never know what it’s like to be a store employee until you are one. It can be tough and even dangerous sometimes. What do you do when some customers start beating on another customer until she has a seizure? Well, that is admittedly an extreme example, but retail employees can go through some pretty harrowing stuff. Irate customers who can’t get that new gadget they bought to work right, cash register tapes running out when there’s a long line waiting, a big sale event that hordes of eager shoppers show up for, etc.
I try to empathize as much as I can, but have admittedly been less than sensitive to their plight, especially when I was the one who had bought the malfunctioning whatchamajig.
When it comes to tea room employees, I can get downright annoyed at their lack of knowledge, the strange way in which some of the teas are served, and the prices that seem way too high (which admittedly is not their fault for the most part). Being able to tell an oolong from a green tea should not be too hard, nor should heating the water to the proper temperature, providing a way to remove the leaves after steeping, etc. Charging me a bunch of money for a lovely green tea subjected to boiling water and steeped too long is not the most gratitude-inspiring treatment that I, as a customer, care to endure.
Still, being kind to the tea room employees is a good thing. To most of them, it’s a job. And most of their customers are there just to have a pleasant time.
What do those of us who want more do? Well, for one, we don’t take it out on the tea room employees. We make the most of the experience, perhaps even passing on to them a bit of our tea knowledge. Alternately, we could forego actually having our tea there and just make a tea purchase to take home and give the love and attention a fine tea deserves. The third option is to avoid such less-than-stellar tea rooms and go to those serving teas properly at the hands of knowledgeable staff. (Yes, there are such places in the U.S.)
As for hubby and me, we have ceased going to any tea room after
the last one we went to turned out to be a fairly high-priced but not high-value establishment. I’m proud to say, though, that we were kind to the employee who waited on us.
Just passing this along to you so that, as your knowledge of tea increases and therefore the
frustration you feel at the lack of knowledge that most tearoom employees have also increases, you will find the strength within you to remain kind.
As a Tea Princess, I tend to avoid tea outside of the sanctuary of my home. My pantry, dominated by the growing variety of teas on the shelves, and the tea station on the counter where my favorite teapot is usually filled with tea ready to pour make tea time so accessible, so comfortable and so much more satisfying than what I’ve ever had anywhere outside that I am totally spoiled.
Many of you work the Monday-through-Friday routine where you get a short break once or twice a day to savor a nice cup of tea. This also means you look forward to the weekends as your time to enjoy those things most special to you. For the tea lover, this means a chance to fully take in the aroma, color, and flavor of a special tea or two in an extended 2-day (Saturday and Sunday) tea break — or even a longer holiday weekend tea break!
How do you compete in a crowded marketplace? One way some independent tea vendors employ is putting — uh, well, let’s call them “memorable” names on their teas. This is especially true when they come up with their own blends. That these names are memorable is a certainty. Whether they help you, the customer, make a meaningful selection is another matter.
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan of the…
Spode, Wedgwood, and many others are considered topnotch teawares, but they don’t compare for sheer tea time style to the Omniware Hemisphere teapot, especially when you add in the matching Demitasse Cup Set and the Cream and Sugar Set with its own color-coordinated tray. Don’t take the term “hemisphere” too literally here. The teapot is a full sphere. That way, your tea doesn’t leak out!
As warmer weather approaches here in the Northern Hemisphere of this orb we call Earth, tea drinkers start contemplating how to enjoy their favorite brew (tea!) cold instead of hot. Making tea quickly and easily is very important when you’re trying to “beat the heat,” so an iced tea maker is a good option.
Robinsons makes fruit drinks, called “squashes” in the UK, that are the “funnest” drinks around. They’ve been at it for over 180 years and have thus honed the beverage fun factor to a fine art form.
The tea tasting techniques you use to try a new tea are very important. They can make the difference between “Yum!” and “Bleh!” Don’t worry, though, you don’t have to be a scientist or a certified tea taster to get more enjoyment from your tea. The steps are fairly simple and will assure that you get the most out of a mouthful.
Tea can soothe, calm, and bring a state of mind that would make someone on the Titanic as it sank regard the event as just a bad day at sea. Tea can invigorate, enliven, revitalize, stimulate, strengthen, and increase alertness. At least, these are some of the claims being made about this beverage that is second only to water as the most popular on Earth.
Is the teacup and saucer disappearing from our arsenal of potable toters? Do we no longer have time for the more genteel and somewhat slower pace that lifting teacup to lips and setting it gently back down on the saucer practically demands? Or are we just so connected to dunking a teabag in a mug of hot water to make our tea that we have abandoned this emblem of a more civilized life? No idea.
In Spring a young man’s fancy turns to picnics — or something like that. Picnicking seems to be a popular pastime for families, lovers, and various groups such as Kiwanis, Elks, and churches. Have no fear, British snacks are here! And they’re waiting to jump into your “pic-a-nic basket” (as Yogi Bear calls it).
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