The Tea Bag Tea Pot

Now this was a genius idea!

A tea pot that allows you to use a teabag but has a special little shelf to prevent the teabag from over brewing.

So how does it work?

The tea pot has a little rubber slit for the string to poke out the side.  You put the teabag into the tea pot and when the tea is sufficiently brewed, you pull the string and it pulls the teabag out of the water and up onto a little shelf in the top!

I found this little wonder at TeaGschwendner at Rockefeller Centre on my recent trip to New York.  It is made by the company, Forlife.  I bought it in the turquoise colour (left) since it reminded me of Tiffany's (where I spent half my trip!)

So if, like me, you are constantly bothered by having to yank hot wet teabags out of your cup or pot and find a rubbish bin at short notice, invest in this lovely little tea pot by Forlife and you'll never be bothered again!

High Tea at the Plaza

I recently came back from a trip to New York with my husband.  I have always heard stories and seen movies depicting the high teas of New York and I immediately booked in for high tea in the Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel.

The hotel is absolutely palatial!  It feels like stepping back in time to the era when women were women and men were men.  When tea was a national sport!

The Palm Court itself was a open large area just behind the lobby with an enormous stained glass skylight featuring rose motifs covering the entire ceiling.  The back wall of the space was set with windows inlaid with mirrored panels that made the grandeaur of the space even more apparent.

We were seated at a lovely little table complete with white linen and silver accessories.

We both chose the New Yorker High Tea which featured the usual little sandwiches, scones with a divine peach jam and an array of New York themed mini desserts, including cannoli, chocolate cupcakes and New York cheesecakes.

We both ordered the signature Afternoon Tea blend.  It was a black tea, not unlike English Breakfast.  Whilst I was keen to record the wonders of its flavour and smell, I was a little overwhelmed by the event and instead chose to merely bask in the sights, sounds and flavours of the experience as a whole.

For all its magic there were a few flaws: the maitre d' was not the friendliest of sorts (mind you we were there on the Labor Day holiday and I expect she would have much preferred to be home) and they provided sugar sticks on the tables rather than sugar cubes which rather irked me for some reason.  I suppose I had expected the high tea at such a revered institution to maintain as much tradition as possible in the setting and accessories.

Overall, it was a delightful experience.  I think next time I travel to the Big Apple I'm going to try the high tea at the Waldorf-Astoria as I've heard it's also quite magic.