Tea. The best cold comfort around.

Last weekend, my husband and I stopped for lunch at one of my favorite places – Laura’s Tea Room in Ridgeway, SC. The owner (whose name is Carol, and not, in fact, Laura) has a dog named Jake who is friends with our dogs Wilbur and Orville. I usually run into Carol when pickup up the dogs from doggy day care, but I hadn’t seen her in a while and decided to pay her wonderful establishment a visit. We hadn’t made reservations for the tea room upstairs, but the deli downstairs is lovely and filled the needs quite nicely.

I have discovered some of my favorite teas from Laura’s Tea Room and I’m so glad the tea shop carries everything they brew so I can also enjoy these delights at home. On this last visit, we split a large pot of a black tea with a dried cherry flavor.My husband and I both have colds this weekend and I got to craving that tea. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down its name, so I’ll have to ask Carol next time I see her and maybe pick some up the next time I’m in Ridgeway.

I’ll have no issues satisfying a tea need this weekend, though, because I still have some of the two different kinds I got at the tea room back in early fall. Southern Pecan by Elmwood Inn Fine Teas tops my list of favorite tea of all time. It’s a Sri Lanka black tea base with pecans and white chocolate chips. I like a bit of vanilla soy milk in this one over cream or regular milk because it plays so well with the flavors in this mix.

Laura’s Tea Room carries several Elmwood Inn Teas and they are all on my list to try – especially the Apple Spice and the Bourbon.

I got hooked on my other favorite when my girlfriends and I went to the tea room proper (high tea, upstairs in the tea room, wearing pretty hats). Oliver Pluff & Co.‘s Colonial Bohea has a very…distinctive.. flavor – best reviewed by someone who knows way more about tea than I do.

If you’ve never had Lowcountry tea, I highly recommend. This tea is extra special amazing if you add some lightly frothed sweetened milk or soy. If smoky teas don’t excite you, Oliver Pluff & Co’s fruit teas are amazing (apricot FTW).

Both of those teas sound delicious, but I think tonight we may have to indulge in one of the rooibos teas (naturally decaffeinated) with honey to soothe sore throats and hopefully rid our mouths of the taste of the nastiness known as NyQuil. Sleep tight!