Did you know that April is National Afternoon Tea Month? Tea drinkers worldwide already celebrate this every day, right? I love tea, but I can’t have caffeinated tea any more, so these days I have to drink non-caffeinated tea. How about you? Do you like tea — or coffee or hot chocolate or all of them?
Afternoon teas remind of me of Grandma Yun McMillan in my Christian beach town and island romance novel, His Longing Heart (Seaside Chapel Book 1), and I thought we’d make a trip to St. Simon’s Island to pay her a visit. Well, to no one’s surprise, Yun invited us to her house for…tea! I’ve prepared some questions for her, and she kindly shared her thoughts with us.
It must’ve been hard for you to raise three grandkids when their mother deserted them. How did you manage?
Yun: You know I was going to tell you that it’s all by the grace of God that we made it this far. When Otto was alive, he was the fatherly figure that the kids needed. He made sure they were fed and clothed. I taught piano and violin at that time, so music lessons were free for the kids. While Willow picked up piano and Ivan picked up violin, Quincy didn’t care about any classical music or church hymns. So he chose not to take any music lessons. Of course, I didn’t make him. The Lord leads whom He leads, you know.
In Ivan’s story, he talked about wanting to provide for you after all you have done for him.
Yun: He’s such a wonderful grandson when he gave up his concert career to come home to St. Simon’s Island to take care of me after Otto died. I didn’t think he needed to do that since my church, Seaside Chapel, was taking care of me when I broke my hip. But Ivan is Ivan, and he did what he felt was the right thing to do. He took over my music studio — or rather, he rebooted it — and he started playing violin for the local symphony orchestra.
The Sea Islands Symphony Orchestra (SISO) must have been a compensation for Ivan now that he’s not touring anymore.
Yun: I suppose it is. Ivan lost his crossover career because of me. I think he said that some day he might go back on tour, but he stopped talking about leaving the island altogether after he got interested in Brinley Brooks. Priorities, you know.
Grandma Yun, what is this “Tea for Two at Two” all about?
Yun: Ah, I’m glad you asked. Every now and then, I invite someone over for tea with me at 2 p.m. on a weekday afternoon. We would talk about life and such, and I would share the Bible with them. They know I would read the Bible with them because they know me from church. Most of the people I invite over are believers, but occasionally they are not. In one case, I invited Brinley over because I knew she was searching for the meaning of life. I wanted to know what she thought about Jesus. Turned out she was very interested in the Lord. I was happy to share with her that God loves her very much and wants the best in life for her. It mattered not how rich or poor we are materially, but it matters if we are rich or poor spiritually. If you want to know what happened to Brinley next, you’d have to read my grandson’s book, of course. Haha!
My interview with Grandma Yun ended because it was time for her to go to church. She kept an active schedule even though she was in her nineties. Find her in His Longing Heart which is in Kindle Unlimited.
About tea, how do you take your tea? Do you brew loose leaf tea and steep it in a teapot or do you use tea bags for convenience? Or both? I do both myself. Sometimes it’s just faster to dip a tea bag. Other times I go all out and spend time making hot tea. What about iced cold tea? Do you add sugar or honey to it?
Giveaway: Tell me how you make your tea or tell me if you have read a novel lately that has tea time in it, and I’ll enter your name into a random giveaway. This giveaway ends on Sunday (April 30, 2023). If you don’t drink tea at all, tell me about your favorite coffee or hot drink. A randomly drawn winner will win an ebook of mine (your choice from my inventory of ebooks on Amazon.com).
Happy Afternoon Tea Month to you!
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
Ok I know have Tea for Two stuck in my head. a week ago it was Iowa Stubborn, after Storychats it was OKLAHOMA and now its Tea for Two.
Um I don’t drink tea, or coffee or hot chocolate. For that matter I don’t drink hot drinks. As a kid I use to drink Milo and nesquik. I also use to drink a honey drink (Honey in warm milk) But now I drink more water and will drink milkshakes occasionally.
LOL :-)
I remember Milo and Nesquick. I was at an Asian store and saw Milo. I didn’t realize how much sugar was in in LOL. But as a kid, I had high metabolism I suppose.
I do still drink honey with lemon in hot water. But yes to water. Lots of water for me.
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Blessed Saturday, Jan! This German American prefers her Kaffee (coffee) with cream. In Germany, especially on the weekend @ 3 pm is Kaffeeklatsch – coffee break with Kuchen (cake). As I write I am drinking coffee and eating a Raspberry Scone (International Breakfast). Haha. Depending on the season in SW Michigan – during cooler weather I may have an afternoon Lemon Ginger Tea sweetened with local honey and some added lemon juice. Around the Christmas holidays, I often enjoy drinking a hot chocolate with a peppermint candy cane and lots of whipped cream. In the warmer months I enjoy Raspberry Tea Lemonade with Club Soda. To stay healthy during the day I drink water. Best wishes.
Jan, I use Bigelow Lemon Ginger Tea and Raspberry Tea Bags for making my tea to drink or to add to Oma’s famous Raspberry Lemonade (my grandchildren’s favorite beverage). First thing my granddaughters learned to make. As a child my mother grew her own peppermint and we dried the leaves to make peppermint tea.
Wow. So you make your own raspberry lemonade and peppermint tea? That sounds delightful.
Sometime I make ginger tea from loose leaf tea and boil it with real ginger and then pour it over honey and a slice of lemon.
Blessed Saturday to you too, Renate!
Ooh coffee and raspberry scones sound delicious! Yummy. I have had to hold back on scones bc I need to lose weight (too much pie last Christmas LOL).
Oh speaking of German food — yesterday I tried out Beef Rouladen for the first time. I like it!
Yes to lemon ginger tea and honey an extra lemon juice! We’re on the same page!
I haven’t added peppermint candy into my hot chocolate at Christmas. I must try it. I can’t do whipped cream but the rest sounds yummy.
Yes to lost of water water water.
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
I love tea! I drink a lot of green, white or Earl Grey tea. Also in summer I drink iced black tea with lemon and stevia sweetener.
On the other hand I love hot chocolate and chocolate frappucino with whipped cream. We usually drink iced coffee when I’m out with friends.
Just a lot of girls at my university go out dancing and drinking liquor…we go out chatting and having coffee and cake.
I love tea too! I used to drink a lot of green, black, and Earl Grey. Lady Grey doesn’t taste as good as Earl Grey. Now I have to go decaffeinated. Sigh…
Coffee and cake sound more delicious than those people getting drunk. No hangover for us!
Hot chocolate sounds good too. With marshmallows!
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
oh i love lady gray too lol i guess it was because i first took that one before i got to earl grey.
I shouldn’t say it “doesn’t taste as good’ — I should clarify that I like my tea strong, and that Lady Grey doesn’t taste as strong to me as Early Grey :-)
I will brew tea or use tea bags. I like green tea, almond chai and oolong teas. I don’t add anything to my tea unless it is ice tea. I will add lemon to that.
Sounds great! I also like chai and oolong. I also like darjeeling and assam and other Indian teas. For black tea I usually add milk, but for others I add honey or drink it without.
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Hot chocolate in the winter time.
Yummy!
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
I love tea, but I’ve stopped drinking it much, as I add way too much sugar! lol! So, I’m down to using green tea with ginseng and honey, and only one glass a day. Unless I go out to lunch with friends, and then I’ll have have a glass of sweet tea. I just can’t drink it unsweetened! I love coffee, too, and drink it straight black, and I also love hot chocolate, so I trade off and have coffee in the mornings and hot chocolate later. When I make tea, I use teabags, though. My green tea is Arizona Tea, already premade!
I love unsweetened iced tea! Now at restaurants sometimes they water it down too much. But when they do it right, cold unsweetened tea is for me. They usually default to sweet in the south, so I have to always ask for UNSWEET. If I forget, I pay for it LOL.
I can’t drink coffee, but I do like hot chocolate! Yum yum yum.
I haven’t tried AZ Tea, but I’ve seen them at Publix!
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
I love tea. To me from the UK this means hot black tea with milk. I’m happy to drink tea any time of day but I do particularly like a cup in the morning. I just make it with a teabag to save time but I do like to make it properly in a pot with tealeaves if I have the time.
I have never tried iced tea as it sounds like it’s made differently – not sure if it has milk, and seems to have sugar? But I’d love to try it someday as I read about it so often in books.
Oh yes, hot black tea with milk for me too. I do love the British way of making tea. I make loose leaf tea in a tea pot.
However, as I mentioned, I can’t have caffeinated tea anymore, so I miss a lot of it.
I make my iced tea without sugar. I just brew the tea as usual with hot water from the stove, but then let it cool down. After I refrigerate it for a while, voila — cold tea! You can add ice or apple juice or a slice of lemon to it to flavor it. I don’t use sugar per se.
I think there are tea brands at the grocery store (supermarket) that have special iced tea blends, but I don’t use those. There are also iced tea makers where you put ice in its holder and it brews iced tea for you right away into in a carafe or jug.
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
I drink iced tea first u put tea bags in hot boling water for awhile then we put the sugar and lemonade package in so it will dissolve then we put it in ice a cold water then it’s ready we make it lots in the spring and summer when it’s warm I also like an ice cold diet coke when it’s warm. it finally warmed up here we had rain snow hail and rain with snow since February so we were all ready for the 85 degree weather we had this week.
Oh nice! Sounds like the perfect drink for a warm summer’s day. Here in FL, it gets warmer sooner, so I’ve already been drinking cold water a lot. Iced cold soda sounds good too, as is sparkling mineral water for me.
Where are you at with 85F? It’s like that in FL these days. If not for the coastal winds, we might be baking in the hot sun LOL.
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Battle ground Washington the last two years we got snow in April then rained till end of June then had hot weather till middle of October we usually don’t have snow in April or have rain till end of June we have had record rain fall last year and this year
Interesting weather patterns!
Hi Jan!! I am normally a coffee drinker now. But I also drink tea. I like the flavored teas, like peppermint or orange spice. Those I do not sweeten. I also drink green and/or black which is supposed to be good for you. Those I sweeten with a sweetener. I used to have a jug of sweetened tea in the frig all summer. I don’t do that so much anymore. I also like peppermint hot chocolate and flavored coffees.
Hi Bonnie! Flavored tea sounds delicious. There are so many varieties now it’s hard to choose. I haven’t had peppermint and orange spice in a while. Thanks for the reminder. Lately I’ve tried peach flavor.
Yes green and black tea have antioxidants. I do add milk or honey to it. but not milk with lemon of course — the milk will curdle.
Ooh re: flavored coffee. I don’t drink coffee but I have bought many flavors for family members. They smell sooo good!
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
I liked drinking Irish Breakfast Tea with non-dairy milk and date syrup over iced for a pick me up. If I’m lucky I’ll have a cup of green tea to start my day. I also just read for the second time Roseanna M White’s The Number Of Love again and they have quite a bit of tea in that novel.
Irish Breakfast Tea and English Breakfast Tea are some of my favorites. I would get them in bags!
Ooh interesting. I haven’t tried date syrup before. I’ll look for it in the grocery store soon.
Nice! I didn’t know that RMW’s novel has tea in it. Maybe I’ll add it to my TBR. I do love books about teas!
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
I am a coffee drinker. I’ve tried to drink hot tea, but I just can’t seem to enjoy it. I’ve tried different flavors and types, but nope! I do like iced tea. I have actually made sun tea. I also have a tea maker,( like a coffee maker), and have brewed tea with tea bags to make a large pitcher of it.
I hear you. I know people who only ever drink coffee and no tea. And people who drink only tea and no coffee. Nice to have a lot of variety!
I have never made sun tea. Maybe I’ll put it on my list of summer things to try.
I used to have an iced tea maker but would rather drink hot tea, so when it broke (it was all plastic), I didn’t replace it.
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
haven’t read a novel that has tea time in it
The novel with Grandma Yun in it is His Longing Heart (Seaside Chapel Book 1). I hope you get to read it some day. It’s one of my longest novels, at over 660 pages long.
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I love tea! I like it hot and iced. I also like to change it up with a variety of flavors.
Nice! Same here!
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What a delightful post, Jan. Interestingly, I was drinking a cup of tea when I opened your blog! I have a cup of decaf coffee in the morning, and decaf tea at night. I drink regular iced tea during the day–an unsweetened raspberry flavor. Occasionally I have a cup of flavored herbal tea, but for the most part, I prefer regular plain black tea, made with teabags.
Thank you, Erin! Glad you enjoyed the post. How nice it is to drink tea while reading a blog post about afternoon teas. Perfect timing!
You’re the second person mentioning raspberry flavored tea. I should try it.
I used to drink black tea all day long. I still miss it!
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Hi Jan, I’m a hot tea drinker, and a big fan of afternoon tea. I drink both loose leaf and teabags. I probably have at least a dozen tea varieties in my kitchen atm. I add fresh 2% milk to unflavoured black tea (English Breakfast), but I never add sugar or honey or any sweeteners. 😊
Nice! I do love milk with English Breakfast. The last time I had it, I drank it with goat milk. It was actually pretty good.
I never used to add honey to my tea until I switched to decaf.
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I always drink Lipton black tea with Splenda. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
Lipton is pretty good tea too, especially their black tea in teabags. Very convenient to make if I want a spot of tea in a hurry. Lipton has been around for a very long time.
May God bless you too!
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I drink a chai tea mix
I do like chai too. I like the spices mixed in it. Hot chai with milk was one of my big favorites.
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!