PINKY'S UP, CHEERS!

What does one do when a calming effect is needed especially on voting day? 

If you're lucky, a friend makes sure we're signed up for an evening at the Dim Sum Tea Shop. 
Tippy, new owner at Dim Sum Tea Shop, offers monthly cultural tea experiences and tonight let us experience 5 different teas for our journey across the big pond to England and Scotland with an extra teaspoon+ of each to take home for our own cup of tea for perhaps to help us get through poll results. 

Our visit included the tea sampling accompanied by the shop's cucumber sandwiches and lavender cookies in addition to Trevor Brown's sweets and a lovely mini tour experience of  High/ Afternoon Teas with blogger and writer Jess Witkins. 

Come to learn according to Tippy one must bring the water to specific temperatures before adding different teas. Then, the steeping time varies before serving. 

Here are the directions for our evening's teas. 

Tippy sharing tea facts.

English breakfast185º F 4-5 min

Raspberry Green 170º F 2-4 min

Irish Breakfast   170º F 2-4 min  

Earl Grey            212º F  3  min

ChamomilleVanilla 212ºF 4-5 min

Trevor Brown

Raspberry Green tea with
yummy scone and  biscuit

Trevor Brown who's known for his use of organic grains and locally grown ingredients in his Opus Bakehouse presented  2 scrumptious treats featuring spices like Bedouin sage, cardamon and cinnamon in his currant scone and a ginger lemon chocolate mint treat/ biscuit as they refer to them in England.

Jess shared her travels with tea time in  London, Bath - Jane Austen's stomping grounds, Edinburgh and the Highlands. We got a brief history of tea and the desired emulation of the royalty's tea time (High Tea). High tea received its name from the high backed dining chairs and servings of meats. Afternoon tea on the other hand was to fill the long time between meals, ie: our little cucumber open faced sandwiches and scones (minus clotted cream and jams).

Jess models Pinky's up

The custom of holding one's pinky in the air was actually because the original tea glasses were to be held with the thumb caressing the glass/cup closest to the mouth with the other fingers encircled the opposite side of the tea glass with the pinky extended for balance. When teacups are used, one is not supposed to hold on to the handle. Hint, hint. Also take note to not stir your tea. Your spoon should move once across the bottom of the cup away from you and be removed.

Heck, the British can spot us Americans a mile away regardless. 

It was an absolutely 'luverly' way to spend some time without thinking about election results. Those would be awaiting us at home. Now,  remember a cup of tea is good for digestion... that's referring to the election results not our tea time treats! 

Thanks Colleen for taking care of the reservations. Let's do it again next month! Who knows maybe we could help out with the 'Arts and Tea' programs?