Bitter Sweet - All About the Tea

I enjoy tea.  Plain black tea with a little honey.  Or an orange herbal tea.  I also like a lightly sweetened iced tea in the summertime.  This is the second installment of my visit to the DIA special exhibit called Bitter Sweet.  Let's start with the history of Tea.

Tea originated in China with the Dutch explorers introducing it to Europeans.  That being said, my personal favorite is Assam black tea from India.  Here are some lovely tea services:

The above picture displays the proper layout of items for serving tea - not quite how I do it at home.  Here are some rules to follow:

A lovely silver tea pot on a stand:

Some of the items displayed in the exhibit:

 The above was my favorite teapot.  Here is a close-up of one of the many decorations they had in the museum hallways.  Some cups have chocolate and others have tea bags.

And now some of my teapot collection, starting with Franz porcelain:

A German tea set:

A Kutani Lithopane cup and tray from Japan:

Chinese teapots and a Japanese dragonware set:

And I did not even take a picture of the pot I use when I make tea.  It is hand made and I purchased it at the market in Vancouver, British Columbia.  Did I mention that I collect china and porcelain?  I need to start getting rid of some of these as my children have no interest in the collection.

Do you prefer coffee or tea?  Next up, chocolate - and who doesn't like chocolate.