Afternoon Buffet Tea - One Steep at a Time

The large dining room at One Steep at a Time in Jamesburg, NJ was set and ready for Afternoon Tea for the members of the Mid-Atlantic Tea Business Association. Owner Kathleen Hippeli prepared a delicious and unique menu. She featured recipes from the book Culinary Tea which our featured guest speaker Cynthia Gold co-authored with Lise Stern.

The book includes over 150 recipes from around the world, all based upon using tea as an extension of your herb and spice cabinet. Beautiful photography and enticingly descriptive blurbs precede each recipe. There is a fun chapter on the flavor profiles of tea, also. 

The tea started with a delicious Asparagus Soup (a regional favorite having recently won in a local soup competition) or a Genmaicha Vegetable Soup that paired genmaicha tea alongside corn and mushrooms in a tasty unique soup. The soup was served with a side salad and a crisply toasted teapot topper.



There was also a small bowl with sliced Lapsang Souchong hard boiled tea eggs. These eggs had been marinating in the tea mixture for 2 days to enhance the flavor and color of the egg.  There was a never ending flow of tea available as freshly brewed iced tea or hot tea was offered.

 The buffet featured sliced pork loin that had been roasted in an Eleven-Spice Tea Rub (give or take a spice or two). In addition, there were Darjeeling Roasted Sweet Potatoes served as a side. In keeping with the afternoon tea theme, Cucumber Sandwiches were served, croissants, miniature Chicken salad, fresh fruit and a tortellini salad.

 The scones included a Cream Scone and a Chocolate Chai Scone with cream, lemon curd, and jelly. The Chai was such a lovely addition to the scone. And dessert! There was a lemon square, a seven layer cookie, and a nutella filled cream cookie. No one left hungry.

Kudos to Kathleen Hippeli and the staff at One Steep at a Thyme for a fabulous Afternoon Tea, unique in all the tea infused delicacies. It might be just a little intimidating to be serving tea to fellow tea business professionals, but Kathleen succeeded beyond all expectations. From tea bloggers, to tea room owners, to wholesale/retail tea vendors, we raised our cups to Kathleen for a most memorable day!