Gilmore Girls 25th Anniversary Part 1: Barb's Tea Service celebrates fake coffee, Gilmore Girl cookies and AFTERNOON tea!

Gilmore Girls tea includes GG-themed cookies and fake coffee (herbal tea)

Celebrating 25 Years of Gilmore Girls 

This fall marks the 25th anniversary of the Gilmore Girls premiere, and we’re celebrating with the elements of afternoon tea—even though the inhabitants of Stars Hollow famously prefer coffee, coffee, coffee.

For those unfamiliar, the “Gilmore Girls” are Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, Rory. Lorelai, the only child of Richard and Emily Gilmore, grew up in a wealthy Hartford household. But when she became pregnant in high school, her fiercely independent streak took over. Refusing to marry Christopher, Rory’s father, Lorelai left the cushy world of her parents and set out for the charming—though fictional—town of Stars Hollow.

Like the generations of Gilmores at tea, my Mom, me & Rachel, circa GG Season 2

I began watching Gilmore Girls when it first aired on October 5, 2000, alongside my daughter Rachel, then in junior high and just four years younger than Rory, who was sixteen when we first met her.

Across seven seasons and 22 episodes each, the show delivered rapid-fire dialogue packed with witty banter and pop culture references ranging from the comfortably familiar to the delightfully obscure (a Claudine Longet record, anyone?).

Gulley, Gulley-Brown Girls last month, attending charity tea.

I adored Gilmore Girls, especially because my introduction to the series was with Rachel. She is very much like Rory—smart, calm, pretty, and a voracious reader. And I connected with Lorelai: a woman who, at 5’9” and a size 2, dreamed of opening her own business. To be transparent, I only shared one of those three traits, but the spirit was there.

Gilmore Girls and Tea Time

Early in Season One, we see Luke, owner of Luke’s Diner and Lorelai’s go-to coffee spot, attempt to curb her caffeine habit. He threatens to serve her herbal tea, though Lorelai is not easily swayed.

Luke pushing tea to frequent customer, Lorelai

Later that season, there’s even an afternoon tea outing with the four Gilmore women: Lorelai, Rory, Emily, and Richard’s mother—the “original Lorelai.” Despite the fancy venue, fine china, and white tablecloths, they refer to it as “high tea.” (Tea purists, please reserve your gasps.) Considering the show never actually played a Claudine Longet record, we’ll forgive this faux pas.

The original Lorelai at afternoon tea

Gilmore Girls "high" tea

But as Lorelai herself would say, “Life is short, talk fast.” So let’s get to the point: our Gilmore Girls afternoon tea, complete with themed cookies and “fake coffee”—which is actually tea.

Fake Coffee & Gilmore Cookies

Fake Coffee is an herbal blend from Big Heart Teas, a women-owned business much like Lorelai’s Dragonfly Inn. The ingredients—cacao, chicory root, dandelion root, and cinnamon—create a full-bodied tea with chocolate notes. For me, it evokes the holiday season with its sweet, cocoa-cinnamon flavor. Bonus: no caffeine, so no risk of Luke cutting you off.

Fake coffee, an  herbal tea blend from Big Heart Teas

Our Gilmore Girls cookies came from another woman-owned business, Mom that Bakes. Rachel and I first discovered Maryann V.’s creations at a charity tea last month, where her macarons were the best I’ve ever tasted. After tracking down her Facebook page, I found even more beautifully decorated treats—including Gilmore Girls cookies, which I promptly ordered for our celebration.

Gilmore Girls-themed cookies from Mom that Bakes

We served them not only at our tea at home but also in the studio last week for our Gilmore Girls–themed podcast, BTS Podcast 58. You can find it, along with all our episodes, on our YouTube channel: Barb’s Tea Service – YouTube.

More Gilmore Girls to come, so, as we like to say at Barb's Tea Service, please stay tuned!

BTS Podcast 58, Gilmore Girls theme with cookies and "coffee".