This past weekend, I had the time of my life hanging out at the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY.
But the trip home to Massachusetts was pretty great too.
When I was initially planning the route, I was reminded of a great little tea shop that a friend had told me about last year – Harney and Sons Tea in Millerton, NY.
I decided that as long as there was an EV charger to juice me up that it was worth making a pit stop there.
And so I did. And it was well worth it.
Millerton is a lovely little town right on the New York-Connecticut border, in the heart of the Hudson Valley. I was mesmerized by its refined, yet rural small town charm as I drove through its center around 10AM Sunday morning.
A cute diner, elegant antiques shop, upscale and trendy provisions shops, and a very local yet modern with a hint of metro feel cafe all greeted me with open doors. If you could afford the real estate out there, Millerton, NY would make a super cozy place to live.
Since Harney and Sons didn’t open until 11AM and I arrived around 10AM, I had some time to kill so I moseyed around at some of the shops that were open.
My first stop was Irving Farm Coffee, located right on the Main Street of town. I ordered a delicious chai cookie, and the BEST Maple Pumpkin Spice Latte I have ever had. Call me a basic bitch, but a good Pumpkin spice Latte that isn’t loaded with orange dyes and sugar is super hard to come by.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t cracked open the bag of Highline at home yet because I’m still finishing my bag of Dean’s Beans Guatemalan Cafe Maravillas, but once it’s gone I’ll dive into the Highline. The barista FIFO (first in, first out) mentality is hard to break sometimes.
After coffee, it was on to Oblong Books. I flitted around the shop like a kid in a candy store, browsing the titles on display and letting the aroma of the printed page delightfully fill my nostrils. As I was wandering, I found a lovely and compact book about chickens – “Hen Party”, by Arthur Parkinson. I was delighted with its cute illustrations of different breeds, and immediately purchased it. I’ll probably do a book review post on it later.
As I was checking out, I chatted with two lovely staff members about the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and how surprisingly tasty Mauve’s Virgin Dirty Shirley candy bars that are based on the books are.
We also chatted a bit about chickens and chicken keeping, and I was more than happy to introduce them to Omlet coops since they raised concerns about flock safety. So hopefully they too will try their hand at chicken keeping with an Omlet coop and run and not have to worry about bears and foxes getting their feather babies.
By the time I had purchased the Hen Party book and a cute “AI will steal your soul” sticker, it was almost 11AM. Almost tea time.
I crossed the street and noticed that I wasn’t the only one waiting for Harney and Sons to open, usually a good sign that what is inside is worth the wait for. A gentleman offered me a seat on the bench by the door, but I politely declined. I had a bit of a drive afterwards, and I wanted to stand as much as I could.
Walking into the shop you are confronted with two choices: the tasting bar, or the gift shop and cafe. I peeked into the tasting bar, and admired its sleek and clean woodwork yet still old school country charm. Big tins of tea lined the shelves, inviting people in for a sniff or a taste of the wonder inside. I decided out of a twinge of anxiety that I didnt have much time for a tasting, and decided to browse the gift shop.
I was VERY pleased to see that they had a Balmuda Moon Kettle on sale, which is something I would love to own someday. Traditional Japanese design fused with modern technology and temperature keeping makes this kettle a must-have for tea drinkers who are serious about their brews. Green tea? There’s a perfect temperature setting for that. Black? Oolong? Gyokuro? All set.
A friend of mine owns a moon kettle, and it is a delight every time we use it together.
Anyways, I made my way to the loose leaf teas for sale and decided on a tin of Victorian London Fog (black and oolong teas with vanilla and lavender), and a tin of Houjicha (roasted green tea). I am INCREDIBLY fussy about houjicha and enjoying both the savory and sweet notes of the tea, so I was excited to taste the Harney take on it when I got home.
After purchasing, I noticed the gift shop had a delightful array of teapots arranged in sets by color, along with home goods like candles, tea towels, and books to help set the mood. It is a tea lover’s paradise, and I will be back for more sometime.
Before I finished up my pit stop, I ordered a Victorian London Fog from the cafe. I noticed as I was ordering that the teapots used in the cafe were different from the ones on sale in the gift shop. Not only that, but that these were Zero teapots. Teapots made in Toki City, in the Mino region of Gifu Prefecture. Literally one town over from where I lived in Mitake Town for six years.
From Japan to upstate New York, it is a small freaking world.
From there, I said adieu to Harney and Sons Tea. With my hot London Fog in one hand and car keys in the other, I packed myself up into my car and made the beautiful drive back home to Massachusetts.
And now I can enjoy delicious piping hot London Fogs at home, too.
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