Empress Tea Company

This is the Garden Court at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The space was originally a carriage house for guests’ horses & buggies, complete with dirt floor. Top shows view upon entry. Image at right shows view from balcony.

What made you first want to get into tea purveying?

I attended a tearoom in Orange, CA named Buttercup Cottage and I was hooked. I began learning about all things tea and the rituals unique to different cultures, and tea’s interesting history. I first began to do tea catering where I brought the entire tea experience into people’s homes—which is a lot of work, but also enjoyable.

What has surprised you most about the business of tea?

I think I was most surprised by the willingness of people involved in the tea industry to share their knowledge of tea and a willingness to assist in helping you navigate the ever-changing tea trade.

What changes have you seen in the tea market since you took over Empress?

Over the years, the increasing interests in tea itself and how it can benefit you. People seem to have a genuine desire to learn about tea and products that will improve the brewing techniques.

What are the most popular teas at the moment?

Flavored black teas are very popular still, Irish Morning (a black tea with rum flavors and coconut flavors) and Apricot- Peach. Green teas are very popular due to the media talking about the antioxidants and health benefits. Our Madame Butterfly and Tropical Green are very popular. Herbals and Rooibos are gaining in popularity due to the varied and limitless array of flavors that are available today.

What trends do you foresee in the coming year?

I see an increased interest in tea as a culinary ingredient. Whether in baking or cooking, there are endless possibilities. I also see increased use of teas in lattes and frothed drinks, as well as increased use of teas in alcoholic drinks.

What’s your own favorite tea?

I love Jasmine Green teas, or Green Dragon, and I really enjoy oolong teas. There are several flavored Rooibos teas I enjoy—one is caramel and another is a vanilla and cream that is delicious. I

really enjoy most teas, and there have been some that I have tried once and that was enough for me.

What is the most unusual blend you’ve created?

I am not sure if it is the most unusual I have created, but has been the most popular. It is called Sweet Charlotte; it was created as a gift to one of our customers who had given birth to her first child. Her mother always ordered a black tea with apricot and peach flavors, and the mother-to-be always ordered coconut.

When I learned they were both coming in for tea with the new baby, I mixed several teas to create Sweet Charlotte. She had named her baby Charlotte. When I presented the tea to them, I think we all ended up crying. It is now an extremely popular selection. I feel that Empress Tea offers a more personalized service to our customers, many of which have been ordering our teas for many years.

What can you tell us about your

Tea by Design events?

My goal for the event is to have everyone attending develop a tea to suit their particular tastes.

They will choose a base for their tea creation, either black, green or white tea and add various flavorings and dried fruits and petals to create a unique tea for them to take home and enjoy. I am looking forward to seeing what people will create. It should be fun or all.

What sets Empress teas apart from other brands? What plans do you have for Empress in the next few years?

I want to start attending local farmer’s markets and local festivals, so more people can experience tea and all it has to offer. I enjoy talking to people about tea and farmer’s markets afford an opportunity to accomplish that.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy the opportunity to help people learn about new teas and experience flavors they might not have been willing to try. That is why, at Tea and Teacups I encourage people to try new teas and go beyond their comfort zone. I also enjoy coming up with new recipes to try in the tearoom, experimenting with new foods and trying to make foods relating to the many events we have at Tea and Teacups.

Her voice was brisk. He could not decide if she was not aware of his interest in her or if she was keeping their meetings on a more formal level. He would find out day after tomorrow when he called on her at her parents home in London.

On the ride back to town she was quite beside herself trying to figure out just what Ian Jamison was about.

Early the next morning, he was up, dressed warmly, ready to go to the cemetery at the small village church where he worshiped on a regular basis. Julianna was buried there. On the days that he visited, the memories were sharp and clear in his mind.

The shock of seeing one so lively and vibrant placed in a box to be put in the ground haunted him, even now. Before he was able to bury Julianna, his son had died. He remembered how he had cried as he placed the tiny, quiet, cold bundle in his mother's arms. He remembered how he had wanted to be in that box with them.

It was Grandmother who had held him. Father and Grandfather had stood side by side with him during the funeral so that he could stand like a man, not the broken shell that he really was. The carriage ride was short. He held a holly wreath in his gloved hands. He could easily see the angel with outstretched arms. He walked toward the beautiful sculpture, taking in the sounds of winter. He stood there looking at the place in the ground, thinking of her.

“Julianna,” he spoke softly, “I am going to ask for the hand of Catherine Elaine Smyth-St.John. I think that you would like her. She is smart, outspoken, she may even be a bluestocking, but she suits me well. I love you and still miss you.”

He placed the wreath on the grave saying the prayer for the dead as he did. The weak winter sun broke from behind the clouds casting a golden light on the cemetery. Ian smiled. A believer in signs would say this was a sign of good luck, that Julianna agreed with his actions.

He stopped briefly at the graves of his parents—together in death as they had been in life. He had grown up in a household filed with love and laughter because his parents had so loved each other. He smiled at the memories of his father putting his mother over his shoulder and carrying her off to their bedroom. He remembered his father lovingly caressing his mother's pregnant shape when he had been a young boy. The same way he had caressed Julianna. He found himself hoping for the first time that maybe, just maybe he at Lady Elaine might create a family, that they might laugh together, that they would be happy. For the first time in ten years, on the ride back from the cemetery he was not forlorn, he felt a sense of anticipation.

Tea with Lady Elaine was a bit more complicated than he had imagined it would be. At his home, it had been just the two of them. At her house, it seemed a whole army of people was interested in the man calling on “Ellie,” as he learned they all called her. She tried to treat the large number of people, both of her parents, her grandmother, her aunt, her two sisters, and every maid in the house, as a usual guest list at tea. He chose to drink his tea standing by the fireplace. It was easier to stand than it was to get up every time a lady walked in or out of the room. He found that he liked this view of Elaine, Ellie. She would calmly introduce him, bows exchanged, tea served, cakes eaten, but it was her eyes that held him. She looked at him with something that he could not quite put a name to, but he knew that he liked it when she looked at him that way. The hour was almost completely consumed with a constant parade of people in and out of the sitting room.

“May I call you Ellie?” His eyes danced with humor at the antics of all the people who had come to see her visitor for tea.

She was clearly frustrated with all of them. “Perhaps, I should adopt a stage name, the way people keep coming in this room like I'm some kind of circus act.”

“I think Ellie is quite lovely.” He smiled at her distraught look. “They obviously love you.” He held out his hand for her to come and stand beside him.

“It's no secret that I am on the shelf and not considered a candidate for the marriage mart, so having you come for tea is quite the greatest thing that has happened in this house in years.” Her candor was exciting. He enjoyed the perspective she put on things.

“Then perhaps you should prepare them for the receipt of my invitation for you to attend the Valentine Masque with me.” He held to her fingers, enjoying the feel of her hand. Dare he kiss those fingers? He brought her fingers to his lips, kissing them and holding them to his mouth. Her soft warm fingers against his mouth sent a warmth spreading through his body. He could tell by the way her face pinked she, too, was affected.

Her free hand went to cover her heart, her eyes closed and she began to breathe in short gasping breaths. He saw tears form in her eyes. “Ellie, are you all right?”

“I am quite all right,” she whispered. “I never believed in my life that ...” She stopped to gain control of her somersaulting emotions. “I should be delighted to attend the Valentine Masque with you, Ian.” She had not finished her sentence, but he could imagine what her spontaneous words might have been. He wanted to see her spontaneous, to see her lose control of those tightly held feelings.

Though the words were unspoken, Ian knew that she knew that he was searching for a wife. He knew that she knew that this was the same as him staking a proprietary claim on her for that position. They both understood what her acceptance of his invitation meant. He would notify his grandmother in the morning. “Ellie, would you accompany me to the Lessons and Carols day after tomorrow? Bring one of your sisters and you may stay the night at my house before you return to the city the next day.”

“I will be there,” she whispered taking a step closer to Ian. He held her hand to his heart. They spent the last few minutes of their visit sharing the same air, enjoying the nearness of the other. He thought of a time that he might be able to kiss that desirable mouth of hers.

Once again he stood in the room where Grandmother loved to serve tea. He could hear the click of her cane as she entered the room, “Why, Ian, what a surprise to see you, dear.” She walked over to him and turned her cheek to accept a kiss from him. “What brings you out on this cold December day?”

“Since you are the one who engineered it, I thought that you should be the first to know. I have asked Lady Elaine Smyth-St.John to be my partner at the Valentine Masque.” He paused, watching his grandmother to see what her reaction might be. “She has joined me for tea and I have called upon her. I have asked her to join me for the lessons and carols tomorrow night. Would it be possible for you and Grandfather to join us and spend the night at my home? She has been invited with her sister.”

“My dear boy, you have gone right about the business, haven't you? Of course I will get my Freddie out for lessons and carols. Just be sure we have a warm room in that mausoleum you hole yourself up in.” She was smiling and so happy she actually forgot to use her cane when she closed her hands around his.

“Grandmother, I have not asked her to marry me. I want to do that at the grand masque. This is merely a Christmas gathering.” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“You and Grandfather will lend such an air of stability and proprietary that her reputation will not be questioned, but you must keep the part about me asking her to marry me to yourself.”