Announcing Destination Tea’s newest addition: themed Virtual Tea Party slideshows! Not to be stopped by a pandemic, tea friends around the world have been organizing virtual tea parties since last spring. Some virtual teas had educational speakers or panelists, while many more were simply loved ones sharing conversation over tea.
What really caught my eye was the virtual tea parties with fabulous planning and fanfare, to celebrate special occasions or cheer up friends and family feeling isolated at home. For these, the organizer might advance ship tea party teas, treats, favors, even teacups to everyone coming to the virtual tea. Or tea friends would all prepare the same afternoon tea menu at home, then come on to the call dressed in their finest tea fashion. And then came the latest invention in afternoon tea history: The Afternoon Tea Box.
The Perfect Companion to the Virtual Tea: The Afternoon Tea Box
We applaud the tearoom owners who found new ways to keep their businesses open during the pandemic, one of which we hope is here to stay: Afternoon Tea Boxes! These wondrous boxes open to reveal a full afternoon tea inside. Though many of us would prefer to have the total experience of going out for afternoon tea, when you cannot, how wonderful is it to have afternoon tea show up on your doorstep?
Photo credit: Emma’s Tea Spot
Ordering cream teas and afternoon teas became a worldwide phenomenon last year before Bridgerton came out, so you can just imagine how popular it is now. Which reminds me to remind you — you can browse your state’s Afternoon Tea Directory to check and see if your local afternoon tea venues have begun offering afternoon tea for delivery or pick-up. Some are even shipping nationwide, including two of our advertisers: Rose Arbour in Vermont and Hummingbird Tearoom & Bakery in Texas.
We love all these creative ways to set up an afternoon tea at home, and share it with friends who are remote. But say, wouldn’t it be more fun to issue a bit of a challenge to your afternoon tea friends?
Let the Games and Afternoon Tea Banter Begin!
Anyone who knows me knows that I love games and I love learning. So we’ve pulled from our afternoon tea research and 100+ afternoon tea visits to launch Destination Tea’s first downloadable products: themed Virtual Tea Party Activities for $10 each.
Each theme includes a unique Slideshow with 5 or 6 segments, and Host Notes chock-full of tea knowledge to share. To keep the party going, the slideshows alternate between “Tea Knowledge” and “Let’s Play” sections, and recommend topics for discussion breaks. (As the host, you have discretionary power to skip anything that’s too nerdy for your group.)
In the “Intro to Afternoon Tea” set, newbies to afternoon tea will explore types of tea, afternoon tea customs, tea menus, teaware and tea accessories. This theme could also be fun for longtime afternoon tea goers, to test the knowledge they’ve gathered over the years.
The “Afternoon Tea History & Etiquette” set is for you history buffs and afternoon tea aficionados. In this slideshow, we focus on how afternoon tea came to be and which tea equipage, etiquette and customs have developed over time.
Tell Us What You Think
We’d love to hear how it went after you use one of our Virtual Tea Party Activities. Please reach out and let us know what you think, and if there’s more themes you’d like us to add.
Here’s hoping your next virtual tea party is a joy!
