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Hosting a Tea Party with Gourmet Teas
Tea parties are serene, enjoyable events during which you can share great conversation, food, and gourmet teas with your friends and loved ones. Tea parties often remain in the memories of guests for years to come because they allow everyone to take a break from their busy lives for unhurried conversation and soul nurturing. The elements of a successful tea party include providing a variety of delicious gourmet teas, a charming party theme, and a delicious menu, to name a few. In order to ensure that your tea party is the best that it can be, plan ahead of time. Planning and preparation are key factors to the success of your party.
The Difference between High Tea and Afternoon Tea
High tea and afternoon tea are often referred to as the same thing but the two are quite different from each other. Afternoon tea is an elegant affair that takes place at around 3pm. The food served is lighter and less filling and sometimes only dessert is served. High tea is a full meal tea that was often enjoyed by the British working class. The food served was much heavier than the scones and tea sandwiches that we now associate with tea parties.
Why You Should Host a Tea Party
If you want to host a party for your friends or family but do not want it to be as formal as a dinner party, a tea party is a good solution. Tea parties are perfect for celebrating a baby shower, bridal shower, retirement, or birthday. You could also have a tea party just to catch up with your friends. The food for a tea party is prepared prior to the event. You can serve it buffet style or you can pass plates of food around the table during the party. Tea parties are nice because they give hosts the time to relax with their guests. The only thing you have to do during a tea party is prepare and serve tea. Whether you want to host a tea party at a fancy hotel or receive guests at home with just a pot of tea and biscuits, tea parties can be celebrated in a variety of ways, from casual to formal.
Tea Serving Tips
Tea bags are generally of lesser quality than loose leaf gourmet teas so at your tea party, serve only the latter. A full tea is a tea party that consists of three courses of scones, muffins, or fruit, tea sandwiches, and then desserts. On the other hand, a light tea only consists of pastries or dessert, and fruit.
Prior to serving tea in your tea pot, warm it up with hot water from your faucet. Your tea will stay warmer for longer that way. Use approximately one rounded teaspoon of loose leaf gourmet teas per eight ounces of water. If you prefer strongly flavored tea, simply add more tea to the pot. Pour boiling water into the tea pot and let it steep for about five minutes. Green, white, black, and oolong teas taste bitter if you let them steep for too long so your best bet is to steep them for around 1-2 minutes, max. Place a strainer over each cup when you pour out the tea. If you are making iced tea, simply double the amount of loose tea you use.
For proper tea etiquette, the hostess of the tea party should pour each guest tea and add sugar, lemon, or cream as requested. The hostess should use a sugar tong to take sugar from the sugar bowl. If you don’t plan to follow traditional tea etiquette and are instead going to have each person put sugar in their own tea, give each guest a demi-spoon, which is smaller than a regular teaspoon. Since most people serve sugar cubes at tea parties, demi-spoons are often given to guests instead of regular teaspoons, which are only needed to measure out sugar.
The proper way to serve tea is for each guest to pass her cup to the hostess. The hostess asks the guest how much sugar, lemon, etc. she would like and then places those items in the cup and a spoon on the saucer. Then the hostess passes the cup and saucer back to the guest, who quietly stirs her tea.
In order to let your guests know how they should dress for your tea party, simply state on the invitation whether the party is formal or casual. If you are planning your tea party around a theme, let your guests know about it in the invitation so they can dress accordingly.
Tea Party Theme
Although having a tea party theme is not necessary, it can lead to greater attendance. If you are planning a tea party with many child guests, it is necessary to have a theme and activities because children will get bored very quickly just sitting around drinking tea and conversing. Some adult theme party ideas include Mother’s Day, Christmas, and Fall Harvest. Themes that are appropriate for children’s tea parties include Peter Rabbit, Dress Up, and Valentine’s Day. For adult tea parties, your theme could even be as simple as selecting colors.
Tea Party Activities
You can plan some fun activities for your guests to break the ice, get everyone relaxed, and make sure that all of the guests have a good time. Tea party activities/games could be as simple as having everyone sit in a circle and share something that they are grateful for. Another activity you could do is read a famous quote. Whoever guesses the author of the quote correctly wins a prize.
About the Author
Alex White - Being a Tea Enthusiast i have tasted almost an endless number of tea infusions till date. i drink tea, research tea varieties, write about tea and simply love everything about tea. Talbott Tea has been my most recent tea obsession, every tea infusion of theirs is a true ..
Serving tea with a plate may 2010.MOV
Tea Plate
An Overview Of The Toy Tea Set
Tea sets have always been popular toys for children throughout the years. There is a certain magic in the idea of having tea with family and friends, and the activity is one of the best ways to enhance a child's imagination. Giving your children their very own tea set toys will definitely add to their pleasure in this role-playing game.
Toy tea sets were first made for royal children back in the 1500s. They were made of either copper or pewter and were almost exclusively exported from Germany for several centuries. Towards the middle of the 1800s, the manufacturing process for tableware became significantly easier and cheaper, and children's tea sets were finally made affordable for the general population with its introduction in the Universal Exhibition of 1855.
Right after the Civil War, materials such as Bakelite and celluloid began to be used in making children's toys and plastic tea sets increased in popularity. Manufacturers turned to plastic because it is very affordable and easy to mold. It is, in fact, the perfect material for the mass production of children's tea sets. Today, most tea set toys are made from either plastic or porcelain. Antique and vintage-style copper or pewter tea sets have become collector's items and may now command very high prices.
Children's tea sets generally have a very wide price range. There are plastic tea sets that you can get for less than five dollars and there are those that come in special baskets and command prices of more than a hundred dollars. More than the price, the durability and safety of the product should be your primary concerns when buying a tea set for your child.
Some tea sets are for display purposes only. These sets are often made from lead-based materials, so you should not buy them for your kids to play with. If your child intends to use the set for actually drinking liquids and not just for pretend play then it would be best to buy a china tea set because most plastic sets are not meant to hold hot or cold liquids. Just make sure that the set is always used with adult supervision in order to prevent accidents causing breakage.
Tea sets usually come with a teapot, cups & saucers, a sugar bowl, and creamer. There are also those that come with dessert plates, a tea tray, linens, utensils, and a carrying case. China tea sets are especially valuable, as they can become heirlooms to be handed down from each generation. Pretend play is an important part of any child's development, which is why tea sets will definitely continue to be popular in the years to come.
Tea set toys are perfect for children aged between three and ten. Whether they spend it with family and friends or with their favorite dolls and teddy bears, whether they have real food or are simply pretending, your child will surely enjoy being the hostess of their own tea party. There is something about this type of pretend play that truly captures the imagination and makes it memorable for children and adults alike.
About the Author
I have enjoyed writing for many years. Most of my pieces are the result of whatever catches my fancy at the time. Please visit to read my latest articles about
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How can I find out about antique tea sets?
I have a circa 1920 partial child's tea set with kittens dressed in clothes doing various things and it consists of a teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and one tea cup with 6 saucers and 6 plates. I also have a miniature cut glass piitcher with 6 matching glasses.
Check with a local antiques dealer to find out the value in your area.
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