Tea Review #2

Date: April 6, 2024 at 12:15 in the afternoon

Place: Peace Hill Farm, Charles City, Virginia

After a lovely drive up Route 5 with Lauri to Charles City, we arrived at Peace Hill Farm which has been owned by the same family for generations. It is a quaint place where a bright green rooster (a piece of art, not an animal) greets you when you pull in, and you can immediately tell it is a working farm that is well loved. The one challenge we had on arrival was figuring out which door to enter. Some simple signage would be a welcome addition! Once inside the main house, we found ourselves in a comfortable country setting for our tea. The table was set beautifully with lovely china that was all varied which I find much more interesting than matching sets! The room we were in had just one table set for us, and there were windows all around to enjoy the views of the farm. Above the windows were shelves with tea pots of all kinds, and the shelves in the room were covered with colorful wool yarn from the farm’s own sheep.

We were pleasantly surprised when Louise, our hostess, greeted us with the first course which was her homemade carrot soup! It was slightly sweet and delicious! Then we received our beautiful teapots after choosing between four teas. Lauri chose Darjeeling, and I selected English Breakfast. The other options were Earl Grey and Chocolate Black tea, which I may try on my next visit if available. The sugar and creamer set on the table were lovely, but we were mildly disappointed to see granulated sugar instead of sugar cubes, and there was no spoon set for use with the sugar.

Our tiered tower of treats was a delight! Louise served us the following tea sandwiches: egg salad on white bread, cucumber on potato bread, spinach spread on multigrain bread, and pimento cheese on homemade biscuits. The pimento was my favorite, and I think I would have preferred actual spinach with a spread on the multigrain bread instead. We also received shortbread cookies, flourless chocolate torte, and huge homemade scones with peaches and whipped cream. It was more than enough food for lunch, and everything was delicious!

We truly enjoyed our visit with Louise who is from England, near Bath, although she has lived in the United States for many years. We were excited to hear that she will make a trip back to the UK this summer! She was an excellent and most graceful hostess who was willing to answer any questions we had and was eager to make us feel at home. She told us for larger teas the whole house can be rented and seat up to 16-20 guests.

I was excited to find on Peace Hill Farm’s website that Holiday tea will be coming in December, and I will definitely be returning! I highly recommend this place to anyone who may wander between Richmond and Williamsburg and wish for a delightful tea experience. Fair warning: you need a reservation in advance!