{Giveaway is Closed}
The South is all about sweet tea, but here are a couple of books all about the history of tea from all over the world, as well as entertaining with tea. Everything you always wanted to know about tea from Certified Tea Specialist, Lisa Boalt Richardson.
Did you ever have a tea party growing up? I think every little girl dreamed of tea parties at one time or another. 
This one is all about tea traditions all over the world. 
And this one is about entertaining and cooking with tea.
You might find this hard to believe, me being Southern and all, but I don’t drink iced tea. I know! 
It’s crazy, but for some reason, I just didn’t get that sweet tea gene that most everyone I know from the South got from being raised here. All my family loves sweet tea, but I just don’t. I do like raspberry or peach tea, but just plain tea. Naaaaahhh! I can do without it.
But, I know a lot of folks love their tea, hot or cold, take your pick. So, if you’re a tea lover, I think you’ll enjoy these books. They are both full of pretty and colorful pics, recipes and a lot of great entertaining ideas for your own tea party.
So, if you’d like to win a copy of this, just leave a comment telling me if you LOVE tea and what is your favorite thing about it. Do you like it hot or cold?
You might be like me and not care for tea that much.
I’ll leave this giveaway open until Monday night and the lucky winner will get both books.
As a special little bonus, I was also sent samples of a tea and lemonade mixture from Honest Tea and you’ll also get to sample those too.
Thanks for stopping by! I'm Rhoda, from Atlanta, GA and I love decorating and DIY projects. Decorating a home doesn't have to cost a fortune and I've spent years thrifting at antiques markets and yardsales, finding those treasures that make a home unique. I'm here to inspire and encourage other women to find their own inner creativity. Won't you join me? 
{ 119 comments }
Aren’t tea parties just wonderful… My favorite too, raspberry.
Love tea – hot or cold. But never have liked either version sweet. There is nothing more thirst quenching than a big glass of unsweetened iced tea!
Oh my goodness, I LOVE Sweet tea! We live in the deep south, and sweet tea is a staple at our table and in the restaurants. I do like flavored tea as well, but plain ole sweet tea (with a squeeze of lemon or lime) is my favorite.
I absolutely LOVE tea, I like it hot as well as cold. My old time favorite is hot ginger tea. As a tradition, in my culture (Dominican Republic) during the holidays we often drink ginger tea (té de Jengibre) when the temperature drops. It’s a bit spicy, it taste really good.
I am a tea-aholic….love it no matter which way you make it. I found the comment from Johanna very interesting! That ginger tea from the Dominican Republic sounds good as a holiday drink with friends.
LOVE tea. Hot or cold. There’s always a big jug of sun tea in my fridge all summer long. Not a huge fan of sweet though. I’ll drink it if that’s all that’s available. (Like at my mother-in-law’s house….born and raised in southern Tennessee….) Decaf Hot tea helped me survive my pregnancy. I’m a very heavy coffee drinker! Hard habit to break!
Normally I drink a black or earl grey tea. Nice and dark – like coffee only tasty!
My grandmother used to keep a concentrate of ginger syrup (made with cane sugar) in the fridge for tea – just add a couple spoonfuls to a mug of hot water. Good for upset tummies, too!
I love tea!!! Every type ot it, hot or cold, it does not matter to me. Lately with all of this hot weather, sweet tea is always found in my fridge. I love to experiment with different flavors each time I make it, and of course it must be sweet. At this very moment, I have a green raspberry tea getting ready for the day. Yum!!!
I love my iced tea in the summer and chai tea in the winter.
Growing up there was always a pitcher of tea in our house. My mother makes regular tea no sugar. My Grandmother is 95 and always has a teacup full of sugar in every pitcher of tea she makes. I think she has lived this long due to all the tea she has drunk. The first question she askes when I go for a visit is, “You want a glass of tea?”. I know the unsweet tea is probably better for you, but that sweet tea is so good. I am now getting addicted to Green Tea with lemon and of course a little sugar.
Debbie
I lOVE tea …… a cold sweet tea in the summer and a hot mint tea in the winter.
I love to have afternoon tea with my favorite muffin and a cup of decaf Twinings Earl Grey with honey! And for the summer I like to make sun tea from Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Spice. I’m not a fan of southern sweet tea.
My daughter and I enjoy having tea parties with friends and I pretty much like everything that has to do with tea!
Hi Rhoda! I love sweetened tea, be it hot or cold. Cold is especially good right now when it’s hot outside.
Love,
Susan and Bentley
xxoo
oh we love tea in our house can’ be without it…….this year i am making my own and lemonade…ty for the chance of the giveway my youngest would enjoy reading it he is into hot tea he is always buying new blends to try.
i love tea so much that i wrote about it on my blog last winter.
http://www.romesticity.com/2009/12/three-things-i-will-never-skimp-on-again.html
as many other commenters have said, here in the south we like our tea hot or cold, but it has to be SWEET.
and no lemon for me, thank you, but you can add all the bergamot you want.
Hubby and I drink a least a gallon of iced tea daily made with decaf sweetened with Splenda. I love just about all fruit additions: peach, lemon, orange, raspberry, but Hubby is a purist. I love to make a pitcher of iced Constant Comment as a treat for me once in a blue moon like my Mom did when I was a kid.
I love tea, both hot & cold. I’ve been drinking hot tea since I was a kid!
Yes I do love tea, Iced unsweet though, with a little lemon slice, as hot tea too, with lemon, I have been a tea drinker ever since I can remember, my mom would fix me hot tea and toast whenever I would feel sick to my stomach, please enter me, I would love this book.
Thanks and blessings, ♥
I love my tea iced, sweet, and with lemon…crushed ice is even better. If I have mint in the garden, some of that goes in as well.
oh tea… I love it. Any way it comes (but sugar-less) is the way for me! I have gotten on a sun-tea kick lately and make it at least twice a week in the Texas heat. It has to be good for something, right?
I grew up drinking sweet iced tea here in the deep south and several yrs ago began drinking various teas. I love green tea with lemon. Its nice to have a friend over for tea in the afternoon and chat.
I would love to have this book.
I LOVE both kinds of tea, as long as it is sweet. I find it very relaxing to sit back with a cup and sip the worries away:).
Thanks for the chance to win………..
Tammy M
Oh yes!! SIGN me up. I like hot tea the best and for cold I like unsweetened regular, earl grey and chai tea smoothies! So please sign me up!! Plus I live 2 hours from the only tea plantation in the USA (charlestea tea company) …..I NEEEEEED TO WIN!!!
I LOVE tea …especially herbal tea….and drink it year round. My new favorite is lavender! Hot tea is lovely in the winter….but in Texas it is ICED tea for me!
I’m a tea drinker, both hot and cold. I like mine plain, no milk and no sugar. A little fruit flavoring – peach, lemon, raspberry – is nice occasionally, but not if it is too sweet. And I don’t like chai. But I do like trying new and unusual teas. Teavana stores and the Republic of Tea brand have some nice offerings.
I love tea….hot or cold…all kinds. I come from a family of tea lovers. I collect tea pots and in fact am putting on a bridal “tea” shower this summer. We’ll have various pots of hot teas, ice teas and lots of cookies, cumpets and cakes. Growing up I remember well a family vacation to Canada and going to the Empress Hotel for high tea. What a treat!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE (x100 more) tea! Now that it’s unbearably hot where I live (100+ this week!), I make it iced by the kettle – I just brew it, and then add it to a dispenser chilling in the fridge. Easy easy!
I am seriously addicted to unsweet ice tea lots of ice. I stopped drinking colas for health reasons and now this is my go to drink. I do also love a good ladies tea get together. One of my best memories is of an annual ladies tea at our church with a tea cup exchange and everyone would dress in their tea party finest. Good times.
I love hot tea, I was born in England and I grew up with my parents always drinking tea!!!
I always thought I should have been from the south (well, except for the heat) because I love sweet tea! I had a boyfriend from NC and on my first visit, first day I fell in love (with the tea)!
However, I love hot tea as well – mostly black teas – English Breakfast w/ milk & sugar! lovely!
Addicted to sweet tea…would love to win! Thanks Rhoda!
I mostly like to drink cold unsweet tea. That’s what I order in restaurants. In the winter, I like chai tea.
I adore hot tea. Attending an honest-to-goodness British High Tea is definitely on my bucket list.
I love tea, sweet, unsweet (but have to add sugar sub) with mint, orange, cold, hot, just about anyway it can be made so I would love to win this.
Thanks for a different type of giveaway.
I have been a hot tea drinker my whole life! (I was born in England) I know this is odd since I have spent most of my life in the South! I even drink hot tea in the summer! I would love these books!
Drinking tea as I read this! I love hot tea in the morning and cold tea every other time of the day. I don’t really drink juice or pop so tea is absolutely my beverage of choice.
And I did have a tea party last month – it was great fun because there were 5 little girls to delight.
I love Earl Grey tea, especially in the morning! Earl Grey ice cream is delicious too
I grew up on sweet tea, but in my middle age I rarely even take a sip. I do enjoy herbal teas for the health benefits – antioxidants, etc.
Enjoy your blog, too!!
I grew up drinking iced tea as sweet as syrup. I did not begin drinking hot tea until I was an adult. I love them both!
I love tea… I don’t drink it cold though. I love the comforting feeling of holding a warm fragrant cup slightly sweetened – Instant stress reliever!
My daughter loves tea too – for the past 2 years we’ve had formal tea parties for her birthday. LOVE IT!
I love tea either hot or cold, but I don’t want it Southern sweet. I prefer it with a little wedge of lemon or orange.
I love a cup of hot tea on a chilly winter evening…though I also lived in Virginia for 5 years and am now quite fond of Southern Style Sweet Tea
I love tea; hot or cold….In the summer, iced tea with mint is wonderful and in the winter, hot tea with some honey! The books look like so much fun. Thanks for offering them!
I love black tea! Semi-sweet and a splash of milk. Iced tea with orange and mint!
Love tea – cold or hot! Especially raspberry iced tea in the summer!
I love sweet iced tea, the sweeter the better. I love your blog too!
I love sweet tea. I keep a pitcher of it in my refrigerator. It’s the “wine of the south”.
My Favorites: Sweet Iced Tea with a slice of lime. hot vanilla caramel truffle with brown sugar and cream! Both are excellent with chicken salad croissants and blueberry scones!
There’s absolutely nothing better than a hot cup of spicy chai tea on a cold winter’s night. It makes everything cozy.
Well 1st of all – I absolutely love your website! Your decorating style is similar to mine. I was looking for tips on painting my furniture black to match my new dining room walls of deep red.. I found your tips very helpful as I like to redo/decorate without spending alot of money on new items.
Okay now for the sweet tea – I absolutely love a refreshing glass of iced sweet tea with lemon in the summer! It is the best. And give me a garden party in the summer with friends and flavored sweet tea – the best time of sharing with others!
Wonderful!!! I’m a big tea fan… hot or cold, bring it on! I enjoy a nice cup of hot black tea, usually flavored in some way each morning in place of coffee, as I don’t like pretty much anything coffee related. I’ve also always got iced tea in the fridge for myself & the Hubs. We’re currently sipping on a yummy iced peach tea – sometimes I even add a bit of fresh mint for a little something extra
AND… believe it or not, I’m hosting a bridal tea party for my best friend this fall, so these books would certainly come in handy, ha! Thanks for the opportunity Rhoda!!!
XOXO
Arlynn
Hi Rhoda….did you miss me…LOL I’ve been away…..on a little vacation !!!
I don’t do Iced Tea either….Iced Coffee YUM….but I sure do love a cup of hot tea…..even us Yankees like our tea…..in the winter time or any cool day….around 4 in the afternoon I so love a hot cup of tea……must be my Irish roots…..
Thanks for the chance…..
Kathy
ps I used to collect tea pots ….:) just a random Kathy fact…. lol
I have spent some time this afternoon enjoying your website. I saw lots of things I would love to try. I love the beadboard wallpaper.
I like tea hot or cold. I like it with a tiny bit of sugar and a squeeze of lemon.
Love,
Marie
I love iced tea with lots of lemon and my new sweetner of choice Tru Via. Makes the tea taste like real sweet tea. My husband prefers hot tea. He has really enjoyed drinking green tea.
I am with you, no tea, hot or cold, for me!
I like tea – hot or cold. When iced tea is made well, there is absoultey nothing like it in my opinion, and that’s without anything else added. I like varieties of hot tea too, these however I usually want to sweeten, altho I try not to!
Nothing better than iced tea with a sprig of mint on a hot day. Thanks for the chance.
I love tea …. I make a huge pot and sit down with a book … is there anythinig better. I drink the left over tea with icecubes in the summer. no sweetening, just tea and ice.
I go with a group of friends once a year to the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto for their tea …. it’s fabulous … tea, tea cakes, jam and devon cream … little sandwiches and tiny sweets …. mmmmmmm
I’ve been drinking hot tea, no sugar and a good glug of milk since before I can remember. When my family moved to the States we were introduced to sun tea…unsweet in AZ. It wasn’t until I lived in GA for a while that I discovered sweet tea….aaahhh! I’m back in sunny AZ again and am experimenting with fruity herbal blends for iced tea…too hot for the hot stuff, that will have to wait until November! Thanks for sharing the books ~ they look lovely!
Tea! I adore it – hot and ice cold! My favorite hot tea is English Breakfast. I do love my iced tea with sugar rather than an artifical sweetner. I collect teapots and tea books but have never heard of the two in your giveaway. I would love to win them! Thank you for your giveaway, Rhoda!
I love tea both hot and cold. I do not drink coffee, so we have a pot for hot water at work and I have my daily cup of tea. Sweet tea is the only way to drink it cold. I absolutely love Cracker Barrel’s Sweet Tea and the best!
Oh my Goodness!! I love tea. HOT, Cold, Black with splenda, cream and suger and hot with lemon. And, I love tea books. In fact I just did a post on my favorite tea books.
I love your blog and check it everyday. Thanks for being you.
Betty
http://bettycozycorner.blogspot.com
Growing up in the South and not loving sweet tea? Sacrilege
I drink iced sweet tea all year long and hot tea with honey in the winter. I really should cut back on all the sugar, but I’m an addict. And I’m a total sweet tea snob. I know which restaurants and fast food chains have real brewed sweet tea and which ones try to pass off the mixed stuff. I crave it whenever we are traveling. Adding sugar at the table to iced unsweetened tea is not the same.
Love, love iced sweet tea…with real sugar. I’m super picky and can tell if it’s made the day before. Funny thing is, I don’t make it often at home because I will drink it…too often.
Soda just doesn’t taste good anymore. Only tea, water and maybe juice. “Sunshine tea” is delicious with sweet tea and lemonade.
I like hot tea with no sugar..and enjoy learning about drinking hot teas for health purposes. It’s all good!
I love sweet tea, fruity teas and hot tea with asian food or with cream and sugar at high tea. Being English and southern, I love it all!
I love me some sweet tea! Having lived in Alabama all my life I have it with every meal. I love it ice cold with lots of ice in a big ole glass!
Hugs,
Donna
MMMMM, I love tea! Hot tea on a cold winter day, or at a tea party, of course! But my favorite is iced tea…….actually Peach or Raspberry flavored!
Thank you for the opportunity to win the beautiful tea books!!
Hugs!
Georgia
Grandma G’s
I am a tea lover…i start my day with a cup, usaully a teabag, but for awhile I was hooked on loose tea that a friend got us started on when she brought us some as a hostess gift. (from ROSTOV’s tea co. in Richmond VA) I like it hot and cold, hot must have two tsp of sugar and some cream. cold, just lost of sugar and maybe a bit of lemon.
Love tea, hot or cold. I was traveling to Louisiana from Illinois for a family wedding. When I order iced tea at home, it is unsweetened. We pulled into a Wendy’s in Mississippi, and I ordered tea. It was so sweet my teeth hurt. Found out you have to specify unsweetened in the south!
I love tea and I grew up drinking it hot in the North but I also love it cold since I’ve moved to the South! I love that it’s calming and refreshing and how you can add different sweeteners, creams and fruits to it.
Tea is my favourite drink of all types.
I am picky of the tea temperature though. Certain teas are better off at certain temperatures. Like green teas are better off at hot temperature whereas fruit teas are better off at lukewarm temperature.
These days, the weather being so hot and all that I tend to prefer cold half sweetened rose teas. Whenever I’m at Starbucks that translates to Passion Fruit Iced Tea. Mmmm love them.
LOOOOOOVE TEA! Has to be Earl Grey, Steeped, Hot, Honey & Milk =)! Thank You ! Have an Awesome Weekend!
I love tea, hot or cold! But no sugar please. Give it to me straight!
Love your blog!
I am not a real big Iced tea drinker, but I can if I have too. If I do drink Iced Tea, I like them a bit fruitier, like a peach taste or along those lines.
I do love a hot cup of tea especially in the wintertime. There is something homey about cuddling up with hot tea and a good book.
Hi Rhoda, I’m not a tea fanatic (though some of my kids are) but I do like a nice cup of hot tea or iced tea occasionally. Think I’ll go get a glass now! Thanks for all your nice giveaways.
Blessings!
Love tea and have found a new orange mango tea….love it
Love my tea cold and sweet!!! True Texas style……
What a lovely giveaway! Especially for the tea lover out in bloggland!
I like my tea iced. I just posted a recipe for StoneGable iced tea on my friday post.
Iced Tea is certainly refreshing! And it quenches my thirst. Most other drinks don’t.
I can always count on a very lovely visit with you!
Yvonne
My husband and I more tea drinkers than anything else.
We keep a pitcher of tea in the frig during the summer and at night in the winter have a cup of tea to calm and relax us.
I love TEA!!! I prefer it hot. Yum. Yum.
I am a coffee drinker first of all, but there are times when a cup of tea in the afternoon just hits the spot, just right. I order iced tea out and girls, the only sweet tea I have ever had was at Mickey D’s and I did not care for it at all! WAY TOO SWEET. I am sure that one of you southern girls make sweet tea that would just hit the spot for this New England Yankee. I bet those books are full of interesting facts and some good recipes…especially for real sweet tea.
Thanks for another great give away, Rhoda.
I love, love, love tea, both iced sweet and piping hot with no sugar. But more than that, I love tea cups, teapots and tea cozies, especially personalized ones. Thanks for offering the lovely gift books. I think I’ll go play tea party right now.
I love sweet tea whether it is hot or cold. I make it Southern style (is there any other way?) I may not be from the south but learned from a true Southerner when I was very young.
I actually don’t drink tea but my two best friends do and this would make a wonderful gift…Hoping I finally win something:)
Southern girl, born and bred…and it’s sweet tea all the way for me! Please count me in for this sweet giveaway. Hope I win!!!
I am an Alabama girl, too!
Although I rarely drink iced tea, I am a tea party girl from way back. I love afternoon tea — so much, in fact, that when a tea blender suggested I should have my own line of tea, I went for it! We developed several flavors, but my favorite is Roseberry, a fragrant black tea flavored with raspberry, rose petals and lavender. It is so lovely and smells heavenly! If I don’t have time to brew it, sometimes I just pause long enough to smell it. I have quite a collection of tea books, so would love to add yours to my collection.
I do love my hot green tea, summer, fall, winter and spring. I drink it unsweetened and I drink it all day long! I’d love to add this book to my living room stack!
I can’t ever imagine my refrigerator NOT having chilled iced tea. I love it in a pedestal glass with a wedge of lemon and fresh garden mint.
I had toast and tea for breakfast everyday growing up and I still love it, crave hot tea all winter long, but not sweet, just cream please!
I love to give tea parties for my friends and family. I would love to win these books!!!
LOVE my iced tea ~ but not sweet, thanks! I love flavored teas also but the best is just a good quality tea, iced with a fruit slice added. I enjoy hot tea in the winter or when I’m not feeling well and again, no sugar…just a touch of honey in it.
Tea parties are just the best and I would love these books! Thanks for the opportunity to win.
My daughter, mother, and I visit tea shops on our girl getaways. It is a wonderful way to reconnect. My favorite summer tea is iced peach tea. There is nothing better on a hot,humid day!
These would be just the books for me. No matter the season, if you see me drinking something it’s probably tea. I have hot tea for breakfast, and iced tea any other time of the day. And although I’m a Pacific Northwest girl, I love sweet tea.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
My favorite thing about tea is that there is a kind of tea for every season and every occasion. There’s infinite types to try and I love changing what I am drinking to fit the season, the weather or even just my mood.
I haven’t been a big tea drinker, but I sure would love to be! It soothes the soul!
Love Tea mainly hot but I am ok with some cold ones also. Growing up in India, Tea is our everyday things. I have it twice a day and for special occassions I make Masala Tea
There are SO many kinds now but I love the reg or Earl Grey. I have also started liking Chamomile & green tea. I also want to start a collection of Tea pots & cup & saucers! Thankyou for this post it certainly brought some good memories 
love your blog!
Nishi
Does Southern California count as being Southern? Oh well, I guess not. But, I do love tea in all shapes and forms. I usually drink hot or cold tea without sugar, although I occasionally dress it up a bit. I get into all of the greens, oolongs, and black teas. I also have quite a teacup collection. One-of-a-kinds for unique visitors to my home.
Please include me in the drawing!
KJ
SoCal
When I was a little girl my grandmama and I used to have tea parties. I loved those special times with her and cherish those memories. When she passed away I inherited her tea cup collection. I love tea – cold and hot. When I am sick or just not feeling up to par, I like to have a cup of Earl Grey with a dab of honey – makes the world all better!
~ Tracy
I drink a lot of hot tea in the wintertime. In the summertime, I do occasionally like the flavored iced teas…but like you…I can take or leave the plain iced tea. Now, my best friend LOVES all things tea (she’s got a lot of British blood in her) and I would SO love to win this book to give her as a gift!
I’m a sweet iced tea w/ lemon girl! Tea is also great to dye fabrics, etc., to achieve that “vintage look”. Thanks for sharing!
I love having tea parties with my sweet little granddaughter! And chai tea is my absolute favorite!
I LOVE tea, hot or cold. Sweet or unsweet. I love it all.