Do you need some ideas to celebrate Mother’s Day with tea?
One of the popular tea traditions in the U.S. is to celebrate Mother’s Day. Whether it’s a dress-up fancy party or a simple, quiet cup with Mom, this has become part of our culture of tea. So, we invited some of our tea business friends to share some ideas to make the day special for your family.
Of course, most of these recipes, memories and party planning suggestions can translate to be part of a way to share teatime with your mother on any day.
Every day can be a celebration with your mother.
Do You Know Your Mom’s Favorite Tea?
Contributed by Jessica Kochik of The TeaSpot
The aroma of fine, freshly brewed tea can bring me right back to the magical memories of tea time with my mom. Every time I steep up some Keemun, which was my Mom’s favorite tea, it feels like a warm steep to my soul.
Tea has the power of simultaneously evoking and creating lasting, beautiful memories. We remember the gorgeous tea we are drinking, we remember the atmosphere we were in, but most importantly, we remember the company with whom we sipped the delicious brew.
At The Tea Spot, we promote loose leaf tea for self-care, and we firmly believe in its benefits, but memories of moms make it even better. This Mother’s Day, we hope our delicious teas can help you re-live some of your favorite tea memories over the years with your beloved loved ones.
How To Throw A Mother-Daughter Tea Party
The month of May is the time to celebrate our mothers. A perfect way to honor your motherly figure is by hosting a mother-daughter tea party. Create an intimate setting for just the two of you, or spin off these ideas for a larger gathering of friends who are moms and daughters, too.
Tea Party Menu
I’m a super fan of this recipe for Savory Brioche Bread Pudding because it’s easy to prep and yummy every time. It uses an entire loaf of brioche, which is a very rich bread made of plenty of eggs, milk, and butter. This recipe lends itself well to substituting ingredients so choose any breakfast meat or veggie you like, or use a different shredded cheese, too. It also easily halves and does nicely in a smaller baking dish, if desired. (Read the Recipe for Savory Brioche Bread Pudding)
Mother Daughter Tea Party Decor
Select some of your shared favorite colors. I always think of purple for my mom because her birthstone is amethyst. I love to mix purple with blues and natural colors like white, beige, and foliage greens. This is a great time to use vintage family pieces if you have them, such as silverware, tea cups and saucers, vases, or linens. My mom is also a fan of heart-shaped things and often collects heart-shaped rocks on her nature walks. You can cut out heart shapes from pretty tissue or wrapping paper to use for your table decorations. Books, teacups and teapots, and candles or fairy lights in jars all bring warmth and charm to your mother daughter tea party table setting.
When I think of Mother’s Day and tea, my thoughts always turn to my grandmother. She was a lovely lady that started my journey with tea. She loved green tea. She was always kind and always had the best food, tea, and conversation. She was also an avid gardener, so this is dedicated to her. Mostly I would have some lovely fresh spring flowers like crocuses, tulips, and daffodils fresh cut in a vase or in a pot to set the mood with some chocolates as they tend to add to the experience. If the weather is nice outside, please enjoy the tea outdoors and if you have a garden have it in or near the garden for the view. It is spring and the start of the lovely warm weather let her enjoy it. Find their favorite teapot and cups with their favorite tea and enjoy yourselves throughout the afternoon.
My Chinese Tiger Tea Mom and Her Tea
by Yaoyao Huang of Serene Tea
My mom was never a “Tiger Chinese Mom”, but she is very “tiger” with her tea! Unlike blended or perfumed tea with fruits or dry flowers that are popular in the west, most Chinese teas are unblended pure teas and are valued for their natural delicate fragrance and flavors. Hence it’s rather unusual for a Chinese to add anything at all into their teas when brewing, except for, of course my mom. She has a spirit of not following any “rules” when it comes to tea and I thought it’s time to share her top three Chinese tea recipes!
Half-dry tangerine peel with 7g of Phoenix Dan Cong Honey Orchid Aroma
Chinese dry tangerine peels are known for its digestive medicinal property and it’s often used for culinary and medicinal purpose. While Dan Cong can be a bit astringent sometimes, the dry tangerine peel adds a bit more sweetness to it.
2 spoonful of honey (and a piece of mint leaf) into 5g smoked Lapsang Souchong black tea
Lapsang Souchong is the very first black tea in the world and traditionally, this tea is perfumed with a smoked aroma through burning a very specific type of pinewood. This is actually what makes me cry out loud since most of the smoked Lapsang tea we find these days on the market are fake, so adding honey into the real smoked Lapsang just hurts my heart, but it surely blends perfectly well with that smokiness!
Coconut juice/meat with 4g iced Dong Ding oolong tea
My personal favorite and is perfect for summer time! When making ice tea, the cool water to tea leaf ratio is 1:50 and the steeping time is around 1 hour. You can add coconut meat and steep with the tea together or add 1/3 of cup of coconut juice afterwards.
Nepal Tea Salutes Mother’s Day With a Special Tea
by Nishchal Banskoka of Nepal Tea
This mother’s day, we salute our mother, Dambar Kumari Baskota, and all the amazing mothers in the world for everything they do! We tribute our mom’s contribution by naming one of our most favorite teas after her, Kumari Gold.
This tea is very special to us. The name “Kumari” represents the only form of living Goddess in Nepal and also happens to be the middle name of our founder’s mother. She planted the first tea bush in the Tea Estate (which was their backyard back then) in 1984. She has truly been the living Goddess of all the farmers who work for our factory and their children. Therefore, we dedicate this most precious tea to her.
An Herb and Fruit Tea Recipe That Mom Will Love
by Leonard Nima of Ruby Lion Tea
A Rosé by Any Other Name (would taste just as sweet!)
Makes: 1 drink
1/4 cup Elderflower tea
1 to 2 cubes frozen watermelon
3 to 4 raspberries
1/4 cup chilled rosé wine
1/4 cup Sparkling Water
Mint leaves, to garnish
- Brew 1 teaspoon of elderflower into a 1/4 cup of boiling water and let steep for 3 minutes before straining and setting aside to return to room temperature.
- Place tea into the fridge to cool.
- Dice ripe watermelon and set aside in a freezer-proof container, or juice and pour into an ice cube tray.
- Wash raspberries and freeze alongside watermelon.
- Place frozen fruits in the bottom of a chilled cocktail glass.
- Fill with the 1/4 cup chilled rosé. Add the cooled Elderflower tea and top with sparkling water.
- Garnish with mint and serve.
One of Queen Elizabeth and Prince William’s favorites with tea.
Contributed by Georgie Rheins of Mana Organics
Chocolate Biscuit Cake, served with Earl Grey Tea.
Ingredients
- ¼ (10.6-ounce) package English-style rich tea biscuit cookies, such as Burton’s or McVitie‘s
- 1 (11.5-ounce) package milk chocolate morsels
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 recipe Milk Chocolate Ganache (recipe follows)
- Line a (6-x-3½-inch) mini loaf pan with plastic wrap. Set aside.
- Break cookies into somewhat equal pieces, approximately 1 to 2 inches in size. Set aside.
- Place chocolate morsels in a heatproof bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine cream and butter; heat to a very hot temperature, but do not let mixture boil. Pour over milk chocolate morsels. Let sit for 1 minute. Stir until morsels have melted and mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Pour enough melted chocolate into prepared loaf pan to cover bottom of pan. Lay broken cookies in a single layer over ganache, covering surface of ganache. Continue layering chocolate and cookies in this manner until pan is full.
- Refrigerate in pan until chocolate is hard, approximately 4 hours.
- Remove cake from pan, and place on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet, top side down. Remove plastic wrap. Pour Milk Chocolate Ganache over cake, letting it drip down sides. Using an offset spatula, smooth ganache over all sides of cake.
- Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.
- Using a sharp knife, cut into ¼-inch slices by pressing down rather than sawing.
