Tea for your Thoughts?

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
-Henry James

After London my obsession with Afternoon tea because very real. Come to find out there are plenty of places in Massachusetts that offer this in many forms. One of them was at The Tea Leaf in Waltham, a cute little shop right smack in the center of a bustling street. The second you walk in it screams a tea lover’s dream- from tea inspired mugs to the wafting aroma of freshly brewed tea. I surprised my mom with a trip here so I could experience this with her after my trip with my husband, and we both fell instantly in love with this place.

I made reservations in advance as you can only do Afternoon Tea with a reservation. It was a quick phone call and easy to do. After walking in we were quickly ushered in. I instantly felt fancy, you know that feeling when you’re around nice things or dress up just for dinner? Yeah, I was in my Humanity Boutique Maven dress, fancy-ish shoes and even had a teacup necklace. Mom had a beautiful skirt and top plus a lovely scarf- we were all set to enjoy our delicious afternoon tea.

Allegedly the term “Afternoon Tea” came from Anna the Seventh Duchess of Bedford back in 1840. She used to get hungry around 4 o’clock, thus the term “Afternoon Tea” was born – but we all know she got a fit of the munchies and wanted an excuse to be fancy and eat dessert, sandwiches & drink tea until she dropped right? 🙂

Tea, in general, is just so meaningful in a variety of cultures and is consumed in a variety of ways. One could go off on a tangent about how the Japanese, Chinese, Indian or other cultures drink their tea. I will save that for another day because there simply isn’t enough space to really delve into that right now. Tea gives me life and I will try a new one however many times and have many favorites.

Back to Afternoon Tea and its far-reaching grasp across Britain and even here in the United States as was seen at the Tea Leaf.

It lived up to the hype in London and it definitely lived up to the hype here.

Sally the owner of the Tea Leaf in Waltham makes the goodies herself and creates some lovely items. From her sandwiches to the sweet treats I was hooked. We also had the ability to drink what seemed like a literal ton of tea and tried a few different flavors. I was obsessed with both the fruity hibiscus tea we drink and the black tea we had- both teas were robust in flavor and kept drawing you back to them.

Hibiscus infused tea was straight goals

Tea upon tea upon more tea. Also loving my accessories from Humanity Boutique

She first brought out some wicked good scones- two different flavors. Lavender Chocolate and Lemon Poppy Seed, of course with jam and cream. My tastebuds couldn’t take it, they were just so delicious. There were two of each so we each had our fill. Then the tower of goodness came out that had finger sandwiches, cupcakes, macarons, quiche and more. I was absolutely floored. Mom and I were so impressed with the quality of everything and kept raving about all the delicious treats.

Lavender & chocolate chip scone…look at all that cream. I heaped it on!

These sandwiches were delish, I loved the egg salad one!

Its a WHOLE tower of treats!

Sandwich close up

Cucumber, egg salad, salmon. OMG

I mean how cute is this?

Sally was the belle of the whole afternoon and was so kind. She even gave my mom the cutest little tea gift and answered all the questions we had throughout the afternoon. I can’t wait to go back and eat all the goodness again and try different teas. Also, don’t forget there is tons of stuff for you to buy including what seems like a million and one different kinds of tea.