Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A visit to Elmwood Inn Fine Teas

On my trip to Kentucky last week, the Traveling Tea Friends got to enjoy a visit to Elmwood Inn Fine Teas in Danville, Kentucky thanks to our host, Linda!

If you've been reading Tea Time magazine for years, as many of us have, you know that tea expert/author/blender Bruce Richardson is one of the superstars of the tea world. He and his wife Shelley for many years operated a tea room at their home, the Elmwood Inn in Perryville, Kentucky. They no longer have a tea room, but they do have a wholesale tea operation and, "just for fun," he says, have the tea shop in Danville that is open to the public Monday through Friday. Here, he shows us an old wooden chest which was once used to transport Twinings Tea.

Nancy and Linda listen as Bruce shares a bit of tea history with our group.

We got to sample several delicious teas while we were there, including this rare Forest White Hawaiian Tea. Bruce let us pass around some of the loose leaf tea so we could examine it before we enjoyed sipping it.

Preparing our tea was his assistant, Lois, who was so friendly and chatted with our group after the presentation.

Here, Bruce shows a puerh tea brick he received from a friend in the tea world.

All too soon our learning and sipping time was up, because of course we had to have some time to shop, and what a shop this was! There were teawares in every color of the rainbow.

No matter what your taste, the shop had something to make you happy.

I just loved seeing all the colorful teawares on display!

Of course my favorite souvenir is always a book, and here you see one of the book displays, with Linda and Shelley in the background.

One of the books I brought home was A Social History of Tea by Bruce and British tea expert Jane Pettigrew. Here, he kindly autographs the book for me. He is a very down-to-earth man, and I appreciated the story he told about some cards he received for his recent birthday. One card came from his brother in Georgia and had a "Duck Dynasty" theme, and the next card he opened came from his friend Dorothea Johnson, the etiquette expert and founder of The Protocol School of Washington. "I walk in both worlds," he laughed.

And last but not least, the hard-working Linda was kind enough to take a picture of me with Bruce. What a fun, fun time! And if you're not in Kentucky, you can shop Elmwood Inn Fine Teas online here. Once I've had time to try them, I'll tell you about the new teas I got at the shop!

14 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful place to visit, and how extra special that you got to meet Bruce and enjoy his company and his expertise.

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  2. Very fun! And a new book too! Sounds perfect...tea, books, friends...what more could one want!
    Ruth

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  3. It certainly was a fun event. You took some great photos of the shop and the participants. I too love buying souvenir books and can't wait to read A Social History of Tea.

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  4. What a fun visit! That would be a lovely place to go.

    I really enjoyed seeing him speak at the Jane Austen conference back in October. I'm so glad his wife is okay, since I hadn't heard from or about her in a while.

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  5. I enjoyed this post and look forward to hearing of the teas you purchased. The book display looks enticing.

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  6. Angela, that is a great photo of you. I enjoy your posts and wish I were there. Blessings

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  7. I love books about Tea! Tea Time magazine is a favorite of mine too! Thanks - looks fun! Great pic too!

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  8. What a fun experience! I'm glad you shared your day with us.

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  9. How fun to meet Bruce.
    When I use to attend the World Tea Expo I always made sure I met and said hello to both Bruce and Shelley. Loved the teapots with the rose on the side. Very pretty.

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  10. A great article indeed and a very detailed, realistic and superb analysis of the current and past scenarios.

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  11. Great blog post about our experience at Elmwood Inn. It is almost shocking to see myself in so many blog photos. Like you and other bloggers, I am usually the photographer behind the camera!

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  12. Great recap of our time at Elmwood Inn Fine Teas. If time would have permitted I could have listened to Bruce talk for another hour - he is so interesting.

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  13. Another great post, Angela! The tea shop looks lovely - wonderful selections and artfully arranged: I will have to add this to the travel list!

    Can't wait to hear about the book. Glad to see a photo of you (you're usually taking the photos!) Thanks for your great blog, I enjoy it.
    Joanie

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  14. Another great post, Angela! The tea shop looks lovely - wonderful selections and artfully arranged: I will have to add this to the travel list!

    Can't wait to hear about the book. Glad to see a photo of you (you're usually taking the photos!) Thanks for your great blog, I enjoy it.
    Joanie

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