Other Useful Tea Party Tips

Other Useful Tea Tips:

- Sweeten your tea party with one of the following alternatives to honey or sugar:
candied violets, molded sugars, raw sugar, hardened frosting flowers, or rock candy crystals.

- Consider using miss matched plates and saucers for a charming effect.

- Try adding a pinch of cloves to black tea before you brew it.

- Use hot apple or cranberry juice in place of water to brew tea.

- Co-hostess your tea with someone else and pool you’re resources and creativity.

- Be prepared to spend the gift of your time. You don’t want to hurry your guests.

- Look in magazines and catalogs for table decoration ideas such as doilies, placecards, a fancy chocolate or mint, etc.

- If your guests don’t know each other well, consider ahead of time how you might want to introduce them to each other, and think about warm topics of conversation you can bring to the table or ice breakers for the beginning of your tea party.

- Wreaths, ribbons, flowers and ivy can be used as a base for a variety of items, such as candles, nativity sets, vases, small trees, topiaries, fresh flowers, potted plants, baskets, sea shells, etc.

- Small battery-operated sets of clear Christmas lights can add a gentle glow when incorporated in your centerpiece.

- Simple, affordable ideas are usually the most successful ones.

- Make a small centerpiece look bigger by using a round, flat mirror under it.

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Brewing a Good Pot of Tea

Brewing a Good Pot of Tea

There are a lot of good websites for brewing the perfect pot of tea, but here are the basics.

1. Empty the tea kettle and refill it with fresh cold water. Put the kettle on to boil.

2. Pour hot water into the teapot to warm it. Ceramic or glass teapots work best. Tea brewed in a metal pot may have a metallic taste.

3. Pour hot water out of teapot after it has warmed. (Check to see how many cups it holds.) Measure one spoonful of loose tea for each cup desired into the pot and one extra spoonful for the pot. If using teabags, use one bag less than the desired number of cups.

4. As soon as the water comes to a rolling boil, remove from heat. If you overboil the water it will lose oxygen and your tea will taste flat.

5. Pour boiling water into teapot and let brew for 3-6 minutes. Small leaves take less time to brew than large leaves.

6. Stir tea. If tea bags were used, remove them before serving. For loose tea, use a tea strainer when pouring into the teacups.

You’re invited to click Teapots ‘n More and browse our newest selection of teapots, tea accessories, tea spices, tea miniatures and elegant tea sets.