Where: 626 Main Street, Beach Grove, Indiana 46106
Style: Romantic traditional
Tea Selection: 20 blends of loose leaf teas
Teatimes: Tuesday to Saturday 9 to 4 (also Brunch and Lunch, Gift Shop open until 5); on the first Friday of each month, Dinner is offered 5:30 to 8.
Reservations: Recommended but not required
Contact: 317-591-9497
Cost: $21 Grand Tea Time; $15 Petite Tea, $12 Princess Tea; $12 Cream Tea; $8.99 Tea Flight
[Photo Credits: All photos provided by the Rustic Root Tea Room.]
Prices and teatimes are subject to change. Please see our Indiana afternoon tea directory for the latest details.
We often say that running a tearoom is truly a labor of love because we know the tremendous work and creativity that goes into preparing and presenting a memorable afternoon tea experience. The story behind the Rustic Root Tea Room and Gift Shop exemplifies exactly what we mean. Not uncommonly, it starts as a story of two sisters, Tammy Hanna and Jenny Wensel, who dreamed of opening a tearoom in their retirement. However, the sisters had learned a hard lesson about how precious and short life is: their parents passed away in their 50’s within two years of each other. So when Tammy’s husband encouraged her not to wait to make her dreams reality, she knew it was good advice, and opened her first gift shop in 2015. One year later, the Rustic Root moved to a bigger location with a commercial kitchen, allowing the sisters to launch their tearoom in 2017.
Tammy says, “life is so busy and we don’t want to lose the time we have” and so wants her tearoom to be a place where guests can “slow things down a bit and take back some of those precious moments time steals away.” The sisters would have loved to share their tearoom with their parents, and in a way, they still do. Throughout the tearoom and gift shop, they have incorporated remembrances that honor their parents: designing the Rose Room around the pattern from their mother’s china, and their logo to express gratitude for the extra work their father would take on every winter, scrapping metal in his old red pickup truck.
The Tea Rooms
Tammy can tell you, every tea room in the Rustic Root has design elements that remember close family and friends that have passed on. A sweetly sentimental hostess, Tammy understands that so much of the beauty of afternoon tea is the memories we make with our loved ones, to cherish the time we have together. Very often, when we gather over tea, we also remember those who once sat at our tea table, and scroll on to see that Tammy designated a special place in her tearoom for doing exactly that.
The Menu
The Rustic Root intentionally offers afternoon tea anytime during open hours, so that no one misses out on the scrumptious experience. Rather than stand on tradition, Tammy wants her customers to seize the moment, and if that means teatime in the morning, that’s fine by her. We’d be ordering the Grand Tea Time on a visit here, and if it happened to be in the morning, why not add mimosas? The Grand Tea includes 3 teas of your choice, 2 sandwich choices, a scone with clotted cream and your choice of specialty bread with a variety of sweet treats – yum! There are also lighter tea menus and a Princess Tea for kids 12 and under. Lunch features popular sandwiches like chicken salad, BLT, turkey panini, veggie wrap and chicken club, to name a few. The tearoom also serves omelettes, quiche, salads, soups, a loaded baked potato, kids’ menu and fresh-baked desserts. And on the first Friday of the month, a special dinner menu is offered.
Special Tea Events and Private Parties
A popular venue for bridal and baby showers, bible studies, birthdays and anniversaries, the Rustic Root’s various rooms are available for private parties, and they also host themed teas throughout the year, where fancy attire is most welcome.
Shop Local at the Rustic Root
We loved learning that the Rustic Root seeks out locally made and hand-blended products for their gift shop, like skincare products from nearby Bass Farms using their own goats milk. The Rustic Root sources handmade pieces by local artisans and stocks their gift shop with all kinds of finds such as candles, antiques, aprons, handmade cards, personalized jewelry, and most importantly, hand crafted tea.
To reserve your afternoon tea time at the Rustic Root, call 317-591-9497.
[Note: This is a sponsored blog post.]
