My Vintage Tea Party
Ramblings and Reviews From a Lover of Tea and All Things Vintage
As I mentioned in my review of afternoon tea at the Taj in Boston, I had the opportunity to visit a second tea room while vacationing there. Abigail's Tea Room is located in the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum and is a very casual dining experience. My mother and I saved this for our last full day in Boston, and it was actually one of the things I was looking forward to the most. I love history museums, and I love interactive history museums even more. For those of you who are not familiar with the Boston Tea Party museum, it's a small museum that allows you to board a replica ship and throw pretend tea chests into Boston harbor. It really is an experience-- all of the employees are dressed in 18th century garb and stay in character, allowing tourists to get in touch with their inner rebellious colonist and participate in the famous events of December 16, 1773. However, I will move on to the tea room since this is not a review of the museum itself. I do try to stay on topic. Abigail's Tea Room (named for John Adams's wife, Abigail) was charming in every sense of the word. The inside looks very much like a cozy 1700s tavern with wooden tables and chairs and waitresses in their period accurate dresses. Each table is set with an old-fashioned board game (actually, the "boards" are fabric but you get what I mean) to encourage guests to socialize and stay and enjoy the atmosphere. Do not go expecting a fancy afternoon tea experience with dainty finger sandwiches and bone china; do expect to enjoy a full meal, drink your tea from a mug, and politely stuff your face with a tasty dessert. I opted for a chicken salad croissant and the tea tasting, or as it is sometimes called, the "bottomless" tea mug which allows you to drink as much tea as possibly can. For those who want to take a mug home with them, you can also purchase a "bottomless" mug that comes with a souvenir mug featuring the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum logo. The tea selection was very impressive, and I loved that the waitresses were knowledgeable about each kind. Nothing is more frustrating than going to a tea room and asking questions about their teas, only to be met with a series of "ummm....I don't know"s from staff. I believe there were five teas when I visited, all set up at the back of the dining room in large brass urns accompanied by a brief write-up of each kind. All of the teas they featured were blends thrown over into Boston Harbor on the night of the Tea Party. The benefit of getting the "bottomless" mug is being able to taste each blend and decide which you wanted to take home, as they sold all of them and many, many more in their gift shop. My favorite ended up being the Congou (apparently pronounced kung-fu), the highest quality black tea of the selection. It is similar to an English Breakfast blend with none of the smoky flavor of Bohea, which I bought to take home, or Souchong. The only tea that I did not try was Souchong because I knew already that it do not care for it at all. Unfortunately, they did not have a small pouch of the Congou-- only a large tin, so I did not end up purchasing it as I just don't have room in my tea cabinet for many more tins. The other teas available for tasting were Young Hyson and Singlo green teas. Of the two, I preferred the Young Hyson and bought a small packet which I will review soon. I can honestly say that I was not disappointed with any part of Abigail's Tea room, aside from a brief run-in with a less-than-enthusiastic employee...but that's beside the point. If any of you ever find yourself in Boston, I highly recommend both the museum and the tea room. Even if you aren't a lover of history like I am, I believe it is still an enjoyable and delicious experience worth having. Bonus picture of me after I rebelliously threw "tea" into the harbor. Onward to Abigail's!
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About Me
Greetings, readers! My name is Jordie, and I am a tea obsessed, history loving young lady who just happened to be born about 60 years too late. Archives
February 2017
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