#tea: the youngest tea of all!

What is it?  White Peony

Also known as China Pai Mu Tan or Bai Mu Dan, White Peony is a sweet, mild Chinese tea made from unopened tea buds, as well as one or two of the newest leaves that sprout.

the silver of the dawn is rising in my chest
allowing each new bud (unborn and sweet) -
picked before the sun moves west
before the pickers dare to stop and eat -
to purify my mind, my heart, my blood
so when I meet the day I’m at my best

White Peony Tea is the lightest of all flavours with a sweet and smooth floral tone. Absolutely one for matching with summery delicate tastes and definitely not one putting alongside spicy flavours!

Although not a caffeine free tea, this tea is still very beneficial to us as it contains very high levels of antioxidants, great for cleansing our system.

If you are trying to be healthier this month why not pair it with something off our Elegant Options menu?

#Crowthorne - Drink Tea, Eat Cake and discuss Death!

Death Café at Crowthorne

A lot of you will be wondering what is a Death café?!

A Death Cafe is an event where people drink tea, eat cake and discuss death. The aim is to increase awareness of death and to help people make the most of their (finite) lives .

Proving to be hugely popular the death café  held in at Crowthorne Beatons tearooms is attended by up to 30 people and becoming more established. 

Annie Cygler who organised and hosted this death café tells us that all sorts of questions, ones that  perhaps usually wouldn’t be voiced are expressed freely, such things as,

‘How should I begin a conversation with my elderly parents about death and what they might want at their funerals? Do I even need to do that? What music might you like at your funeral? I'm going to a funeral tomorrow. What makes a good funeral? I never thought I'd have to plan my own daughter's funeral. What do think about assisted dying? Should children go to funerals? What's a good death? What would you like your very last words to be? To whom? Where?'

Clearly we all have a lot of questions regarding and death and the issues that surround it. To be able to have a relaxed, safe, environment where all attending are happy to discuss and explore these questions is a haven that many people truly appreciate.

Annie describes it like ‘the best book club ever,  but without the homework - you just come as yourself, with your stories, your hopes and your fears and chat and share or just be quiet and listen... ‘

If this is something that you would be interested in attending,  visit their Facebook page: Death Cafe Crowthorne here

Or contact Annie on deathcafecrowthorne@gmail.com.

#beatonsbod: Natalie - trumpeting the Chester team!

Natalie at Beatons Chester
What's your role and what do you like best about your job?

Hello I am Natalie, I am waitressing, as part of Beatons Chester front of house staff. I started in January, I am still new but I am loving my new job. I like the staff and sense of being part of a real close-nit team. I am enjoying learning to serve customers the ‘Beatons way’ with gracious hospitality and elegance.

What's your favorite drink or edible from our menu?

Working at Beatons there is so many different drinks and menu options to chose!  If I had to pick one it would have to be the jacket potato with coronation chicken, it melts in your mouth, it’s so tasty and full of flavour.  I’m also rather partial to the chocolate cake it’s definitely one of my favourite cakes here, it is so rich and moist.

And how about your favourite book from our shelves?

My favourite book on our shelves is “There’s always room for chocolate” as a chocolate lover myself I love to read the tips about how to create new twists on the traditional chocolate recipes we all know and love.

Which of the ways we like to go about things at Beatons means most to you and why?

I like how relaxed and peaceful the atmosphere is and how every customer is made to feel special and receive a ‘one of a kind’ experience here at Beatons.
If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

I would be an Elephant, they are hard working and work as part of a team. I also like that they care about one another and have loads of knowledge.

#beatonstearooms: I is for...Individuali-tea

What value do you place on individuality?

As Coco Chanel put it “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” 

We truly admire individuality here, - indeed our unique ethos underpins our brand – which maintains it, but each tearooms has a unique and irreplaceable individuality.

In fact, each of our Tearooms chooses one of our core brand qualities that best reflects what they love about Beatons. They will have a special affinity with it which will be reflected in their own Beatons.As a brand, our core qualities are:Gracious Hospitality

• Generous Value
• Restorative Experience
• Elegance
• Attentiveness
• Heart and Passion 

Beatons Tisbury is where this our story began; inspired by the life, elegance and iconic style of Sir Cecil Beaton. As our flagship tearooms, it’s unsurprising Tisbury chose ‘Elegance’ as the quality they most aspire to emulate and identify with.

 When the tearooms in the restoration town of Blandford opened, the quality that most aligned itself was 'restorative'. The team recognised that creating an environment for people in Blandford to feel restored was key. We received this lovely comment just recently from someone who had visited Beatons in Blandford for the first time: ‘I just left smiling inside and out, feeling so restored, almost like being at a spa.’ This certainly puts a smile on our faces!

The next tearooms to open belongs to franchisee Steve and his now wife Elaine, in Chester. The quality they most admire and identify with is 'gracious hospitality'. From day one Beatons Chester have been building on that core ‘ethos’ and creating for themselves a strong reputation for providing ‘gracious hospitality’ to all who visit.

Beatons Crowthorne in Berkshire have taken the quality of ‘Attentiveness’.  It certainly mirrors franchisee Paul Mitchell’s nature. Being a natural ‘people person’, Paul is both conscientious and caring towards his customers. He sets the standards high for his staff, resulting in a plethora of comments which refer to how friendly and attentive both the ambience and staff are.

As we grow each tearooms will choose their quality to focus on and be an exemplar of it.

Although you might not see any difference in the environment and styling of a Beatons from tearooms to tearooms – indeed we’re quite precious in ensuring our branding is absolutely consistent throughout the group – we’re proud that each of our tearooms has a core quality to make their own. We love hearing how they’re demonstrating these in their own individual ways through events and team training.