Tea Time

While hubby and I were in Maryland with my family for Thanksgiving my mom and I snuck off for some girly time. This included a little shopping (it always does) and tea.

Going to tea is a tradition my mom and I have...it has always been our special thing we do together. The tea room that we go to is Tea by Two (visit their website to get lots of good info and link up with them on FB, Twitter, and Pinterest) in Bel Air, Maryland (my home town), and it is the absolute best tea room there is. Hands down. Done. I keep hoping I can find a place close to me that will be a good stand in, but nothing ever compares. I think I will make visiting every tea room near my house my mission, starting now. Definitely top on the list is tea at The Jefferson. Any other places I should try? I have only been to Feathernesters so far. On a side note if I can't find one that I love I would really just like to start my own. How fun would that be?! To run a charming and cozy little tea room and drink tea and eat tea sandwiches whenever I wanted?! P.S. I am sure I sound totally like a grandma sophisticated and elegant right now. Ha!

I don't know where to begin with why Tea by Two is so amazing. Firstly there is the atmosphere. Tea by Two was started by two best friends and that friendly comfortable feeling extends to their customers. You can't help but feel at home. In fact mom and I have been there so often that the owners recognize us when we come in. I even had my bridal luncheon the day before my wedding there. The shop and tea room are lovely, right down to the eclectic china plates and tea cups and three tiered serving trays on the tables. Tea by Two has a fabulous selection of 60 different loose leaf teas and I love that they encourage you to try more than one. Then there is the food. Oh my. Homemade soups, tea sandwiches, scones, and sweets. My mouth is watering. I want some now. Please and thank you.

Tea by Two--Isn't it charming!
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Although I will have to wait until my next trip to MD for the yummy treats, I am going to be able to enjoy my favorite teas here at home because Tea by Two now has online ordering!! This is super exciting! Even better they have weekly specials and this week's is buy one package of Nutcracker Sweet tea (one of my ultimate holiday faves) and get a second package 50% off! Believe me, its totally worth paying shipping for. Shop here.

Nutcracker Sweet Loose Tea
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When we were there over Thanksgiving our server shared the holiday tea menu with us and also said that she could make any of the caffeinated teas decaffeinated. Of course this was intriguing so I asked her to explain. She said that when you brew tea the majority of the caffeine is released in the first 30 seconds. So after 30 seconds of steeping you pour out what has been brewed and then re-steep the tea with fresh water. This is thought to remove around 80% of the caffeine. In preparation for this post I did some more research on this and there seems to be a lot of disagreement about this method. So, there is no way to know for sure, but if you are trying to cut down on caffeine, or want your favorite tea before bed, go ahead and give it a try! No promises on the outcome though, and no blaming me if you are stuck awake until all hours of the night.

Happy tea time!