Tea Room Tales & Tidbits is an enchanting collection of stories and recipes that have been gathered while operating the Ivy Tea Room and Craft Studio. In this book, you will find all of the recipes that made the tearoom famous. Even our coveted Scones with Cream and Jam is included! You will find an assortment of entertaining stories that detail how the tearoom came to be and many of the oddities encountered while running it. Numerous ghost stories are revealed within these pages, as the century home has had many visitors over the years. Tamara hopes you enjoy this much-anticipated book and relive some of the food and stories she has created and experienced.

The Japanese tea ceremony blends art with nature and has for centuries brought harmony to the daily life of its practitioners. Stories From a Tearoom Window is a timeless collection of tales of the ancient tea sages, compiled in the eighteenth century. Both longtime adherents and newcomers to the tea ceremony will be fascinated by these legends, anecdotes, bits of lore and history that so aptly express the essence of tea. Many of these stories center around the lives of the great tea masters. First among them is Sen no Rikyu, who perfected the tea ceremony and embodies its poise, modesty and refinement. Among the famous tales recounted here are those of Rikyu's morning glory tea ceremony and of his tragic death. Darker presences of the great warlords Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, who sponsored and also abused Rikyu, are manifest as well. Holding to the tea ceremony's core ideal of natural simplicity, author Shigenori Chikamatsu brings to the page stories which touch on the related arts of ceramics, poetry, Zen, calligraphy, and the origins of everyday items of Japanese life such as the cotton tabi split-toed socks and the bento lunchbox. Chapters include: Tearooms in the Old Days Flowers in the Tea Garden The Origins of Tea Iori's Tea Scoop Famous Lacquerers The Legacy of Rikyu's House The Tea Ceremony for Warriors

Presents creative themes for afternoon tea parties, along with full menus, recipes, and tips on adding extra touches for the event.

Filled to the brim with stories of adventure in search of "two leaves and a bud," this book could only come from a man who's actually lived those events. Barry Cooper began his lifelong romance with tea at an early age, being raised amongst the tea fields of Kenya, East Africa. In this book, he chronicles his ensuing forty-year quest for the perfect cup of tea. Cooper shares lessons learned while being trained in England's most esteemed tea house. He lays bare truths of the tea industry, reveals the crazy adventures and hair-raising situaitons encountered in his determination to discover previously unknown sources of herbs. And finally, he tells the inside story of the gambles he took to develop his signature teas. For those who love tea - or just enjoy a good adventure story.