Happy National Tea Day! BTS celebrated with edible teacups and tearoom visits (If you missed it, there's still time to celebrate: January is hot tea month!)

All you need is hot tea, favorite teapot, cup and scones (pearls optional).

January 12th was "National Hot Tea Day" and, thanks to great tea friend, Barb T., who texted me a reminder the weekend before, we here at BTS were ready!

In years past (most recently in 2019, "A novel way to spend National Hot Tea Day" and 2020, "January is Hot Tea Month"), we blogged about National Hot Tea Day/Month , including some tea industry stats along with recommendations as to how to spend this holiday.  

Combining a few activities, tea with friends at a fav tearoom

The latest statistics provided by The Tea Association of the US (see below) haven't changed much from the last report, except for two notable exceptions: (1) a dip in sales of US tea imports due to COVID and (2) in part because of (1), in-home consumption grew 18% due to "stay-at-home orders incentivizing consumers to drink tea to ease stress, relax, calm and center them."

• US is the third largest tea importer, after Russia and Pakistan
• On any given day, half our country's population drinks tea
• Regionally, the South and Northeast have the greatest number of tea drinkers
• Approximately 75-85% of tea consumed is iced tea
• Eighty-seven percent of Millennials drink tea

The stats remain relatively the same and so does BTS' recommendations as to how to spend National Tea Day/Month. Although National Hot Tea Day has passed, don't worry! January is "Hot Tea Month", so there's still time to engage in any or all of the following:

1. Visit a favorite tearoom 
2. Text an old friend and set up a tea date
3. Set a table at home with your own heirloom/vintage teapots, teacups and assorted accoutrements
4. Make a fresh pot of loose-leaf tea and start a new book.
5. Try a new tearoom

We took our own advice, and, in the past week, we hit 4.5 of the activities above. 

We combined items "1" and "2", by texting dear friend, Laura Q. and enjoying tea at one of our favorite local tea rooms, Tonia's Victorian Tearoom in Rochester.  We each had our own pot of tea (Double Chai and Earl Grey), but shared a teacup filled with a dessert inspired by The Gilmore Girls, Poptarts and ice-cream. 

A Gilmore Girls-inspired dessert, ice cream with Poptarts  in a teacup at Tonia's Victoria Rose

For number "3", I set up a tea table with my newly gifted Wedgwood teapot and teacup, added some freshly baked scones and enjoyed a lovely afternoon-tea-for-one in the dining room (pearls, optional).

Making a fresh pot of loose-leaf tea is pretty much a daily activity for me, but, this week, I did brew up some Earl Grey with the intention of pairing it up with a new book, "The Giver of Stars" to accomplish number "4".  One of my besties from junior high (and, yes, it was a while ago!), Loretta H., and I are starting a bookclub-for-two this year and that's our first read for February (stay tuned for more "Tuesday Tea and Tomes"!).

Bisro le Bliss chocolate mousse served in chocolate teacup.

The last, number 5, we got pretty close, so I'm giving BTS a half credit. We tried a new restaurant, (thanks to bueno amigo, Joni W.!)  Bistro le Bliss, in West Bloomfield, and ordered another super scrumptious dessert in a teacup, although here, the cup was edible! The tasty treat was chocolate mousse filled into a chocolate teacup. (Certainly, worthy of some extra credit).

It doesn't really have to be National Hot Tea Day or even National Hot Tea Month to enjoy a hearty cup of hot tea with a good book or great friend. You can do it anytime and that, we highly recommend!

Happy National Hot Tea Day and Month to all!