Server Christine Dobbins serves Wu Yi Oolong tea to Evalyn Blaha and her 19-year-old granddaughter Dana Gough, both of Schenectady, at The Tailored Tea in Latham.
At The Tailored Tea, women sip honey chai and Earl Grey from delicate English china tea cups. They nibble on scones and dainty cucumber sandwiches amid the pleasant hum of intimate conversation and occasional bursts of jolly laughter.
On Park Avenue in downtown Mechanicvillle, at the Blu Tea Company, customers learn about all kinds of loose-leaf tea and how to prepare it. While Blu Tea is not a tea room, you are welcome to sit and relax with a freshly steeped cuppa and a handmade chocolate truffle.
In the Capital Region, there are now more than a dozen places devoted to the drinking or selling of tea, as our area joins the growing taste for tea across the nation.