Laume's Studio

I made myself a pot of tea this afternoon. Chocolate orange truffle black tea, one of the many wonderful blends I brought home this summer from a little shop in Ashland, Oregon called Alchemy Botanicals. I spent a happy hour browsing their wall of bulk teas, filling little bags with samples of Chocolate Orange Truffle, Redwood Chai, Moonlight Spice, California Fields, Leaves of Provence, Pear Caramel, Rose White .... I'd give you a link to the tea but unfortunately I don't remember the company name and the little label stickers on the bags only have the name of the shop on them.

I discovered the shop a few years ago on one of our trips to the Shakespeare Festival and the moment I walked through the door I felt like I'd passed through a time portal. It smelled like the classrooms and gardens of the California School of Herbal Studies, where I spent a lovely summer apprenticeship many long, long years ago. Talking with the owner of the shop I discovered it wasn't a coincidence, she had also studied there. Ahhh, good memories. Anyway, back to this afternoon's tea...

I needed it to stay warm for awhile since I was cleaning and puttering, so I used the new tea cozy my mom sent to me. Isn't it pretty? I really like the style. I've never seen anything like it before. I've seen the old fashioned "toaster cover" style that simply sits over the tea pot but not under it, like the ones shown here. And the popular gathered version that you have to "dress" your tea pot in, like these. This one is slightly different. It has a bottom and is pulled together on the top like the gathered version, but is less fussy to fit. You simply set your tea pot inside the two sides and slip the elasticized band over them to keep it together. It seems to keep the tea warmer than the toaster style but is easier to use than the gathered style. My mom said they came in two sizes, I think this is the smaller of the two sizes.