlessly about opening a tea room or perhaps a salon where all my friends could come and have a wonderful cup of tea and a sandwich while they relax and just enjoy some really great time together. 

This fascination about afternoon tea has been with me for a very long time, actually ever since I was a little girl. Fortunately for a child like me, I had a mother with wonderful taste, who made it a point to introduce me to the art of afternoon tea very early in my life! Some of my most favorite memories are of the darling silver child sized tea set that was her grandmothers, now passed on to my sister's loving care.  It was lovely and she let us play with it whenever we wanted.  

This same mother, used to bring me tea and breakfast in bed when I was sick, on beautiful cornflower and white breakfast dishes. Somehow, I always got better quickly, but not until I'd milked at least two more days of lavish spoiling out of her! Every mothers day for years we returned the favor bringing her eggs and asparagus with hollandaise, toast , tea and the bluebells that she loved that always bloomed in her gardens that time of the year. 

No matter where I've been in the world that I traveled with my mother, we always made time for tea. (Martini's too, but that's another story!) High teas, breakfast teas, luncheon teas, bridal teas , tea dances...whatever the occasion we created a tea party for it! So many of the promotions that we did at Schreibman's were tea parties. There's just something about little sandwiches ,wonderful cookies and Wedgwood teapots that just makes anyone, even a very masculine man feel very romantic! I love to go down to our Ritz Carlton here in Cleveland during the holidays to enjoy their High Tea. The hotel is so beautifully decorated and the perfect antidote to the endless whirlwind of holiday shopping. For a moment the madness stops and you can just sit and savor a delicate tea sandwich and a delicious glass of chilled champagne. A little ritual such as this makes braving the Christmas madness so much easier!

The other day I was delighted to partake of a marvelous Christmas tea given by my good friends at The Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls ,Ohio. While there I was served a most lavish tea, with gorgeous sandwiches, fancy sweets and one of the most unusual peppermint flavored sugars that I'd ever tasted. Completely inspired when I got home I made a wonderful simple mint syrup, (which is just as good in mint juleps on Derby Day!) and went to brew a pot of tea. Imagine my horror when I realized that even after two decades in the family business where I handled the most beautiful china, crystal and silver that you could imagine, that I didn't even have a simple teapot with which to brew a some really good tea!

 

Now all of my former friends in the fancy china business probably won't speak to me after I say this, but say it I will...I truly don't believe that you can brew a really good pot of tea in a fancy teapot! Now, nothing is  lovelier than tea served in lovely porcelain , silver or Limoges teapot...just not brewed! The English (who have made an entire lifestyle out of tea!) , know this well, which is why they created the teapot that I set out to find....The classic Brown Betty!

"Brown Betty Teapots are still made in Stoke-on Trent, formed from clay which comes from the same area where Elder Brothers found clay in 1695. The method of producing was known as' Jolleying' but over the years it has been modified to slip casting which gives the pot an even thickness and a smooth finish both inside and out. Generations of Englishmen have proved that the Brown Betty, as these Red Ware teapots are affectionately known, make the best pot of tea in the world. The shape of the pot causes the tea to be gently swirled around as the boiling water is added. The Red Terracotta Clay with its Rockingham Glaze, holds the heat better and gives the perfect cup of tea."

Well now that's quite a reputation to live up to, but I have discovered this to be the finest teapot that I've ever used! She's quite full bodied, with a lovely round shape dressed with a beautiful brown glaze inside and out, made with solid red clay thso earthy and warm to the touch! I warmed her up with hot water while I waited for the water for the tea water to boil, dumped the water out and put the tea inside and added the boiling water. Then I waited bloody impatiently for the requisite 5 minutes that it takes to brew a great pot of tea!

Well to make a long story short, it was wonderful, actually the best pot of tea that I'd ever made. 

I found a lovely Wedgwood cup poured my tea and stirred in the mint syrup! It was a Heavenly cup of tea, better than I'd ever imagined! I sat down with my normal stack of 10 plus magazines, sipped it quietly and woke up several hours later relaxed and completely refreshed.

You can find fabulous loose tea almost anywhere these days, and the choices to be made...black or green? Herbal or Gunpowder? are almost endless. If you're a coffee drinker and I was a two latte' a day kind of witch you'll find that things are much less jittery and a lot more relaxed. Making a simple pot of tea and a few lovely sandwiches to go with it just make the day a little more civilized. Here's my recipe for the Mint syrup. You don't have to make it, you can buy it but it won't be quite as fresh tasting. In my mind it's better to take the time and spoil yourself lavishly with the results!

You will need:

1 1/2 cups packed fresh mint leaves ( I really like to use spearmint if I can find it, but any of the mints will do!)

1 cup sugar

A 1/8 teaspoon of good vanilla

1 cup water

Finely chop the mint. In a saucepan bring sugar, water and mint to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer syrup, undisturbed, 2 minutes.Add Vanilla and pour the syrup through a fine sieve if you want the syrup to be clear or leave the chopped mint in there.  Let cool and put into a non-reactive bottle or jar. This syrup will keep well, covered and chilled, 2 weeks.

 

 

Photographs courtesy of The Ritz Carlton Cleveland, Brown Betty Teapots, Kirk Stieff/Replacements and

Wedgwood