Tastings Around Town: Savoy Tea

This week, I have a really special treat for you.

This week, I am sharing some of the great things that are going around in my area of the country (Northwest Arkansas) and businesses and restaurants that are giving patrons a chance to learn about and enjoy their specialties.

First off, we're taking a trip to Savoy Tea Co. right off the Fayetteville square.


I'm actually kind of embarrassed that I just now discovered this fabulous tea shop, but it does make me feel better that I have been drinking their tea (unknowingly for the most part) at Pressroom in Bentonville. (Their Paradise Herbal Tea is the only tea I've ever drank there because it's so dang good!)

I heard, through their Facebook page, that they were doing "Discover Tea" classes where you learn about tea (I assumed) and get to taste some for just $10 a person.

So, I texted my good friend (and fellow tea lover) Christine and nabbed us a spot at a class.

I saw that the class was two hours long and was wondering how we would be filling a full two hours with tea talk, but you really wouldn't believe the amount that I tasted and learned in that time.

The class was led by the owner of the tea shop, who is working to become a Tea Master (the equivalent of a sommelier for wine)! Legit!

He taught us all about where tea comes from, the history of it, how it is picked, withered and then processed. We even took notes!

Whenever he started off with telling us that herbal tea is not "tea", I was like, what?! I seriously love herbal tea and all that flavored stuff. But even though it's not a tea, I learned that I can still keep drinking it but I had my eyes opened to how delicious white, greens, oolongs, etc. can be!

We learned how to cup (aka taste) tea properly and we even wrote down what the leaves and tea looked like, smelled like and tasted like.

In the small class of about 7 people, it was so fun to interact with strangers and share a passion for this ancient drink.

If you like tea or just want to learn more about it, I would highly recommend signing up for one of these tea classes. You can see when the next classes are on their Facebook. Savoy also sells a variety of teas in small or large quantities for you to purchase. (And their maple bacon cupcake is amazing and comes in a mini size!)