Tea at the Unicorn Wine Guild

 

 

Through this blog I hope to share with you some of what I have learned (and continue to learn) about tea, tea-related events and products.   

Officially, the story of Tea at the Unicorn Wine Guild, LLC, began in the summer of July, 2007.  While planning our winery, the question came up as to what we would have to offer the designated driver or the tea-total-er.  The answer was obvious.  So, my tea education began in earnest and I have gained a greater understanding of the roll tea has played not only as a beverage, but as a catalyst to change society.

Unofficially, the story dates back to my childhood.  My mother worked outside the home, so my grandmother was often my babysitter.  Mamo and I would have an afternoon snack that included a cup of tea or a glass of milk.  And, to make it special, she had a special cup and saucer just my size. So when she prepared her tea she made a cup for me with the same tea bag.  That small cup and saucer, with a pine cone pattern on the side, was one of the few things I inherited when she died.  Whenver I see it sitting on the shelf in the dining room I think of her.

I also inherited her tea set.  Not a silver tea set.  But the cups, saucers and dessert plates that she had acquired when she married my paternal grandfather.  Mamo was his second wife.  His first wife, my biological grandmother, died when my father was a small child.  So, the tea set of 16 cups, saucers and plates – along with a sugar and creamer – actually had been in the family longer than Mamo.  It is a beautiful set of Haviland China that my mother and I have built to a wonderful service for 16 over the years.  My mother and I wondered at the number 16.  Why 16?  Then one day as I was reviewing the bylaws of the Hyperion Club it came to me.  The membership limit was set at 24 as they met in members’ homes.  Sixteen was probably the most that could be expected to attend any one meeting.  And, of course, the hostesses would serve refreshments to the ladies with their best china.  I am the fourth generation of my family to belong to that woman’s club (a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs since 1898) so I am sure that china has served well at many club meetings.

 My mother is a tea drinker, too.  I remember we had Nestea instant iced tea in the summer and Bigelow’s Plantation Mint or Constant Comment in the winter.  I drank tea, too, until college when I had to stay up all night to study.  The sorority house mother kept a pot going all night long and as we dormie’s didn’t have kitchen privledges nor were we allowed a way to make tea in our rooms, our choices were the water fountain or the coffee pot.  It was a 30 cup pot and by cup 20 it could be awlfully strong, but it kept me awake.  About that time I also discovered that coffee in hospitals and restaurants could be a lot fresher than the tea they served.  (Remember, I said “could.”)  As I work in surgery, I often don’t have time to steep a proper cup of tea and the coffee pot is most always on, so coffee became my drink of choice, at least while at work. 

Then my physician suggested strongly that I needed to avoid caffeine and the search for a new source of hot beverage began.  This was about the time the winery was being planned.  Tea came back into my life as the answer.  Not necessarily “real” tea, but herbal teas.  So, prepare yourself a cup of tea  and pull up a chair and through these blogs let’s become friends.