Researching gifts for tea lovers has to be our favorite annual task. It’s like being a young girl writing a wishlist for Santa, but even better because we get to share our great finds with all of you! These gifts range from $5 to $100, with one or two “dream big” exceptions. If you have other great tea-themed gift ideas, please tell us about them in a post comment.
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1. “363 Days of Tea” by Ruby Silvious
Why This: Ever since we learned about Ruby’s artwork — miniature paintings and collages on used tea bags — we have been enamored of her. After a year of using tea bags as her canvas to paint a visual daily record of her impression of the moment, she authored 363 Days of Tea: A Visual Journal on Used Teabags (Mascot Books, 2016). This would be a beautiful book to pass around the table at your next afternoon tea.
Find It: $26.95 here
2. Tea Advent Calendars
Why This: We feel very grown up substituting fun tea blends and flavors for chocolates in our advent calendars, and a bit international as we count down to Christmas with teas from Australia’s T2 and France’s Palais des Thés. We’ve sampled teas from both lines, and we very much like!
Find It: $35 T2’s The Big Book of Secret Teas here or $30 Palais des Thés calendar here
3. Bathtub Teas
Why This: We’re confident there’s definite crossover between the tea-drinking and bath-soaking communities, making these herbal bath teabags the perfectly multi-themed gift. Handmade by hydraAROMATHERAPY, these 8 bathtub teas may be hard to choose between, but we’d definitely want to try the Clarity bathtub tea with peppermint, eucalyptus, basil, spearmint, celery seed and essential oils.
Find It: $5.25 each here
4. Handmade Pottery Teacups
Why This: Afternoon tea goers appreciate the handmade touches that go into a delicious tea menu, and so when a member of Afternoon Tea Across America mentioned that a handcrafted pottery teacup would be a special gift, we immediately agreed and got to work researching our favorites. Reminder that very often you can directly message an Etsy vendor and they will accommodate a custom request (if you’d like to order more quantities than are listed). A few we liked so much that we included despite them being pricey or made overseas (possible costly/slow shipping). If you can’t dream big, why dream at all?
Find It: 1. $46 Herb Print here; 2. $31.79 Red Heart (pair) here; 3. $37.30 Porcelain Flower here; 4. $56 White Bird here; 5. $48 Honey Bee here; 6. $195 Iris here
5. Teacup Holsters
Why This: For your noble steampunk tea dueling friends, these handmade holsters are just the thing to carry the requisite “keg” (drinking vessel, aka teacup). All orders include the teacup and saucer to which the holster is fitted, making this a great gift set.
Find It: 1. $105 Parisian style here; 2. $50 Fancy black here; 3. $79.64 Forever tea here
6. Christmas Tea Collection
Why This: We love Tea Forte gift boxes! We still remember the first box we were given, and the thrill of discovering all the wonderful seasonal flavors inside. Unwrapping each individually packaged tea pyramid is like opening another present every morning!
Find it: $30 Presentation Box Warming Joy here
7. Three-Tiered Trays (aka Curates)
Why This: Many of us love the ritual of afternoon tea for its beautiful aesthetic, so naturally we’d cherish an eye-catching tiered stand on which to serve it. There is a curate for every style, and even several Etsy vendors upcycling china into 3-tiered stands. Here are some of our favorites.
Find It: 1. $76 White enamel/black matte here; 2. $90.99 Baroque (multiple color choices) here; 3. $25.99 Pink scalloped ceramic (or in lavendar/white) here; 4. $18.23 Square embellished porcelain (or with round plates) here; 5. $139.99 Gold lily pads here; 6. $28 Van Gogh paintings here
8. Tea Filters
Why This: The perfect stocking stuffer, these tea filters are our favorite way of making a great cup of loose leaf tea. No mess, no fuss, plenty of room for the tea leaves to expand, nothing extra to clean, the daily tea drinker can never have enough of these! You might choose a selection of the various sizes that hold enough tea for a cup to a pot.
Find It: $2.90 to $6.04 here