April 18, 2010
BRITS
Ashby's of London Tea & Biscottea Honeybrush Tea Shortbread
April 14, 2010: It’s generally believed that tea first arrived in England sometime during the 16th century. At this time, most people ate just two meals a day, breakfast and lunch.
To control midday hunger, the practice of drinking tea around 3 o’clock with a light snack quickly became a popular afternoon delight in England.
To experience a little British tea, I stopped into a British tea shop on my way through Lawrence, Kansas. BRITS is located on 929 Massachusetts Street and is a great place to explore British tea, biscuits, and jam.
As I walked in the shop, immediately to my right was a treasure displaying all sorts of Alice in Wonderland themed tea items. Very fitting, considering Lewis Carroll, the author of the original Alice in Wonderland book was British.
Brits has basically every Alice in Wonderland tea accessory you could possibly want: teapots, teapot cozies, mugs, saucers, plates, and more.
When I finally had enough of Alice, I spent a lot of time looking at Brits selection of British teas. The popular brands they sell are Yorkshire, TY-PHOO, PG Tips, Miles, Ashby’s of London, and Ahmad Tea London.
I’ve never tried any of these so I grabbed a set of Ashby’s of London to enjoy British afternoon tea at home.
Since British tea time just wouldn’t be the same without a British dessert, I headed towards the snack section.
Brits has a large variety of British biscuits, items that are hard to come by in shops around Kansas.
Outside the the tea shop
Homfield Bakery and Mr. Kipling are the most popular brands. They offer lemon curd tarts, treade tarts, cherry bakewells, and mini battenbergs. All delightful treats to have with hot tea.
Off in a section all their own, I discovered a unique British biscuit called biscottea. I bought some to pair with the Ashby’s of London tea I planned to buy.
I chose the honeybrush tea shortbread, which is “created with African honeybrush herbal tea” and uses all natural, organic ingredients.Brits also sells blueberry, chai, mint, and earl grey Bisottea shortbread.
I was excited about these cookies because tea is used to make them. How neat!
Apparently the tea leaves used to make these biscuits are “grown on the same mountain as the Rooibos (Red tea) plant.” Rooibos tea, an African tea, is very popular right now.
They have a unique flavor. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think I taste a hint of honey, and they’re crunchy with a crumbly outer texture
The tea and cookies were the highlight of my experience, yet I was largely I was impressed with Brits’ selection of jams and marmalades.
Here I am enjoying British Tea Time
Brits carries British brands which include Wilkins & Sons Ltd and Thursdays Cottage. The preserves and marmalades from Wilkins & Sons come in variety of flavors. I saw gooseberry jam, damson jam, wild blueberry, and orange & tangerine.
Each jar of Thursdays Cottage marmalades is homemade. I don’t know if anyone’s ever tasted I blood orange marmalade, three fruit marmalade, and grapefruit marmalade, I would like to try some of these flavors sometime.
After my trip to Brits, I enjoyed a quiet British teatime at home with my family. It was great fun for me being a Kansas girl and all!
