"The beverage of the intellectual"

Each month, I go back and re-read my vintage copies of Victoria magazine. In one of the July issues, I spotted a tea book I'd never seen before, so I went trolling the online used bookstores and soon had a copy of Geraldene Holt's 1991 book "A Cup of Tea" on its way.

Received and read this lovely book over the weekend. Holt was inspired to write this book after a trip to the Minton Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. She got to peruse some of the early Minton pattern books, and this book is packed with early watercolors of Minton teacup and saucer designs. Interspersed throughout the book are quotes by a wide variety of tea fans, so I'll leave you with this one, which should instantly resonate with any tea lover:

"... For tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their nervous sensibilities, or are become so from wine-drinking, and are not susceptible of influence from so refined a stimulant, will always be the favored beverage of the intellectual ..." -- Thomas de Quincey