Tea at the Unicorn Wine Guild

In a previous blog I told you about the great finds I had this year at the church and library book sales.  I was thumbing through Williams-Sonoma “Entertaining” that I purchased for 1/7th the original cost – and helped give to charity – when I cam upon their idea of a table favor or gift for the guest.  They suggest that you might gift them with samples of teas that were served at your event, enough for a pot of tea tea for each guest – assuming you use loose leaf teas.  You will need enough extra tea to give each guest enough for a pot of each tea, small glassine envelopes (the ones that look like wax paper), ribbon, decorative self-stick labels, a hole punch and a pen – or if your penmanship is as bad as mine, a computer and printer and sheets of printer acceptable labels.  Prepare the labels with the type of tea clearly printed on them.  If you can do calligraphy, even better.  You may want to make a second set of labels with brewing instructions for the back of the bag.   Scoop the tea into each envelope, keeping track of the types of tea in each.  Stand the pouches up to move the tea to the bottom of the bag.  Fold the top down 1/2 inch and seal with the correct label.  Punch two small holes at the top of the envelope and thread a length of decorative ribbon through the holes and tie into a bow.  Arrange the sachets on a tray or in a basket.  Or you could place them in a small gift bag that you have decorated with rubber stamps, stickers and or ribbons and place at each place setting.  Use ribbons, labels and bags to match your decorations.  The glassine will preserve the tea a little better than placing them in tea sacs.  Use your imagination.  I am sure that your guests will appreciate the extra efforts you took to send them home with a momento of the event.