Victoria's Tea Pleasures inspire spring teas and bring back memories from Carolina Inn!

Victoria Classic's Tea Pleasures inspires spring teas and tea travels

Yesterday, March 20, marked the first day of Spring and with that (and a well-timed sunny, temperate weekend in  Michigan), we're anxious to change color schemes from winter bolds to warmer pastels, take tea out of doors, and - with the promising outlook of more venues opening up - a visit to a favorite tea room. Victoria Classics Tea Pleasures special issue "Celebrating the Art of Tea" has all of those topics covered in almost one hundred pages of inspiring articles accompanied by beautiful photographs.

In this edition of Tea Pleasures, there's a delightful arrange of topics from tea traditions to tea hospitality. the latter including tips for making guests feel welcome such as place cards, uplifting background music and adding some casual elements to the table to dial back some of the stuffiness of a very formal place setting. 

Place cards can help guests feel comfortable and welcomed!

"Occasions for Tea" section features a Spring Tea and a Garden Tea - both of which I'm anxiously planning and preparing for soon.  Recipes and tablescapes for each themed tea are provided. Although the "lemon-blueberry parfait" is listed under the Spring Tea, I'm going to prepare it for the Garden Tea as well. It looks delicious and not overly complicated to prepare - and the bonus of having it in our "up north" tea garden is that blueberries grow naturally there and its herb garden is filled with mint. It can be our "tea-garden-to-tea-table" sourced afternoon tea!

Tea Pleasures has us thinking of more outdoor teas to come

Tea Pleasures wraps up in a final section on "Tea Destinations" which brought back memories as well as added to my must-see tea room wish list. The first tea room highlighted is The Carolina Inn which I visited back in 2013 (see blog story, Going to Carolina Inn my mind).  The article had me reminiscing about the delightful afternoon tea I enjoyed at this venue in Chapel Hill with then tea director Carolina H. 

Carolina Inn for tea in 2013

Tea Destinations also had me go back to my tea room visit wish list and re- highlight, re-circle and boldly underline New York's "The Plaza Hotel". With all our trips to Manhattan, that's one spot I've yet to experience, but now must.(Note to NY son, when we can visit you next, we'll be heading to Fifth Avenue and Central Park for a cup of tea). 

 While we wait to officially move the winter coats to the far side of the closet and travel becomes a bit more accessible, we recommend "Celebrating the Art of Tea" in Tea Pleasures for a refresh on tea essentials and lots of spring-time inspiration. 

Happy Spring from BTS!