Dining Documentary: The Dirty Tea Atlanta

All right, everybody, come on in, come on in. Thank you all so much for being here. Welcome or welcome back to another dining documentary. It's been a while, but I went out for tea last night before the big game. So I thought I'd tell you all about it. If you're new here, hi, I am Maggie, your substitute teacher. You may know me from my cooking channel. I'm all about food and femininity. There she is. Lisa White is here. Lisa Lisa and Colt Jam, my new nickname for you. So yes, ladies, we will be drinking tea. This is a mint peach. And I went to a wonderful, well, it's new to me, a wonderful new luxurious tea house here in Atlanta called the Dirty Tea. But it was very clean. So if you're new here, we're going to take attendance. If you want to be counted present, feel free to announce yourself. If you prefer to watch quietly from the clouds and, you know, y'all know who you are. You're always welcome here. We are the happy, wholesome, family friendly side of YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Now, thank you so much. Lovely. I see you in just a minute. OK, so for dining documentary. So I have a cooking channel and usually what I'm doing is I'm cooking it up for y'all in the kitchen. But when I'm not in the kitchen, clearly I'm eating. It's a problem. But I like to take you all on a little bit of a journey with me and let you know what I've been eating. So in the dining documentaries, what we do the first half is I'm going to pull up the website. We're going to go over a little bit about wherever I ate and the menu. And then the second half, we move into my pictures and actually show you all the experience. So this is a very girly experience. Men are always welcome here. But if you want to enhance your feminine feelings, tonight is your night. And as a boy mom of two, believe me, I like to do that. All right. So let's see. Who do we have on Instagram? We have Affinity. We have Loversland, Lovely Posh, Hendy, Elmakate, Luscious, Deuce the Dawn. Thank you all so much. Lovely says, you bring me a whole lot of joy. I have a bad time. I've had a bad time. And this is so welcome. You have a strong tea. Yes. If anyone is drinking tea with me, let me know what you're drinking today. All right. Let's see. Oof, TikTok. Y'all always come in hot. Hello, Brenda, Aiden, Smartpants, Peggy, Cynthia, Pat, User, Deanna, Bunty, Lillian, Kathleen, April, Ram, Ronnie, Nick, Grand, Madonna, Mary, Scott, Amora, Abby, Kathy, Leola, Betty, Nay Nay, Ida, Liz, Lyon, Jay Berg, User, Love and Hope, Betty, Only, Rochelle, DV, Barbara, and Redman. I will be sharing my screen. So those of you all on Instagram and TikTok, you're welcome to come on over to Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, or Twitter. I'm Maggie, the Substitute Teacher on all platforms. And then over here, I see Christina. Hope you're feeling well today. She says, hi, beautiful lady. Thank you so much for the compliment. We've got Tracy Steven. She says, hey, everyone. Juergen coming in from Germany. So we have the lone masculine contingent. No, you're not the only one. Hello, Juergen. And Lisa's in the house. She asked me for a dining documentary. All right. So it is Black History Month in the US, but you know what? I love good experiences all the time. This establishment is Black-owned. It is a woman-owned. It's a mother and daughter team. So I'm really happy to share with you all. So I've got lots planned for this month. We're going to have Coach Alice from Kenya. I've got a collab with her. The Femininity Doctor is going to be coming back to talk about her book and Woman of Elegance out of the UK. So lots of content coming your way. Okay. So let me see here. We're going to go to the Dirty Tee website. Let me just back out because I was clicking around. Y'all, even the website is lovely. So I'm going to share my screen with you all. And we're going to get into it. Yeah. Let me just do it this way. I wanted to give you all a little bit of history about tea and a little bit of etiquette. Just so you all know, I do run a finishing school outside of YouTube with Lou Kaisley called The Finishing School for the Modern Woman. And we do talk about dining in there. So I'm going to give you all a little bit of tips. We are currently in session. Some of the ladies may be in class watching. I know some of you all love this. But if you're interested in any of the other ways you can work with me outside of YouTube, go to teachablemomentswithmaggie.com. I've got courses and consults and everything there. Okay. So now let us share our screen. Let me come here. All right. So you can already tell from the website, I think it's absolutely beautiful. Let me take the logo down just so you all can see everything. All right. So she's got her policy up here for seating. So you go online and you make reservations. I'll let you all see the picture here, and then I'll show you my actual pictures. So when you go to thedirtytea.com, and I did link the website in the description. So if you all are ever in the Atlanta area, this would be a wonderful place to try. Hello, Atien. So you make a reservation online, and then I believe you do put down a small deposit. I think it's like $25, and then we'll look at the menu. But the tea service is in the price range of about $100. You can upgrade or add different add-ons. And then that reservation, that dollar amount does come off of your total. When you arrive, they have street parking and some lot parking, but I believe it's free on Sunday. So that would be something good to know. So if you make a reservation for a group, they'll seat you when your group arrives together. So please make sure you are on time. All right, let's see what else is on the website here. And then, yes, you can take the kiddos with you. I will not be taking mine, but it's going to be 12 and under. I'm sorry, 12 and over. So this would be great for like mother-daughter outings, daddy-daughter dates, any of those types of things. But you will see the ambiance, and it's still very elegant. So you want to take the bigger little ones, OK? Let's see what else is on here. So that's what first comes up when you take a look at the website. But you can already tell that the website is beautiful. And you can get a sense of, this is one of the towers that we have with some maroons and some scones. I learned in etiquette school, we say scones, but the proper way is scones. I call them sweet biscuits. Shout out to the South. And then there's some finger sandwiches at the bottom. All right, and I will drop the link to the website in the chat so you all can have it for your own. And then let's take a look at it together. OK, so I had never been here before. This was suggested for me. So this is a sample setup. So you see you'll have your tea here. Obviously, this is a table set for four. You have your tower. I'm going to give you all some more detail as to what you're seeing here. But I do want to give you all, let's keep going. I was going to say, I do want to give you a little bit of history of the tea service. Welcome to the dirty tea. All right, so you can see here, you can rent out the entire space for private events. You can look at the decor. It's modern, but very elegant, very luxurious, very pink. I absolutely loved it. Hello, material girl and my car. So you can see here, this is in Atlanta in an area called Virginia Highlands. So it's an older space with newer shops and eateries and residences and everything. So that's the part of Atlanta where it is. All right, so let's see here. You can make your reservations. All right, let me see what happens here. So this is just where you go and you make your reservations. All right, let's go back to their actual website. And let's learn a little bit about the dirty tea. Let me make sure I'm sharing the right tab. Okay, check on everybody. How are we doing in the chat? All right, everybody's good. Let's learn a little bit about the dirty tea. All right, afternoon tea is a beautiful English tradition that originated in the 1800s. The dirty tea experience honors this tradition by providing our guests with a one-of-a-kind experience with a modern twist. So yes, you will see very ornate teaware, but very modern in the decor. Whether celebrating a special event such as a bridal shower, baby shower, or birthday celebration or just joining us for tea time, the tea room experience welcomes you to afternoon tea. We will also offer venue buyouts for private events. And the dirty tea was founded in 2020 by a daughter's dream and a mother's love. I thought that was absolutely sweet. So I did meet the owner and it was wonderful. I told her, I said, you know, I've got a little YouTube channel. I'm going to do a little documentary. I said, I'm Maggie, the substitute teacher. She said, I know you. So that was fun. That was fun. Hello, Miss Rita. Hello, Cuivo. Hello, Princess. I am and Dre is love. Okay. So I'm going to give you all, let's see if I read this, but I've got a book on afternoon tea. And this is one of the things that I learned. I've taken my own etiquette classes. I love this stuff. But I'll read and then I'll just explain. So the inventor of this beautiful British tradition is deemed to be Anna Russell, the Duchess of Bedford. Anna was a lady of bedchamber to Queen Victoria in the 1830s. Lady in waiting, right? During this period, the time gap between lunch and dinner was about six or seven hours and no snacking took place in between. Oh, thank you. Can you all imagine that? So I did learn this in etiquette school. So lunch was served around 12 o'clock midday, but back in the past, they would have dinner service around eight or 9 p.m. So that was a long time. Can you all imagine? Hello, Keisha. Can you all imagine going from like a lunchtime? At 12 and then not having dinner until late? Could we all miss a meal? Absolutely. But that's what inspired this tea. What does Lisa say? I love the modern dining room with the very classic older pattern china. Yes, you guys are seeing the details, right? So the legend has it that one lovely late summer afternoon in 1840, Anna felt really hungry, team greedy, and could not wait until dinnertime. So she requested to be served tea with some bread and butter and cakes in her room. A decision to snack before dinnertime soon became a tradition that she shared and enjoyed with her friends outside of the premises of her room. And over time, this tradition carried on across the country and eventually around the globe and became known as the epitome of British traditions. So just want to give you all a little story time, a little history. Maybe we should do that more often. But yes, so this actually, the afternoon tea originated in Britain. But no matter where you go, I'm in the States. I know we have people watching from all over, even in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America. You may be able to find this. If you're interested in trying tea service, you can check the nice hotels in your area. This is a wonderful way to experience it without having to stay overnight. Certain restaurants will have it. It's usually like a weekend, usually between 12 and 4. All right. So that's the history of afternoon tea. Okay, so let us continue, everyone. Let me take a sip of my mint peach. And ladies, small, silent sips. And contrary to popular belief, it is not proper etiquette to have your pinky out. I should have a saucer here if I were standing. But you actually hold with these two fingers inside the tea loop, and then you balance it on the bottom two fingers. All right. So this is the proper way. And you look inside the glass or the tea cup. You don't stare people down when you're drinking. All right. Let us continue. All right. So we learned a little bit about the history. You all can see the tea service. All right. So you can see here the decor and your tea service is 90 minutes. So it's one and a half hours. So when you make a reservation, it's basically a block of time that you have. And so you want to make sure that you arrive on time. And then you saw the policy on children. So let's take a look at the menu. And we're going to dive into what you can get at the Dirty Tea. Now, here's the thing. Lisa says, so interesting. I had no idea how it originated. I love learning this stuff, you all. I continue. I met with my etiquette teacher today, and I love learning this stuff. It's been my own part of my own refinement journey. But yes. So this one woman asked for tea, which is very British, tea to be sent to her room with some cakes from the bread and butter and cakes. So here's an interesting thing. So the kitchen staff, hello, sweet potato pie, would kind of assemble a variety of bread and butter and cakes and snacks to kind of make a little mini plate and sent that up to her room. Then what happened, what I learned in etiquette school is that over time, she would start to invite her lady friends over for afternoon tea. And it grew beyond just her bedroom and then like the sitting room. And now you can go to some hotels and it's a huge production afternoon tea. Yes, men can go. I have seen it, especially at some of the finer hotels. You'll see men there, either dates or even business meetings. But it's usually a Saturday or Sunday service that you will find. Okay. So the key to note, and one of the things I love about experiencing afternoon tea, when you go to different restaurants or tea houses, the cakes and the pastries that you are going to get are going to be kind of local to the area. So when you go to afternoon tea, you'll have a tea menu, just like you have a wine menu. So you'll be able to choose from your black teas, your green teas, your, you know, fruit teas, your spice teas. And they actually have the loose leaf tea that they will steep in a pitcher for you. So you may choose one or more and then they'll have pitchers on the table. They're probably not called pitchers, but y'all know what I'm talking about, where you will pour your own tea. And then they'll bring an assortment of delicacies. Some restaurants will have an in-house pastry chef where they will make everything fresh. The Dirty Tea, she partners with pastry chefs that will basically make curated items for her menu. So that's one of the things that's wonderful. I've had tea in a lot of different places. And so like in Atlanta, you may get some type of peach scone or scone or, you know, you all know what I'm saying. What does Sonia say? I took my daughter to tea at the Ritz-Carlton here in Atlanta. I haven't been to tea at the Ritz. Let me know how you like it. I've had tea at the St. Regis here in Atlanta. I've had tea at the Waldorf Astoria. Now at the Dirty Tea. And there's the Ginger Room Tea House in Alpharetta. Oh, wonderful. I love it. It soothes me. It makes me happy. Okay, let us continue, everyone. All right, so let's take a look at the actual menu so you all can see. All right, so join us at the Dirty Tea for a lovely experience enjoying an afternoon filled with beautiful china, delicious teas, and a variety of small sandwiches and pastries. And the cost is $9.95 per person. Now one thing, ladies, let me make sure everybody knows. When you are having tea service, it's basically, you can think of it as like bottomless. The proper etiquette is they will send out the tower with a little bit of everything. And if you like something, the staff will circle around and ask, would you like more macaroons? Would you like more finger sandwiches? So you don't have to fret. It's actually a lot of food, but because it's small portions and it's a variety, it looks like a lot of just finger food, but they will bring out more if you want. Tracy says, I'm going to take my mom to afternoon tea at Neiman Marcus. Glad you're doing a video on this. Yes, Neiman Marcus is where I'm taking the ladies for the finishing school. They have a cafe here in Atlanta because they have a private room. So I've rented that out for the finishing school graduation. Okay, let us continue. Thank you all for the likes and the hearts and the love. Okay, so this is what is served on the tea tower at the dirty room. So the dirty tea. Their tea tower, you're going to get sandwiches. They'll have a turkey sandwich, a chicken salad sandwich. That's very standard. That's British. And it may have some nuts in there. Of course, if you have allergies, you can let them know. Cucumber sandwiches are very British as well. Slightly buttered bread. And then you can see here, the pastries are going to vary day. Oh, sorry about that. I don't know why I always do that. The pastries are going to vary daily. So you will see the variety and it's seasonal. All right, let me see if I can take that back down, y'all. So depending on what time of year that you go as well, the pastries and the finger food will vary. So if you go in the fall, you may get some cranberry, walnut items. Since it's Valentine's Day coming up, they had a lot of heart shaped and different things like that. All right, so let me refresh this and see if I can take this down for you. Go back to the menu. Okay, perfect. So it's wonderful to try different locations. And it's also wonderful to try different locations at different times of year. I've taken my mom to, there's a tea with Santa at St. Regis. So it's very festive. They, of course, have the tea and then the cocos and the mints and all of that stuff as well. Okay, what else is on there? So you have your pastries. You have your European cream triple berry tart. So good with fresh fruit. Of course, you have a variety of macaroons and scones, banana pudding. I didn't get that, but it says here that's seasonal. And then shortbread cookies, dirty teas. Of course, if you like the, what's in there? Is that like a dirty martini? And then, of course, you can choose your tea. And of course, they have coffee, latte, espresso, and they have champagne as well. So champagne is included, but they also have a full cocktail menu. So if you like something a little bit more, how do you say, mature, you can get that. Hello, Leading to Leap. Thank you for being here. Okay, so let's see what else is on the menu. So there are some things. Okay, so just a little note about the allergens. There are some items on the tea service menu that are going to be standard no matter where you go. And then there are some that are going to be customized based on your location. So wherever you go for tea, they're going to have some type of scone, right? I call them sweet biscuits, but it's some type of pastry. My etiquette teacher said that if they serve clotted cream, which is, how do I describe it? It's not butter. It's not heavy cream or whipped cream. It's a spread, but that's very English. Usually, cucumber sandwiches are very English. They call it coronation salad, but it's chicken salad made the way the queen liked it with some turmeric and some nuts. And then there's usually macaroons and other little pastries. And then you'll find a variety of things for the area. Christina says you love a latte. Yes, absolutely. Okay, let's see what else. You can rent out for private events. I think they were having an event clear out or there were lots of ladies there. I'll show you all my pictures. Of course, you can reach out to Rita and her daughter, and then they may be hiring. So the dirty tea is, I highly, highly recommend it. Again, it was comfortable. It was beautiful. It was elegant, but not too frou-frou. But if you definitely want to experience great service and great quality, I would recommend it. Hello, Queen Mama. Okay, so let me check on y'all in the chat. And then we're going to move over to my pictures. Everybody's doing well. All right, so I'm going to take you all to my actual pictures and video. Let me take a sip of my mint. Oh, the dirty tea is watching on TikTok. You're so welcome. Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much for being here. Hello, Miss Rita. Oh, my goodness. So good to see you. I'm going to add you here. If you want to join, I'm also on YouTube if you want to find Maggie, the substitute teacher. And I'll bring you up on the screen as well. But oh, my goodness, y'all. I told her I would do this dining documentary. I'm about to share my pictures and video. So you are most welcome. I love that. I absolutely do that. There she is. Rita says, this is so amazing. Everybody, welcome, Rita. Let me show you all Miss Rita. She is the owner and mother of the dirty tea. So let me take you all on the journey with me. She says, this is so amazing. I'm having so much fun. OK, so we reviewed the rest of the website. We reviewed the menu. Let's go over to my pictures and video. And I'm going to share this here. All right. So when we let me make sure I'm sharing my screen. OK, beautiful. So you all can see, when I walked in, I was the first one of my party to arrive. And I like to go there a little bit early so I can get pictures for you all. But you can see here, just like the website. So these are my actual photos. So you can see here, they've got beautiful plush seating. These chairs are super comfortable. They swivel. And you can see, let me zoom in a little bit so you all can see. So they were set up. You'll see a lot of hearts here for the Valentine's theme. So you see the pictures here and the place setting for, it looks like, either two or three. But beautiful. So they have these little nooks, these little areas. So you can see here, people were seated. Some people were on their way out as we were coming in. So I'll just take the sound off and talk you guys through it. But it's beautiful. So you all can see here, the space. They have the seating area here. You could, again, rent it out, the whole space, if you want to. Beautiful chandeliers. I love the little Valentine's Christmas tree. The staff was all decked out. Excellent service. And then, of course, the full bar there as well. So Maggie had to get all the pictures for you all. So just taking more pictures than video. I love the little teacups on the wall, just the decor. And isn't that, is that not adorable, y'all? The ladies room is called the TT room. I'm sorry. Forgive me. Hello, Brenda. Good to see you. Hello, Allison. Christina says, hi, Rita. Christina says, I love the chairs. Lisa says, hi, Rita. I look forward to experiencing your wonderful tea room soon. Yes, yes, yes. Absolutely. We definitely have to go back. Okay. So you all can see a little bit of the decor here. So let's continue on. I'll make a reel and tag everything. So, of course, I always take you all to the ladies. So you can see the TT room, very elegantly decorated. And just lots of floral, lots of pink, beautiful signage. That's when you first walk in to get checked in. You see the ladies there. They're dressed up. Everybody was just, just, it was just lovely. It was just absolutely lovely. I love this sign with the flowers. All right. So I took some still pictures there. Beautiful plush seating as I was waiting for the rest of my party. And you all could see there's the front desk there. So lots of ladies were taking pictures. So there's Maggie. Lots of ladies were taking pictures. Groups were just getting together, getting dressed up. I need to get a little fascinator. So there's the bar service where you can get your espresso, your lattes and come on in. All right. So there's another little pan around. You all can see it's super, super quaint. Lots of character. I think the decoration is incredible. And I even liked the light fixtures. I know. Isn't it beautiful? We got TCS fan in the house saying hello from Mobile. Shout out to the South. Yes. First time seeing you here and welcome. Yes. We love, love, love that. Let me keep Rita on top here. Shouting out to her beautiful establishment here in Atlanta. All right. So now my group has arrived. So we're walking in to get seated so you all can see. So we have this area here. We had a reservation for three and then I saw this. Has anybody ever seen a Valentine's Christmas tree? I don't know how else to call it, but a Valentine's Christmas tree. So let me slow it down so you all can see. So we're walking towards the back. Hello, Tone Touch and hello, Melly Mel. So notice how each table is already set and Rita was working the room. She was coming to every table. She was making sure to greet everyone. I absolutely love that. She was actually helping, making sure we were okay, asking if we needed anything. Rita says, hi, ladies. We are so happy and honored to be included in your podcast. Brittany says, yes, absolutely. Oh, no problem. You're never late, Bill. Yes, absolutely. Yes, yes. So one of the things that I love and you all will see this, of course, at the Dirty Tea and at other tea houses as well, the tea ware is going to be different on different tables. Like notice this little teapot. That's what it is, not a pitcher. I've been around the boys too much. This teapot, you can see it's red with the hearts on it. And then as we're approaching our table, so you can see here, we've got this one is white and pink. I love the little details here. And then when we sat at our table, it's got the little placeholder here. You saw we had, I couldn't take my eyes off of this tree, y'all. It was darling. All right. So let's look at the table here. So it's beautiful. You've got your plate and then you have your cup and saucer, beautiful knife with the napkin. And you have your fork and your knife to, there you go. And then our menu right there. And you can see our teapots were beautiful, ornate design. Okay. So we sat down, again, they had a cocktail menu and you can see the tea tower there. So when we sat down, it was empty. So they take the tea tower and they're going to fill it for us with all of the delectable treats. Let's see how you guys, Lisa says, I've never seen a Valentine's tree, but I've always wanted one. Yes, you all. I have never seen a Valentine's tree before either. I've never even heard of that. But this was my first time and I got to sit next to it. So I'll show you all a little bit more twinkles as well. All right. Let's go back to the experience. All right. So you can see here on the table, we have our water glasses. You'll always have water with your tea. And then we did, champagne was included as well. Hello, Maybab and hello, Kiyoshi. And then we have our teapots. A little detail I'm going to show you all about the teapots. But you can see they were sitting right across from the entrance as well. All right. So I'm going to zoom in so you all can see. It's Valentine's Day week. So she had this beautiful Valentine's tree up to my left. And this is the view from where I was sitting. So I have my tea service here. When you choose, you're going to choose. I'm sure this is depending on your group. But you choose two teas for the table. All right. So they're going to bring them out in pictures. So again, like I shared with you all, when you're seated, you have a tea menu. So you want to decide with your group what flavors you're going to get. You all know I like everything team greedy. So we ended up getting like a chai tea, which is a spicy bowl tea. It's a great substitute if you're trying to cut back on coffee, but you want that kick. So we got a chai tea, and then we got like a caramel creme brulee, vanilla creme brulee, a sweet black tea. Very good. But they have all of the different teas there. You can choose. Hello, Bria. Yes. Lisa says, what a relaxing and happy atmosphere. I'm telling you. Yes. And I needed this. I needed this. So this is my view from where I was seated. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Okay. So you all can see here. I'll zoom in a little bit so you all can see. So there's two menus on the table. So we are here for afternoon tea. So you all notice these are the teas that you can choose from. Strawberry, passion, green. This is what we ended up getting, the black creme brulee. I love a chamomile tea. Peach, earl gray, white Georgia peach, green tea, ginger tea, oolong, so many things here. So we ended up with the black creme brulee. And then there was a chat, this one right here, the Rubio's masala chai. All right. Now here's one thing to note. When you go out for afternoon tea, ladies, there are going to be some flavors that are pretty consistent no matter where you go. And then like you saw on Rita's menu, there are going to be some that are seasonal. I'm sorry, not seasonal. Yes. Seasonal, but also local. So here in the South, we'll have peach teas and others. When you go to different tea houses in different places of the world, they will have, excuse me, they'll have the teas that are local to them. So it's a wonderful experience. You can go back and you can have a different experience every single time. Okay. So you all can see here, there is the tea menu. And then you see here the dessert tower, which is an assortment. So we had two towers brought to the table and I'll explain. Then of course, those of you all who want your strong caffeine, you can add on coffee and then they also have a full bar so you can get your cocktails if you would like. So again, just like there are some teas that are standard, usually wherever you go for tea, I don't know if y'all can see this, my afternoon tea etiquette, you'll have a tea tower here and it usually is three tiers. Now the shape of it and the design of it is going to be different. You saw the one that was removed from the table at Rita's lovely establishment. The etiquette that I've learned, everybody does it different, but usually the bottom layer, the bigger layer, because it kind of goes up like a tower is for your finger sandwiches. So it could be salmon. It could be cucumber sandwiches. It could be chicken salad. It could be anything. And then the next tier would be the scones or I call them the sweet biscuits. Hello, chemistry nails. And then the top tier would be your dessert. So a little unsolicited etiquette tip. You're supposed to pace your eating with the group. Like I tell the ladies in the finishing school, when you dine with others, it's never about the food. It's about the bond and it's about the time that you spend together. So you would eat that first. You can consider it like a first course. You would eat that first course together first. So they're going to bring out an assortment so that there's enough for everyone at the table. And then once you all are finished, then you move to the next course and you enjoy the scones or whatever is there. And then once everybody is finished, you move on to the dessert course. So you wouldn't just want to go attacking things and helping yourself. So there is tea etiquette. It's not the end of the world, but I love being able to practice things like that. Okay, so let us continue. So you all can see here. So here's a little twinkle twinkle of your tree. Excuse me. I noticed while I was looking at this tree, y'all, did anybody notice anything interesting about this tree? So it was beautiful, decorated for Valentine's. And I looked over and I was like, that is so interesting. I'll give that a second and see if anybody notices. All right. So here is Miss Rita. She's bringing us our champagne. And of course, I'm peppering her with questions. So I'm just going to take this back and let you hear her in her own words, because I'm always asking if there's a story about the tea house. Mostly from travel. And then when she was married, like four years ago, she wanted to do a modern tea pandemic. When everybody was thinking about tea house in Atlanta, she just kept at it, asking me, asking me. And I said, okay, you know, we'll go. It's absolutely beautiful. Not in restaurant business. You guys absolutely got it. Lisa says the teacups. TCS fan says the teacups. I don't know if you all noticed that. It's the little details. Take a look. I'm going to go back one and then we'll continue. Take a look at the Valentine's tree. So I'm sitting next to this beautiful tree and I'm looking out of the window. Hello, Demetology. And I noticed it has spinning teacups. There's one up here. There's one down here. There's one over here. So the Valentine's tree was twinkling. I'm sorry, y'all. I thought that was so darling. So yes, absolutely. So you all heard Rita's story. She started this business in 2020 with her daughter. So I'm definitely happy to support. Let us continue. And Miss Rita's watching. I love it. Okay. So now she's bringing the champagne, which is included in your afternoon tea service. So that is lovely. Of course, if you don't drink, you do not have to have anything that you don't want. All right. So I'm starting with my water to hydrate. And oh, yes. Now a little unsolicited etiquette tip. You all know that we've talked. I know I have some regulars in here. Who can tell me from this video, what is the proper etiquette for holding our champagne glasses? Does anybody know? Bill says that is so adorable. It's absolutely adorable. So we had a lovely crisp and cold champagne. So the staff is coming and they are asking us if we have decided on the tea that we want. I just lost TikTok. My battery was low. On the tea that we want. And they're bringing the... There you go. And they're bringing the tea and food out for us. Ladies, I know I'm over here making much ado about nothing, but yes. And I love my friends. But the proper etiquette when you hold a wine glass, a champagne glass, anything that has a stem is to hold it by the stem. And if you watch when we were toasting each other, notice how when you're holding a glass by the bowl, what ends up happening is your fingers get in the way. There you go, Lomiji. There you go. We're having a little class here tonight. So you notice when you hold the glass by the bowl and you go to clink glasses, then your fingers are in the way. You don't want to hurt your fingers. You don't want to damage anything. Proper etiquette is by the stem for a couple of reasons. That way it keeps fingerprints off of the glassware so that it stays beautiful and elegant. And wine, champagne, any of these beverages are served at the temperature they are meant to be enjoyed. So when you put your hand on it, like you might do with a mug, the warmth from your hand is going to warm up the champagne. And that's not the way it is designed to be experienced. So hold it by the stem and a little unsolicited etiquette tip. Okay, let us continue. I have so much fun with you all. Shout out to the finishing school. I love this stuff. Okay, let us continue. So we're toasting each other. We're having a wonderful experience. Now, this was one of my favorite parts. So our lovely server has brought our teapots. We have our creme brulee tea and we have our chai tea. So she has this base here that she's going to light a tea light candle. Since your tea service is 90 minutes, they actually put your tea on a warming stand. So think about it like when you get... Hello, Jocelyn. Think about it like when you get like crab or lobster and they have the butter on the tea light candle. It's the little things. That way you don't have to be rushed. You can have an elegant conversation with your dining party and your tea stays nice and piping hot. I have never seen that before. So this was a first for me. Usually, of course, they bring the tea and it's piping hot and it'll stay mostly hot in the teapot. But I absolutely love that. So thank you, Rita. That was lovely. Isn't it brilliant? I'm telling you. Isn't it brilliant? It's the little things, ladies. When you slow down to just enjoy life, I'm telling you, it's the little things. Okay. So the other thing that you'll notice here is a... What do they call it? Like a timer. Let me see if there's any sound on here for y'all. Okay. We're just talking. Sometimes I try to ask questions so I can report back to you all. All right. So there's a stand right here. They brought a little timer. I don't know how much the time is, but let's say it's two minutes. That is the proper time to allow your tea to steep. Who knew that? That's another first for me at the dirty tea. So usually... So when I had tea in London at Fortnum & Mason and they bring it out, they'll tell you because you're ordering the tea loose leaf. I might get some pictures at the front for y'all. And so they're actually putting the loose leaf tea in there. You need time for the tea to actually extract into the hot water so you get the best flavor. So I remember in London, they'll tell you, let your teapot sit for about four to five minutes and then pour so that you get the best flavor. Well, if you're talking, if you're having champagne, if you're having finger foods, you're kind of like, I don't know. Has it been four or five minutes? But Rita at the dirty tea, they actually set the table. When they bring out the tea, they turn over the hourglass. That's what it's called. Y'all, we're getting so used to modern technology, but this beautiful pink hourglass. And so as the sands come through the hourglass, when the time is up, then your tea is ready. Brilliant. Okay. So now we have our tea tower. Now we had two tea towers, but you can see there are three. So they put savory on one tea tower and sweet on the other. So at the bottom here, these were our chicken salad sandwiches with some very soft heart shaped bread. This was, oh my goodness. I think it was some type of ham with a lovely spread. And then these are the cucumber sandwiches up top. So you all will see, and they will bring out a portion in accordance with how many people are at the table. So if it's just one or two people, they may put everything on one tower. And then we had desserts here. And so she's explaining to us all that we have. Let me see if I have sound for you all. Okay. So hopefully you all were able to hear. Let me see what Rita had to say. She said, thank you again for this. Rita is the owner, mother daughter owner of the Dirty Tea in Atlanta. And I told her I would be doing this. And she stopped by. She said, thank you again for this. We will get one of your lucky viewers with afternoon tea for two. Y'all. Rita. Oh my goodness. Y'all, this is so generous. Rita says, thank you again for doing this. We will get one of your lucky viewers with afternoon tea for two at the Dirty Tea. I will allow you to decide who the winner is. Call us with the winner's information. Gosh, y'all, that's like better than a super chat. I am so, I'm so grateful. I'm just so grateful. Thank you for the love. I just, Miss Rita, that is so incredibly generous of you. I'm just floored, you all. I mean, these are just the things that I like to do. I didn't really think anybody would care. And when I went there and I told her, you know, I kind of have this channel. I'll do this little dining documentary. And she said, I know you. And she is gifting. So inbox me if you're in Atlanta or coming to Atlanta. I think Lisa said that you wanted to experience compliments of the Dirty Tea. She is gifting tea time for two. I could cry, y'all. And she says, have a wonderful night. Oh, my goodness. I'm so grateful. Yes, they think of everything. So, yes, your tea will stay warm while you're talking. And Lisa says, I like the two towers. Everything looks scrumptious. Let me know when you're going to be in Atlanta, Lisa. Oh, my goodness. Belle is celebrating. Yes, so nice. Oh, my goodness. Jurgen is giving the thumbs up. Coco Rose is so generous. Yes, everybody put Rita in the chat. So kind and generous. Wow. Oh, my goodness. I'm so grateful. Okay, y'all, let's wrap this up. That is so, so generous. Okay, wow. Just so grateful. Okay, so Lisa was saying you like the, yes, very sweet gift. Isn't that right, Ebony? Oh, my goodness. You like the two towers. So depending on your party, and you can go and just have, you can go and have tea for one. I did that. I think at the Waldorf Astoria, they had a New Year's Day tea. And so I wanted to kick off the new year. And you can do tea for one or two or three or a group. And so depending on, you know, how many are there, how many towers they will bring out. But it was nice to have one savory tower and then the dessert tower. So we finished our savory tower and then we moved over to the dessert tower. Yes, absolutely. Very sweet. Isn't that right, TCS fans? Shout out to Rita. Oh, my goodness. So grateful. Oh, my gosh, y'all, this little channel. I'm telling you, I love our community. I love it. Thank you all for the likes. Okay, so let's wrap this up so you all can see the rest of the lovely tea. So we have, so she walked us through everything. So you all saw. So on the sweet tower, we have the scones here. And then you can see macaroons. You can see cookies. You can see, I don't even know. But she told me about the pastry chef that she used that makes macaroons for the Oscars or something, y'all. There's a lot in Atlanta. And then lots of delicacies. So this is the great, if you are a true foodie and you like to sample different things, tea is great because the portions are small. So you're not committed to a big plate of something you're not familiar with. This one was my favorite. This hard shell macaroon, y'all. Okay, so just got some pictures for you. You can see they cut the bread into heart shapes and the sugar cubes were in butterflies. It was just, it was absolutely darling. All right, so just lots of pictures and you all can see. And this is actually proper. I learned this in etiquette school. The filling on your finger sandwiches is actually supposed to be very thin because they are finger sandwiches. So y'all know how like when we make a peanut butter and jelly, how you take a bite and it's oozing out of the side. No, that is improper. So if you're going to do tea time at home, it is a thin spread of, what did she say? It was ham with cranberry, but just lightly so that when you take a delicate bite, it stays inside. All right, so they did the filling perfectly, perfectly. TCS fan says, is there a dress code for afternoon tea? Great question. I wouldn't say there's a dress code, like you must be formal, but when you go, you will see ladies in dresses, floral, bright colors. I don't have one, but I want to get a little fascinator with some, you know, feathers or something going on, but I would say Sunday best. So anything that you would wear. Hello, straight flexing. I would probably wear that. I wore like a little burgundy and like velvet, kind of like Marcus said, I look like Mrs. Claus. But anyway, I wore a little black and burgundy. Lisa says all the different colors and in the foods is fabulous. Yes, it's very, very pretty to see. Okay, so you all can see the tower here. The sandwiches were incredible. And then the dessert. So all the delicacies. All right, so now I'm pouring the tea. So our hourglass has gone off. It's time for tea. All right, so give you all a little bit of etiquette. So your tea goes first in the teacup. And then if you're going to take milk and sweetener, then you put that in after. There is tea etiquette. Don't ask me why, but that's what I learned. We did have a choice of oat milk, almond milk, half and half. They have everything. So if you have preferences, they can absolutely accommodate that. All right, so I'm pouring my lovely tea. And it's nice and steeping hot. I started with the caramel. All right, so you see how I'm picking up the tea. You curl your fingers underneath and then you just support. All right, the saucer stays on the table if you are seated. So another piece of tea time etiquette. If you were at like a garden party or something where you were walking around, I'm going to use my little coaster. This is not proper. But that is the only time that you would hold your saucer if you are walking around. Or if you were at like one of those low tables, let's say you're in someone's living room and they have like a coffee table that's kind of low, then you would keep your teacup and your saucer together. However, if you're seated at an actual table, that's like a dining table like we were, the saucer stays on the table. Give you all a little bit of etiquette. So when you go, you know how to enjoy tea. Hello, PT Briscoe. All right, let us continue. All right, so I'm enjoying my tea. I did taste it first. Of course, they had honey. So we're getting it all to our taste. And then there is your proper etiquette for stirring. I do sweetener, no milk, 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock. What you want to avoid with your tea etiquette is you don't want to, and I didn't bring a spoon, I feel like I'm teaching the finishing school, what you don't want to do, which is what I told the boys, none of this clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank. No, that is improper. Small and silent, 12 o'clock, 6 o'clock. Just in the liquid that will dissolve your honey or your sugar or whatnot. Very quiet. And then we don't taste the spoon. We actually put it on the side, on the saucer. Okay, 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock. So I'm giving it a little stir to get the honey to dissolve. And then now we're enjoying our sandwiches. And these are finger foods, ladies. So if something is supposed to be eaten with hands, you can absolutely. So I'm starting at the bottom, starting from the bottom. Now we're here. We've got our chicken salad. They brought the clotted cream and the jam. Very British. And then this is the sugar. It looks like a genie is going to come out of the lamp. So you all can see. I wanted you to see how beautiful it was. And the sugar cubes were colored pink and white. We had hearts. We had stars. We had butterflies, everything. So I'm on my second cup of tea. Then here's our cucumber sandwich. Perfect, very thinly sliced, very soft bread and no crust. I don't mind crust on a sandwich. But if you want the proper etiquette for tea time sandwiches, they are supposed to be crust off. And then you can do them in the little shape, the little rectangles, or you can do triangles. But of course, since it was Valentine's, ours were heart shaped. So very soft bread, very good filling, beautifully presented. So just taking a bite so you all can see. The flavors were excellent. Now I'm going for my scones. And you all know this, when you have any shared containers, we don't eat from the shared containers. So I'm taking a little bit of clotted cream and putting it on my plate. And then likewise, taking a little bit of jam and putting it on my plate. All right. So another unsolicited etiquette tip. If everybody had their own dish or their own little condiment dish, then yes, you can eat directly out of that. If you have your own or if you're dining alone. However, when you're dining with others, you're going to take what you want and put it on your plate. And then you eat from your own plate. TCS Fan says, OK, I know this is a weird question, but are you able to dip anything in your tea while at the table? Excellent question. And the answer is no. I've asked. Now, when I'm not at proper tea, like on the airplane, I'll put my Biscoff in there and it is so good. But yes, if you if you all ever go out for tea, you're not supposed to dunk anything. So no sandwiches, no cookies, no anything. When you're at home, you can absolutely do what you like. But if you're ever dining with others, proper tea, you would take a small bite size and then put it down and then drink your tea. I know. No dunking. It's not a weird question. I'm glad that you asked. All right. So let us continue. All right. So we've got my scones here and then I put a little clotted cream and a little bit of jam. Think of it like butter and jam, but it's not butter. It's something different. All right. Then I had the hard shell macaroon, y'all. That was incredible. Some more macaroons. She brought refills out to the table. Oh, did you taste the chocolate? Oh, did you taste the strawberry crunch? Let me bring you this. So you get to a point I brought boxes home. I still have some stuff over here because I didn't finish everything. So there's me and Rita. Y'all, Rita was in the chat. She came through to gift us a tea service for two West Bank. And hello, just Angie. So yes, there is Miss Rita, the owner and mother, owner, operator and mother of the Dirty Tea. So I asked to take a selfie with her and she made sure we were really well taken care of. So now we're leaving. You all could see the lemon, the honey, just the bar and just beautiful. There's Rita in the corner. But it was wonderful, y'all. It was absolutely wonderful. And the staff was great. The food was amazing. The decor was lovely. I had an incredible time. This is just in the lobby area while you're waiting or exiting. It was absolutely beautiful. The little Valentine's bear. So yes, that was my experience at the Dirty Tea. So I love sharing this with you all. And again, I have to thank Rita, Miss Rita, for gifting tea time for two to my scholars. And I'm so grateful. I think, Lisa, you said you were going to enjoy soon. Inbox me and I would love to share that with you or give that to you. Juergen's giving the thumbs up. Hey, Juergen, you're in Germany. I know you're one of the men amongst us, but have you ever been to tea? And what do you have for tea time in Germany? I'm sure it's not served with schnitzel or bratwurst or anything like that, right? Okay, so we're going to wrap it up. I had so much fun. Thank you all for watching. So let's see. I missed you all yesterday. I went to tea and then, of course, watch the big game. And then I missed you all Saturday. I can't remember what I did. So if you're new here, I do stream pretty much every day. Lucy and I have a surprise for you all tomorrow. So I'm going to go ahead and schedule that. It's not going to be Ask Us Anything. We're going to do a little Table Topics Tuesday for you all tomorrow. No stream on Wednesday, because I will be cooking and enjoying Valentine's Day. And I hope you all do as well. Yes, Lisa, I'm glad you enjoyed. It was an absolutely special afternoon. Highly recommend it. So if you all are in Atlanta, if you're visiting Atlanta, please make sure you go see Rita at the Dirty Tea. It is absolutely exquisite. Modern decor, but very traditional teaware. And everything was incredible. All right, so let's go ahead and dismiss Instagram. Thank you all so much for watching. Juergen says, I drink tea sometimes, but only at home. And on that note, we will let you all have your evening. Come back tomorrow for Table Topics. We'll do a family game night tomorrow. All right, everybody, class is dismissed.