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| - We went for Afternoon Tea. I made a short list of three goals to accomplish while stuck in the lower 48 states: Afternoon Tea, attend a city council meeting, and meet my friend's baby. That's how important tea is to me. I've put on my own five course formal teas, supped on the three-tier tower in Iceland, and gathered & dried my own wild herbs for teasanes. So I'm a tough critic. I will allow that.
Tea at the Inn on Negley was lovely and would probably wow the pants off anyone else. There were five ladies celebrating an upcoming wedding and they looked happy. They were super dressed up which made me feel dressed down even though I was dressed up, but hey, I get cut some slack because all I was celebrating was the fact that I was on my way to get an MRI. Which I have to say...I was super relaxed thanks to tea. I was worried I'd eat to much, but the Inn's tea is not as over the top, stuff-your-gut, explode your blood sugar as some I've had.
The best dish was the little caprese sandwich on the top layer. It had excellent flavor. My other half survives through tea with me because he doesn't like mayo and has a lower sugar tolerance than I do. He did ok with this tea.
There were two scones per person. We couldn't remember what the chef said they were but one rocked and one was average. Not sure how that happened, but maybe one was fresher? We liked the little pieces of fresh fruit on the scone plate: sliced kiwi for me and oranges for him.
I thoroughly enjoyed my pot of Oolong tea. This will make me sound trite, but half my brain chose it because it sounded like the most expensive tea on the menu (and you can pick anything you want). Our waiter had told us we could change teas if we wanted at any point, but I didn't. My oolong was very good. I had it refilled. In contrast, my husband was disappointed that the first tea he chose came in a tea bag. Gasp! A tea bag at afternoon tea! And it was Stash no less! I remembered the menu said something about using both loose and bagged, but it wasn't marked anywhere which was which. Whoops. We were both bummed by his tea. And I felt guilty because I'd picked it for him because he'd liked black vanilla tea at another formal tea. We strategized while we ate and I suggested he ask the waiter which teas on the menu were loose leaf and which were not but instead he ordered a grapefruit white tea off the seasonal menu. This was also a bagged tea but at least it was Harney & Sons. So, dear readers, if you want loose tea ASK.
I purposely took forever eating the tiny food and enjoyed myself, however the BEST part of tea was what came after. The waiter had told us we were welcome to explore the Inn and we took that to its fullest logical conclusion and poked around every nook and cranny in that place that wasn't locked. In addition to being a tea nerd, I am a B&B nerd so this was an excellent opportunity to do RESEARCH. We started with peering at the art in the dining room and reading about the artists. Next was the other eating room where they have happy hour for overnight guests. And then a living room. All of the rooms are tasteful and classic with gorgeous, stately antiques. We really liked the pigeon hole desks. Upstairs we visited a bedroom with two twins; downstairs an ADA accessible room with a big ol' four poster bed. I salivated over the breakfast menu. Downstairs they also have a little gift shop and a powerd room for tea guests. They have miniature L'Occitane of Provence toiletries in the rooms and while I have seen their stores everywhere, I had never before touched their product. They have a big pump of L'Occitane soap in said powder room and it was a game changer for me: it was the first soap I have ever liked (I hate soap). The bathrobes and slippers are so luxurious you'd actually want to steal them and sleep in them for the rest of your life.
Besides axing the tea bags, the only thing that would have made me happier about tea is if they had included an Inn post card. They charge 50 cents for them and I was too cheap to buy one for my scrapbook.
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