Dollies Tea Room, Clear Spring, MD

Members of the Mid-Atlantic Tea Business Association gathered at Dollies Tea Room earlier this month for their October quarterly seminar. Dollies has hosted the association members on previous occasions, but it's always a delight to return to Clear Spring, MD to enjoy this lovely tea room.

 We were served the October Tea Menu which Amy features in her tea room this month. The menu changes on a monthly basis. For starters, we enjoyed a tasty Tomato Lentil soup. That was followed by a Lettuce-less Greek Salad, with a colorful assortment of veggies topped with a sprinkling of Feta cheese.

The presentation of the three tiered tray is always a show stopper! The Afternoon Tea tray included a variety of tea sandwiches, On the bottom tier were Cucumber, Egg Salad, Chicken Salad, and a Deviled Potato.

The cucumber sandwich has a cheerful orange bow wrapped around it. And the chicken salad triangle has the cutest little 'apple' cut from a thin slice of cheese. That was a fun festive touch! And the Deviled Potato is stuffed inside a petite potato. Think of it almost like a twice baked potato! That's unique.

 Dollies always served her Signature cream scone, and there was Cinnamon Chip alongside it. Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream were offered in a miniature serving dish, and a petite fresh fruit skewer accompanied this course.









Desserts included Gingerbread, Prince William Cake (plain biscuits meshed with rich chocolate), Vanilla Toffee Cookie and a Shortbread Cookie. 
And the Afternoon Tea always ends with sorbet. The flavor for this month was Apple Cranberry.

Before the tea began, we had the educational portion of the meeting where members shared experiences, shared what works for their business, while others shared merchandise that they carry. Questions were answered, notes were taken, and new ideas swirled around the room. 

The business meeting was held after the tea. Following the business meeting, members headed back home to implement many of the new ideas. The next Quarterly Seminar will be held at the Red Brick Bakery and Tea Room in Red Lion, PA. Newest member, Chef Dani has offered to be the host location for the January 22nd seminar (weather permitting).

MATBA October Seminar - Dollies Tea Room, Clear Spring, MD

Members of the Mid-Atlantic Tea Business Association recently gathered at Dollies Tea Room in Clear Spring, MD for one of their quarterly meetings. As members gather from distant locations, it is customary for the hosting tea room to offer a welcoming reception. There were four instant pots filled with freahly brewed hot tea to start the day. 

Guests could select from Imperial Mango (an Oolong), Peaches & Ginger, Black Dragon, or Orange Mandarin. Amy, the owner, sources her tea from a variety of vendors, and included the name of the tea purveyor on the little signs attached to the tea. East Indies Tea Company (a member of MATBA), Harney and Sons, Teaoli, and Tea Source were all represented.

The morning reception featured a mini crustless zucchini quiche, a tasty little fruit cup with a sweet sauce, yogurt with homemade tea flavored granola (scented with earl grey tea), and small pieces of a tea bread. A very yummy way to start the morning!

 Members from NJ, PA, and MD were in attendance at this meeting. These seminars represent a reunion for members, and an inspiration for many, and a chance to enjoy Afternoon Tea, all the while learning from each other.

Amy has a real sense of style, and the decor in the tea room is pleasing to the eye. Little tea vignettes are tucked here and there, and a pretty gift shop is located in the corner of the tea room.

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 Tuesday Cuppa Tea!

Halloween Decorations

The gardens are haunted for the Halloween season. We have goblins, ghosts, and ghouls scattered about the gardens, along with festive pumpkins, and other not so scary decorations. Special thanks to Jim Thorpe sister Marj and her creatively wicked designs the gardens are spooky! With two Halloween Teas scheduled this month, our community Streets of Treats where the kids and their parents trick-or-treat at the local businesses, and our Annual Garlic Dinner coming up soon, the haunted gardens get a lot of attention.

So feel free to visit the gardens, we consider them public gardens, open from dawn to dusk. Stop by if you dare! And how do we decorate the tea room for the season? Well, we try to maintain the serenity of the tea room, with little touches of Halloween tricks and treats. This little skeleton drapes loosely over a framed teapot picture.

And we have creepy spiders crawling up the lace curtain, not everyone notices the spiders! And pretty little spider stencils are scattered about on a table that displays some china.

Of course we have fall decor, a pretty little pumpkin teapot and colorful fall leaves grace the tables. But beware, the teapot might hold some Gangrene Tea or Creepy Cappuccino for the unsuspecting visitors!

PA Tea Festival - 2017 - The End of the Day

How do tea festival organizers end the day? Brewing tea, of course! Tea specialist, Rie Tulali, journeyed all the way from Las Vegas to Mechanicsburg to represent Tealet and to assist in any way necessary. She was the young lady hosting the tea tastings on Friday and the audio-visual tech extraordinaire on Saturday in the lecture hall. Do you ever wonder what millennials/tea enthusiasts carry in their backpacks? 

Rie travels with tea, a gaiwan set and all the necessary accoutrements to be able to brew tea at a moments notice. 

Rie offered to prepare several Taiwanese oolong teas for us to sample and enjoy. As she was preparing the tea, she shared about the local farmers that grow and harvest the tea. And she talked about the unique flavors associated with oolong tea.

Skillful hands measured, steeped, brewed, poured, all the while she shared, sipped, and repeated the process coaxing additional steeping from the leaves.

We sampled Ruby Oolong #18 which is a Taiwanese black tea, a cross between Formosa Oolong and Assam cultivars that produces an Oolong that is lighter in body than a traditional hearty Assam, but still bold enough to call it a black tea. It was quite unique and special.

The other Taiwanese Oolong that we sampled offered the familiar roasty, toasted notes associated with an Oolong, both in the bouquet and in the cup. What a perfect way to end a perfect weekend of tea! Special thanks to Rie for all that she shared, both with the private tea tasting, and the contribution she made to make the PA Tea Festival successful. 

Notice the large wet leaf (L) compared to the curled dry leaf.

Rie is currently transitioning in her role in the tea community.  She is branching out into the world of tea education. Her new business, Modern Day Tea (the website is under construction) promises to make it easy to learn about tea.  Rie is enthusiastic and informative, her contribution to the tea festival was greatly appreciated. We hope that she will join us again next year!

PA Tea Festival - Vendors, Part III

Tucked behind the tasting building were a few additional vendors, including Nishchal Banskota of Nepal Tea. Also a sponsor of the tea festival, Nishchal offers a variety of organic premium Nepalese teas. Nishchal proudly gives back to the community, making a difference thru tea.

Jo Johnson from New York City represented her business A Gift of Tea where you can discover a unique tea experience from elegant to novelty. Jo also presented a wonderful Tea and Cheese Pairing session on the second day of the event. Darlene Meyers-Perry of The Tea Lover's Archives set up in this area also. And Tea Life Brand out of King of Prussia was here on Saturday.

We were blessed with a beautiful day full of glorious sunshine and blue skies that provided perfect tea drinking weather, particularly on Saturday when the morning temps were a bit chilly.

The Mad Hatter, aka Dennis Mawhinney, joined in the fun. Dennis presented a program on crafting homemade tea flavored vinegar. An entertaining and enthusiastic speaker, he captured the attention of his audience with his energetic style and offered simple ways to combine tea with vinegar to create unique culinary delights.

The giant chair offered a touch of whimsy where attendees could snap a photo with some die-cut tea decor, from tea pot and tea cup to hats and tiaras.

Thank you to everyone that helped make this first annual PA Tea Festival a success. Susanna and Nancy are looking forward to planning and coordinating next year's event, to be held the same time, Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29, 2018 in the gardens of The Rosemary House and Sweet Remembrances Tea Room. Don't forget to mark your calendar! Check the website for updates and details! And if you're interested in sponsoring the festival, contact Susanna.

PA Tea Festival - Vendor, Part II

Sisters Tina Sam of The Essential Herbal and Maryanne Schwartz of Lancaster County Soapworks shared a booth at the festival. Tina has a wide variety of herbal publications from soaps to incense to creating your own tea blends to healing herbs. The Essential Herbal was a sponsor of the festival this year. Thank you!

 Maryanne created unique tea scented soaps for this event along with her hand worked glass tea pot beads. No two alike, these little vessels are special in their own way.

Bee Bee's All Naturals featured a wide variety of unique honey with flavors that range from tumeric and black pepper to just plain honey. Beeswax candles and honey flavored candies rounded out her booth.

 Leaf & Twig traveled from Greensburg, PA to join in the festival. They offered hand crafted teas and powders, herbal blends, and classic tea samplers.

 Erin Bradley and Janet Meyers of Tea by Two from Bel Aire, MD had a colorful display of tea time treasures and teas to sample. They transported a portion of their gift shop to delight and entice all.

 A special thank you to all the vendors located on Rosemary Lane. It was fun to stroll along this little street of unique tea related treasures, sample some lovely teas, and receive a complimentary shopping bag from Janet and Erin.