Finding tea at Serenbe

Yesterday, Alex and I were going a little stir crazy, so after Zoom church, we headed up the road where we figured we could safely social distance and enjoy a walk at Serenbe, a planned community in neighboring Fulton County. When I was a reporter many moons ago, I interviewed the founders, Steve and Marie Nygren, who got the name "Serenbe" from a combination of the words "Serenity" and "Being," and Serenbe has drawn accolades from all over the world, including Oprah, for its "New Urbanism" development in Chattahoochee Hills. (Fun fact for tea lovers: Marie Nygren is the daughter of the late Margaret Lupo, who owned Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta.)

Many of the homes we passed had lovely fall displays.

I didn't expect to see so many flowers at this time of year, and these camellias were particularly lovely.

One home had lavish beds of daisies out front.

And I wasn't the only one enjoying them!

We stopped for snacks at the Blue Eyed Daisy, where I got a chocolate cupcake and some excellent loose tea, listed as simply a black tea with rose, cocoa, and cloves. The cupcakes were buy one get one free, and Alex wanted a brownie instead of a cupcake, so we got the extra one to go, and they packaged both of them in upside-down plastic cups. What a great idea for how to package a cupcake!

And the cupcake was excellent, by the way. I think the chocolate cupcakes my friend Susan makes are the best I've ever eaten, and this one tasted exactly like hers: moist cake and creamy frosting.

When Alex and I were seated outside and I told him I really wished I knew what kind of tea that was, he said, "You want me to go ask?" I said yes, and he did. The helpful clerk came and shared the name with me. Anyone ever heard of August Uncommon Tea? I had not, but I sure plan to check out their teas now. 

When I told Alex I would blog about the tea, he said, "You want to show them what I had?" and I said, "Sure!"

It was fun to get away from home for a few hours, and finding a new tea was the icing on the (cup) cake!