An Impromptu Afternoon Tea at Jolie Tea Company





I love spontaneous trips. Well, yesterday's "trip" to Salem was not really a trip, more like an outing. My friend Debbi and I went to Salem for the afternoon.

One thing I love about Debbi is she is always up for anything. I told her the destination was a mystery as I headed north on  Route 1.



Jolie Tea Company used to be located in Hamilton, MA but they have since moved to Salem. I had not been to their new location yet but friends said it was adorable. After visiting this tea salon, I have to agree with them.

How inviting is that banquette? Love the marble top tables and the mini Vivenne in the corner. Vivienne, for those of you who don't religiously read my blog, is my dress form who is accessorized seasonally.

I must also mention that the ladies room had the cutest wallpaper on the walls. A vibrant green with rabbits and mushrooms on it. I knew I had seen it before and sure enough, I checked the Anthropologie website and there it was! I knew these people at Jolie Tea were cool.

Anyway, about the tea. The tea selection is immense. Black, green, white, rooibos, you name it they have it. You can even take some home. I bought some earl grey lavender and two specialty teas, Sophia and Hawthorne.


Debbi had a honeybush tea with an orange blossom macaron and I had Doctor Zhivago tea and a dark chocolate macaron. I bought lemon scones for later.


This tea salon or café is housed in the childhood home of Sophia Hawthorne, wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Such history in this building! I am glad some of it is still preserved.


I am planning a small tea for some friends in September so this will be just the spot for that gathering. Jolie Tea Company has high tea, petite tea and tea flights (a sampling of three teas in demitasse cups).

Impromptu adventures often turn out wonderfully as this one did yesterday afternoon. I highly recommend Jolie Tea if you are in the North Shore area of Massachusetts!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I, too, live in Massachusetts just west of Boston. For my August birthday I visited Jolie with my visiting daughter. It was lovely with lots of European charm (loved the bathroom wallpaper too! Bunnies and mushrooms and all). Loved sampling with the flight of teas. Definitely worth the trip to the north shore!
Marilyn Miller said…
How lovely to have a special tea adventure. Thanks for sharing with us.
Ahhhhh...love this, Elaine! It looks and sounds like a great place. I consider you a tea and tea place connoisseur, so I have to ask how you decide which tea to have. Curiosity? Recommendation? Having had it before?

Having known you for a while, I'm wondering how much tea you drink and how often. I love a cup in the morning and evening. In the winter, sometimes mid afternoon. I also make my own iced tea using several blends until I hit on something perfect. I keep it in a 2 gallon dispenser in the fridge and it lasts my husband and I almost a week.

Thanks for letting me pick your brain! How was/is your summer?

Jane
Elaine said…
@Blondie's Journal I am basically not at all adventurous with my tea selections and only recently started branching out. I pretty much stick to Earl Grey in some form like Earl Grey Lavender. I like black teas but I will drink Harney's Organic Green Citrus which smells fantastic and tastes just as good.

I am not much of an ice tea drinker but I do like to mix passion fruit tea with lemonade. An imitation of Starbucks shaken ice tea lemonade.

I do not have tea every day. I start off with coffee in the morning and then maybe an afternoon cup of tea. In the Fall and Winter, I drink more tea as I feel it warms me up better than coffee. In the Fall, I like Cranberry Autumn Tea and I drink a lot of Lady Grey. At night, it's decaf tea.

Summer was too hot for my taste. I stayed indoors as a result. No vacation, new job this year so less vacation time. How about you?

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