Tea Party Tips

Tea parties are so popular these days and we have a variety of teas that go well with food and are perfect for an afternoon cuppa with friends. Some of our favorite tea party teas are our English Breakfast, Lady Londonderry and China Green Strawberry & Vanilla.

Here are some great tea party tips from an article on Squidoo.

Tea Party Tips and Etiquette 

Tea Party tips and etiquette. Use your best china for a tea party. Teacups and saucers are preferable to heavy mugs. Invest in a small tea service (teapot, milk pitcher, sugar bowl, size teacups and saucers and six cake plates).

Use cloth napkins - cotton or linen at a tea party.

Present the food attractively at a tea party. Cover your tray or cart with a tray cloth, doilies or a pretty napkin. A single rose in a bud vase, or a basket of seasonal fruit adds warmth to the scene. Arrange food on a three tiered cake stand.

Atmosphere is important at a tea party. Instead of in the kitchen, serve tea by a crackling fire or in the garden. Decorate with fresh flowers and add the quiet, melodic background music of a harpist or pianist.

As hostess of a tea party, pour the tea, passing it to each guest in turn, adding sugar cubes if requested.

Your ladies might want to wear victorian hats and crocheted gloves at your tea party.

Give party favors at your tea party. Tea party favors vary and you can use your imagination and give according to your tea party theme.

Conversation should be light and fun-filled at a tea party, no gossip or deep subjects that can be disturbing to others.

Seven Unique Uses for Tea Bags

Clearly we think the best thing you can do with our tea bags is brew a lovely, warm cup of tea, though it turns out there are some unique uses for them after you finish drinking a cup. And chances are after some of the chores suggested, you'll want to relax again with another cuppa!

Buzzfeed brings us these seven random uses for used tea bags. Turns out you can empty the bag and sprinkle tea leaves around a rosebush as a natural fertilizer. And in case you rub up against the wrong kind of plant while gardening and get poison ivy, press a used tea bag against the itchy area for relief!

Tea also makes a great cleanser and conditioner for both your wood floor and your hair! Read about all the unique uses here.

These Folks Loved Our Tea ... You Will Too!

As relative newcomers to the United States tea market, we are always looking to send our tea out to reviewers to get their opinions. There are lots of great people out there who are knowledgeable about tea and really take their time to try it and write thorough reviews. We find it amazing how everyone tastes a little something different even though they are drinking the same tea.  Thanks to everyone who has reviewed our tea!

Teaviews.com has done a nice job of helping us distribute our tea to several tasters and they have written really positive reviews of our S.D. Bell's Natural Leaf Black Tea. Click the name of the reviewer before the quotes below to read their full reviews. If you are a tea blogger or reviewer, please contact us and we'll be happy to share some tea for you to try.

Melanie said:
"I found the milk nicely evened out the acidity of the Assam, but also masked some of the maltiness. It also brought out the fruity tones of the Ceylon. It has just the slightest background note of peaches or apricots. Prepared with my normal amount of milk and sugar, it was a really lovely cup of breakfast tea!

Shaiha's take: 
"What did I think? Well I really liked it. Lately I have really been leaning towards Darjeeling when I have been drinking black teas however this tea does make for a nice change. And as it makes a nice second pot of tea, I have added it to my list to pick up."

CJ is a fan:"To describe S.D. Bell's English Breakfast as a "good cup" is a bit of an understatement.   Black tea is probably my favorite consumable. ...  If a person had never tried black tea before, drinking Bell's English Breakfast would be a great way to introduce them to the concoction. ... In three to five minutes, you'll have tea that any Irish man or woman would be proud to serve and drink."