Get your pinkies in the air because tea time is back. Maybe not like the high teas depicted in Victorian eraEngland, although sometimes this tea is amusing, this type of tea takes quite a bit of planning and preparation. On the other hand there is an emerging style of tea manifesting itself into people’s ordinary lives. Unlike the flashy, proper version of tea that most people associate with the term “tea time,” this newer, more hip version involves a more relaxed, casual atmosphere.

It seems extremely ironic to me how the partakers in this activity have changed throughout the years. In the past, tea was an integrated part of society, everyone partook in tea. No matter your status, tea was an essential aspect of the day, if you didn’t take part in tea it was an extreme humiliation to you. At this time, how much you could provide for a tea time, such as food, dishes and other novelties, revealed your social status. Now, fast forward some two-hundred years and you can still find people who are participating in the act of having tea. Although it isn’t necessarily of the same degree and for the same reasons that people once enjoyed tea, it still has similar intents of gathering friends who sip their tea, taste finger-foods, spread gossip and enjoy each others company and laughter.

In my life, I have had the opportunity to know people who have allowed me to participate in multiple tea parties. These tea parties have not always been just a casual, laid-back time; there have been times when they could be considered the equivalent of a Victorian era tea in this day and age. I can vividly remember my first encounter with a tea to this extravagant extent, I was probably eight or nine and my aunt (to whom I give the name the Tea Queen) and my cousin were in town for the holidays. At the historicBrownPalaceinDenver,Colorado, we partook in an exuberant and stylish high tea, consisting of multiple different types of teas and an array of pastries and delicious snacks. I think it was there at my first encounter with a high tea that I truly fell in love with the idea and the concept of a tea party or having a tea-time.

But tea doesn’t always have to be exponentially proper, expensive and rigorous. There are other outlets for experiencing and satisfy your need for tea. Besides the well-known chain coffee shops, try branching out and finding those small, locally-owned shops which litter the downtown areas of any city. Let your taste buds have an adventure, give them something more than just the regular flavor of commonalities. If you’re wishing to look for an new place to try in and around the Fort Collins area, try Happy Lucky’s Tea House, Starry Night, the Alley Cat, the House of Windsor, Truman’s, Mugs, the Bean Cycle, the Wild Boar or Cuppy’s. Happy tea time!