Iced Tea Throw Down at TranquiliTea

Tea lovers can not visit downtown Plymouth, MI without stopping by TranquiliTea.  It's just a short jaunt across the street from Sweet Afton tea room.  I blogged about attending their 2nd Annual Harney & Sons Tea Affair in April 2013.  You can read that post here.

We were delighted to participate in their "Iced Tea Throw Down" when we stopped in last Saturday [7/26].   A tea throw down was a first for me.

Below is a view of the shop.  They carry everything pertaining to tea - teapots, china, books, cards, linens, you name it, they carry it!  And, of course, lots of tea - loose and in sachets.

It was a pleasure to be able to talk with owner, Colleen Cannon [pictured below], on this visit. She shared that she had a job in the corporate world, but because of the instability in her career field she wanted a change.  Growing up in a tea drinking family where pots and pots of tea were consumed, she was very familiar with the pleasures of tea.  Cancer was a high risk in her family, so she began researching the benefits of green tea, which eventually led to the opening of TranqualiTea, that will celebrate its 9th anniversary in February 2015.

The white canisters behind Colleen is where all the loose tea is kept, but across the isle are small jars of tea samples for patrons to see and smell.  Colleen is very knowledgeable about tea, and she shared interesting tidbits about some of the teas she carries.  

The tea stations for the Iced Tea Throw Down were located at the back of the shop.  There were five teas to sample.  We were given a poker chip to place in a blue box positioned next to the iced tea dispenser containing our favorite tea. 

In the photo below I was sampling Iced Cherry black tea.  

Barb Gulley and me sampling teas.

Colleen announced the winner on their Facebook Page on Monday.  Yay!  The tea that I voted for won - Wild Blueberry White tea.  It was very good.  

What a fun day!  If you're ever in Plymouth, MI be sure to visit TranquiliTea.