My love affair with tea began long before I knew what afternoon tea was.

​

Some of my earliest memories are of sitting at my Irish grandmother's table, enjoying tea and toast from a cup that, at my young age, contained considerably more milk than tea. Growing up in the American South, where iced tea reigned supreme, I eventually lost touch with that little ritual. It would be many years before I rediscovered it.

​

That happened when we moved to California, where I was delighted to discover a remarkable number of tearooms scattered up and down the coast. Many had been established by British expatriates who brought their traditions, recipes, and love of a proper afternoon tea with them. What began as an occasional outing soon became something of a passion.

​

Over the years, that passion has taken me to tearooms throughout the United States, across Britain and Ireland, and to places as far afield as Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and British Columbia. I've enjoyed afternoon tea in some of the world's grandest hotels, where the silver gleams, the service is impeccable, and the pastries are almost too beautiful to eat.

​

And I love every minute of it.

​

But if I'm being perfectly truthful, there's something about stumbling upon a cozy little British tearoom, tucked away on an unlikely side street, that feels like finding hidden treasure. Give me a pot of properly brewed tea, wonderful homemade scones, mismatched china, and a warm welcome, and I'm in heaven. Some of my most memorable afternoon teas have been in the humblest of surroundings.

​

Tea is part of my everyday life, too. We enjoy it at home daily, and no holiday is ever planned without a little advance research into the tearooms we might discover along the way. I'm always happy to sample an unfamiliar blend, although I have yet to find anything that can dethrone a really good Earl Grey.

​

TeaRoom Diaries is my way of sharing these experiences — the elegant, the unassuming, the extraordinary, and occasionally the disappointing. After all, not every afternoon tea lives up to its promise, and discovering which ones do is part of the adventure.

​

I hope you'll find something here to inspire your own tea travels, whether that means booking a table at a magnificent London hotel, discovering a charming little tearoom closer to home, or simply putting the kettle on and making an ordinary afternoon feel a little more special.

​

The kettle is always on here. I'm so glad you've stopped by.