Taste the Rainbow Afternoon Tea and Tea Tasting

We welcomed DonnaLee Yeatts, Certified Tea Specialist (World Tea Academy) to The Rosemary House and Sweet Remembrances for a very special Taste the Rainbow Afternoon Tea Event. DonnaLee began the program with a basic introduction to the difference between teas and tisanes (herbals). She continued with highlighting the benefits of these teas. As the Taste the Rainbow Afternoon Tea was being served, DonnaLee introduced the two distinct teas that were paired with each course. 

We served a Fresh Fruit Salad topped with Red Strawberries, Blueberries, Orange Mandarin oranges, Strawberry Boba Pearls, Feta Cheese, and a Poppyseed Dressing. The teas that paired with the first course included a delicate White Tea and a herbal Chamomile Tea. 

The colorful selection of sandwiches included a Tomato Rosemary Muffin with Roast Beef, a vibrant green Spinach Bread with French Style Cheese Florette topped with a red cherry tomato, a colorful Herbed Vegetable Bar (a medley of red, green, orange), a Rainbow Wrap of spinach, yellow pepper, and orange carrots topped with a tasty Castelvetrano Italian Olive, and a Chicken Salad with Cheddar cheese and apple pieces. The teas served with this course included a Dragonwell Green tea and a herbal Green Rooibos.

The scone course included our Traditional English Cream Scone and the ever-popular Cinnamon Chip Scone served alongside Sweet Cream and Raspberry Preserves. A rainbow skewer of fresh fruit garnished the plate. A Formosa Oolong and a Honey Bush tea paired with the scones.

The desserts included a Rosemary Cookie sprinkled with dusting sugar to capture the rainbow, a Miniature Fresh Fruit & Cream Tartlet, and a Rainbow Kaleidoscope Cupcake. The teas for this course featured Kenyan Milama and Butterfly Pea Flower.

The Butterfly Pea Flower tea is a caffeine-free herbal made from the dried flowers of a vine native to Southeast Asia. This unique tisane creates its own rainbow of colors as it starts out with a rich blue color, but with the addition of fresh lemon, it quickly transitions to a vibrant purple color. It is enjoying popularity as it is used as a natural food coloring in beverages and desserts. In addition, it is said to enhance brain health. 

Special thanks to DonnaLee Yeatts for her informative program, to Susanna Reppert for coordinating the event and to Nancy Reppert for presenting the Taste the Rainbow Afternoon Tea.

International Tea Day - Tea & Chocolate Pairing

In celebration of International Tea Day, May 21st, we offered a complimentary Tea and Chocolate pairing, both under the pavilion and in the gift shop. It was a rainy and chilly day which made for a perfect day for drinking tea, and we simply pretended we were in a British cottage garden. The rain transformed the garden into a vibrant lush green locale with bird song overhead. Outside we featured five teas to taste alongside an assortment of chocolate. There was a Ceylon Kenilworth, a traditional black tea from Sri Lanka with a classic mellow flavor. We paired this tea with Dark Chocolate covered Blueberry Acai. Our suggestion was to sip the tea first, followed by a bite of the chocolate and another sip of tea to compare how the tea and chocolate enhanced each other.

Wilbur Buds is a well-known chocolate from Lititz, and we offered both milk and dark chocolate. The suggested pairing included a Kenya Milima, a bold black tea from the Kenyan highlands in Africa to be paired with the light milk Wilbur Buds. The semi sweet was paired with Irish Stout, a flavored black tea with hints of coffee and chocolate. This was a popular pairing. 

There were two teas that we paired with Lindt White Chocolate. Lung Ching Dragonwell, a traditional Chinese green tea with a flat green leaf and a sweet fresh vegetal taste was offered. And the other tea we paired with the white chocolate was Pine Needle. This tea was interesting as it is a Chinese Black Tea and it gets its name from the shape of the leaf which has been rolled to look like a pine needle. Several attendees described the flavor as 'earthy'.

The pavilion kept us dry throughout the day, and we were happy to hold this special event outdoors even though there was a gentle rain most of the day. The cooling rain was a blessing as the two days prior to this event the high temperature was in the 90's. The rain afforded a nice break from the heat and kept the chocolate at a good temperature.

The table set up in the gift shop featured a Decaffeinated Vanilla tea paired with chocolate mint candy, and a Golden Yunnan black tea that was paired with Dark chocolate covered cherries. Special thanks to everyone that joined us for our celebration.

 

National Hot Tea Month - January

We hope you are relaxing and finding time to sit down with a warming cup of tea during National Hot Tea Month.

Tea Tasting - Hawaiian White Tea

There was a new tea under the Christmas tree this year, a premium Hawaiian White Tea from Tea-for-All in Trenton, NJ. With the majority of teas coming from the East, it's a special treat to have a truly USA grown tea. This is a gorgeous tea from the Big Island in Hawaii. According to the Tea-for-All website, the tea is grown under a canopy of Koa trees at an elevation of 4000 feet in a Volcano Village near the Kilauea volcano.

Studying the dry leaf, you immediately notice the size of the leaf, long and slender. Looking closer, it becomes quite obvious that they have harvested the bud and two leaves to craft this specialty tea. Once brewed, the infusion creates a clear golden brew. The flavor is not overly floral, but simply delicate and sweet. Described on the website as deeply satisfying and comforting, it is truly a pleasant experience. Since the Japanese gaiwan used to brew this beautiful tea is a rich blue color and obscures the true color of the infusion, we poured some of the brew into a plain white cup to truly admire the color of this specialty artisanal tea. What a treasure, and many thanks to Angelica for this lovely gift. It is a real treat!

Chez Alice Patisserie, Lambertville, NJ

 The tea experience at Chez Alice in Lambertville, NJ was memorable. Just across the PA border from New Hope is the aspiring community of Lambertville. This was a fun stop on our return journey from our weekend adventure to Boston. This is a combination French style bakery and tearoom where they promise a taste of Paris awaits. Walking past the bakery cases to reach the seating area, was an experience in itself.

The tearoom has a French flair to it as noted in the painted walls and bistro tables. Opposite this wall is seating that overlooks a canal that feeds into the Delaware River. 

Once seated, we were advised to select our tea. There were five signature French tea selections. The French Garden Herbal Tea, Mademoiselle Rose Green Tea, City of Lights Black Tea, French Blue Earl Grey Tea and Citrus Symphony Black Tea. To help with the selection, there was a sample of each tea on the table so you could sniff them and decide which flavor you wanted in your beautiful floral teapot.

Deciding what tea to enjoy was a fun experience and proved to be a difficult decision. We all chose a different flavor and enjoyed sampling the various options we had. 

We preselected our Afternoon Tea option, choosing the Versailles Tea Time experience which was the ultimate tea experience. We were on vacation after all and certainly deserved a special treat. We'll share that memorable experience in the next blog post.

Northeast Tea Festival, Boston, MA - 2025

The main purpose for our excursion north was to attend the first-ever Northeast Tea Festival held Saturday, August 23, 2025, at the Arts at the Armory in Somerville, a suburb of Boston, MA.

This one day tea extravaganza promised to be "the perfect place to indulge your love for all things tea". The event was hosted and coordinated by Nepal Tea Collective, along with sponsorships from Simpson & Vail Teas, MEM Tea, Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, Chicago Teahouse and Cambridge Naturals.

 Admission to the festival included a tote bag and a tea tasting cup. The opportunity to sample teas from around the world was available around every corner. Vendors came from far and wide, eager to talk about their unique teas or specialty blends. The tea flowed throughout the day along with enthusiastic crowds comprised of the novice tea drinkers eager to learn standing side by side with experienced tea aficionados on a quest to discover their next ultimate tea experience.

If you've attended the Pennsylvania Tea Festival, you might recognize Mike and Deb Raab of Tea-for-All, in Trenton as they brought their tea  and tea wares here to vend also.

As noted in this picture, there is a balcony that provided a refuge from the masses on the floor. It also afforded a nice overview of the vending area and a quiet respite to simply watch the activities from above.

In addition to the sales floor, there were different programs to attend, of which we selected two. Susanna and Angelica had fun with the hands-on autumn tea blending session guided by Cyndi Harron of Simpson & Vail. Later, we attended a program presented by Bruce Richardson of  Elmwood Inn on the Five Teas that Launched a Revolution. 

The Northeast Tea Festival reached a wide range of tea enthusiasts, and appears to have already outgrown its space. There are talks about finding a new location for next year. Follow their Facebook page, to keep up with their updates.

International Tea Day - Tea and Honey Pairing

We celebrated International Tea Day with a Tea and Honey Pairing under the pavilion. It was a rather drizzly day, but in between rain drops we poured tea and sampled a wide variety of infused honeys and several creamed honeys from the local family run apiary Honey in the Hollow in Newport, PA. In the front room of The Rosemary House, we sampled a Blueberry Creamed Honey and Strawberry Creamed Honey on vanilla wafers. The creamed honey is thicker and spreadable and is the perfect option to serve with scones, toast, or pound cake. 

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Under the pavilion, we were serving an assortment of hot teas with a variety of infused honey to mix and match with the teas. We recommended Earl Grey with a lemon infused honey. Many of the attendees also tried the Earl Grey with the lavender infused honey and enjoyed that combination.

We offered Prince of Wales, a black tea with black currant flavoring, as another option to sample with the lemon infused honey. We suggested the Lavender infused honey as an option to taste with a Hyson Green Tea. Participants were encouraged to sample the honey first on a small spoon, let the honey coat their tongue and taste buds, and then sip the tea to enjoy the combination of the flavors. It was a study in how the tea and honey complemented, contrasted, or enhanced each other.

The Lemon Herbal tea, a Rosemary House specialty blend, was suggested to pair with the blueberry creamed honey. While the other Rosemary House blend, our Rosemary's Chai was paired with cinnamon infused honey. Guests were invited to sample the range of teas and mix and match with the various infused honey. Although the day was damp, it was the perfect afternoon to enjoy a warm sample of tea coupled with the unique infused honey from Honey in the Hollow. We have these specialty honeys available in the shop including lemon infused, lavender infused, cinnamon infused, and thyme infused in addition to the creamed varieties. Looking for recipes for the infused honey, check out Honey in the Hollow recipe page.

Tea and Cheese Pairing

In celebration of International Tea Day this past May 21st, we held a free Tea and Cheese Pairing. We offered a range of teas to pair with a variety of locally sourced cheeses provided by Apple Valley Creamery in East Berlin. A tasting area was set up under the pavilion, and also in the Rosemary House.

Cubed pieces of cheese were served at room temperature. We suggested either pairing Earl Grey or Assam tea with a Medium Cheddar. The slightly stronger teas are able to stand up to the richer taste of a medium cheese. Fresh grapes were available to add texture and an additional flavor component to the tasting session. 

We also offered a robust Lapsang Souchong to pair with a Smoked Cheddar cheese. The smokiness of both the tea and the cheese complement each other. The Garlic Cheddar cheese was paired with a fruity infusion, Very Merry Berry. This herbal tisane balances the boldness of the garlic. These two pairing combinations, the Lapsang Souchong with theSsmoked Cheddar Cheese and the Garlic Cheddar with the Very Merry Berry were the most popular pairings of the day.

With the weather predicted to reach the mid 80s, we also had iced tea at the ready. We prepared our Deluxe Iced Tea Blend and TranquilaTea Punch. The punch is a favorite blend of peppermint, rosemary, and sage combined with lemonade and extra sugar. This is a favorite Rosemary House recipe, served over the years at many of our events. The iced tea blend is perfect for summer.

In the front room of the shop, our guests were invited to sample a Mild Cheddar that was paired with a light and delicate Darjeeling to complement the subtle flavors of the cheese without overpowering it. In addition, we offered Herbal Jack, an aged jack cheese with mild herbs that was paired with our Rosemary House TranquilaTea to accentuate the herbal notes of the cheese.

Special thanks to Apple Valley CreameryApple Valley Creamery for providing the variety of cheeses that we served today. This local family farm carries many farm fresh, natural products. In addition to the cheeses, they have a large selection of milk, in-house made butter, and ice cream. Be sure to visit their Farm Store when you're in the area.

And special thanks to everyone for joining us as we celebrate International Tea Day. This day offers the chance to celebrate the cultural heritage behind a cup of tea, consider the health benefits of tea, and the economic importance of tea globally. Specifically, International Tea Day 2024 highlights women and their role within the tea producing community.