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 ‘First Flush’ Tea at Hill Tea Bar’s 1st anniversary
Last year at this time, Pam McLaughlin opened the Hill Tea Bar, a beautiful café tucked just past the corner of East Hartwell and Germantown Avenues. She’s turned it into a jewel of a space, punctuated with art that changes monthly and is so sensitively selected that it feels, well. . . curated. Check out Eric Sternfels ‘Tea Sculptures,’ on display through June 16. Still, it is the tasty treats, small meals, artisan beverages and especially the teas that draw a robust customer base here. When I dropped by recently, a party of 16 was celebrating a prospective mom in the Garden Room, which they had reserved. Just past the tea bar itself, this space has become popular for tea parties (adult and “princess”), bridal showers and business meetings. When the weather suits, its French doors open onto a semi-private, beautifully manicured garden. Last Friday afternoon, an array of customers who looked refreshingly different from one another (except that all happened to be female) filled the place, lolling at outdoor tables under the umbrellas, reclining on the Adirondack chairs in the secluded garden and communing across from one another in the café’s other cozy alcove. Tea smoothies seemed to be the order of the day. The first anniversary of the Hill Tea Bar has spun off special events that reflect Pam’s pleasure and expertise in the leaf itself. For example, on the evening of June 12, the public is invited for a small cup of “first flush” organic Darjeeling tea, on the house. Darjeeling is grown in India along the base rim of the Himalayas and harvested several times a year. But it’s the March harvest, at the first flush of spring, that captures what Pam describes as a “fresh, bright and lively tea with an intense floral flavor and aroma.” The flush varies in taste, year to year, depending on the conditions of its growth and fermentation. The Hill Tea Bar sells first and second “flush” Darjeelings all year by the cup, tea bag or full leaf. While Pam isn’t known for pressing you with the facts, I couldn’t help but ask for more. I mean, I grew up knowing nothing about this “flush” business. “Darjeeling is located in the state of West Begal,in India.” she explained. “The slopes there reach 5,000 feet above sea level. This region is as unique to the cultivation of Darjeeling tea as the Champagne region is in France. And you hear about the cold ‘Darjeeling mist.’ Those conditions produce a first flush that is bright and intensely aromatic. Some say that it leaves a cooling and slightly sweet aftertaste in the mouth. It can only be grown in this kind of terrain, in this one location. So Darjeeling is sometimes called the ‘champagne of teas’.” And if the tea is gently habit-forming, so may be story-teller Annie Hart. On Friday evening, June 12, 7-8:30p.m., in honor of the tea bar’s anniversary, Annie returns for another story-telling soiree.
She presents a kind of one-woman show that takes the audience on an imaginary roll with all belief suspended. This month the tale is called ”First flush, first blush; finding your dreams through the tea leaf.” No reservation is necessary; the event is free, and the sample of Darjeeling first flush tea is courtesy of the bar. The following Friday evening, June 19, the Chestnut Hill Wine Academy will hold a South African wine evening. Reservations required, $40/person. And on Saturdays, customers can taste a changing sampler from the 70 varieties that the Tea Bar stocks. That includes 25 varieties that Pam herself hand- blends with local organic fruit and herbs. Guitarist-singer Michael Mabre performs on occasional Sundays. A book event honoring Donna Allendar will be held in July. A “Tea and Health” class will be scheduled later this summer. And Pam published her own tea cookbook this year, Tea Fusions for Real Life from the Hill Tea Bar. The Hill Tea Bar is at 6 East Hartwell Lane. More info: 215-381-2226 or visit www.thehillteabar.com
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