Tea and Biscuits Brunch

Tea & Biscuit Brunch

By JoElle Knight

As a girl raised on the sacred southern staple sweet tea, I cannot work out how anyone would like the taste of unsweetened tea over an amber-hued, glass of sweet summer. Yes, the English brought us the pomp and circumstance of celebrating afternoon tea, but it was southern ingenuity that sweetened it to perfection. My poor mother, being a German reared midwesterner, married a man whose entire family tree consisted of diehard Southern sweet tea lovers. At least once a year, the story is told of my young mama grinding tea leaves with the fervor only a new bride can have, all in the hopes of presenting a perfect glass of tea to her man. Unfortunately, the ground bits were as far as she got before my dad laughingly let her in on the secret of Luzianne tea bags. She learned quick, and my siblings and I happily spent our childhood guzzling it down. Who needs Kool-Aid when you have a bottomless tea-filled Tupperware pitcher to quench your thirst?

Little did we know that our beloved sweet iced tea had no right to be at our elaborate childhood tea parties, where our brothers were made to play our genteel waiters. As a teenager, attending my first true tea party, I was shocked to have my first taste of traditional unsweetened tea. All I could think of as I sat there, grudgingly sipping - milk? honey? what kind of sweeteners are those??? Gone were my childhood visions of tea parties flowing with sweetness and sugar.

It took me having my own daughters to revisit the idea of having a tea party. But this time, I wanted to give it a southern twist. Instead of shortbread and tea cakes, I created a tea party with various tea flavors, of course including good old fashion sweet tea. A biscuit bar with various toppings, both sweet and savory take the place of crisp English desserts and give guests a more filling menu. From gravy to jams, use your imagination on enticing toppings. Place them all in various vintage tea cups that double as cute centerpieces. Flowers, floral linens, and simple ribbons with roses tied on the ends create simple but elegant table decor. Serve your biscuits on assorted cake stands and platters and put your teas in different size beverage dispensers or pitchers. The final look shows a lovely English-inspired tea sweetened with a good dose of southern charm.