A Tea Tasting at the Moreland Mill

When my friend and former colleague Winston told me about a "Cup and Author Afternoon" planned at the Moreland Mill for December 6, an event which would include a tea tasting, I knew I wanted to go, and I was so happy when my friend Deberah agreed to meet me there.

The former Moreland Hosiery Mill and the building which once housed W. A. Brannon Mercantile have been preserved and are regularly used for many different events in the community.

And here is my friend Winston talking about Erskine Caldwell, a famous American author who was born not far from the Moreland Mill. I knew from our years working together that Winston is quite the expert on Caldwell and his writings, including "Tobacco Road" and "God's Little Acre." There were readings from several local authors as well, but of course the story I was most interested in was that of the Georgia Tea Company, an online tea company I recently learned is based in Moreland!

One of the first things I did was check out the tea display, because I was very curious to see what sort of teas are being produced by the Georgia Tea Company.

They had a nice display, which I was glad to see included some actual loose leaf tea samples for us to check out.

The four we got to sample were prepared and waiting in urns with small tasting cups, and I must admit that I did have quite a few seconds.

The teas we tasted were Almond Cookies, Gingerbread House, Divine Temple, and Spiced Pear. I tried the Gingerbread House herbal tea first, and it was what I'd call a dessert tea, a nice blend of flavors with a little cinnamon and a lot of fruity goodness (apple, pineapple, papaya, and coconut were among the flavors). Then I tried the Almond Cookies tea, a flavored green that was the most almond-y tasting tea I've ever tried, another lovely dessert tea. Next, I had the Spiced Pear tea, a black tea with the flavors of pear, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. It was an interesting and more complex twist on a pear-flavored tea. Last, I tried Divine Temple, a white tea blend flavored with candied mango, pineapple, and papaya, as well as strawberry, red currants, sour cherry, and apricots. I enjoyed all these teas and was impressed with the freshness and the unique flavors.

Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you which tea was my favorite … and you just might be able to win some of this tea for yourself!