I have more than a few obsessions, it’s hard to pick the best ones to talk about because they’re all awesome, so I figured I’d just go through them one by one. Last time we looked at my DIY Harness collection. This time I’m covering my tea obsession.

My mum and my Grandmother drink a lot of tea, and thats something thats filtered down to me and my sisters. Around eleven or twelve my Grandmother started giving my sisters, cousins and I deportment lessons, as her aunts had given her (cause we were feral kids. Kidding. Or am I?). She’d set out these stunning Wegdewood and Royal Doulton tea cups, some deliciously fruity teas, and fresh scones with cream and jam. It started a tradition we carry on even now, though not as often as I would like. I never stopped drinking though, and I’m always on the look out for new and interesting teas.

A while back my Grandmother gave me a box of a Pearl tea by Gryphon Tea Co.called Pearl of The Orient. It’s by far my favorite tea but way too expensive for meto ship out to Australia ( Yes, thats a hint that I want you to send me some. STAT). It’s a beautiful tea to watch steep, and if you’ve never seen how they make Dragon Pearl tea, go youtube it, it’s awesome.

Just a short drive from where I live is my favourite tea house, The Silva Spoon, and they have some amazing teas too. I buy two or three new teas every time I go there.

My three newest teas are pictured above – Coconut Cream Chai, Peach Melba, and Truffle. They’re crazy delicious, especially the chai, and they smell amazing. I’ve also fallen for their Fire and Ice, Mexican Mango Chilli and Strawberries and Cream teas. I’m also quite partial to Lady Grey. I have about a million different bagged teas, and I keep at least one of each flavour in my work bag. Fruity teas and weird flavour combinations are my favourite. A dash of spiced honey in warm milk steeped chai is perfect for this time of year. It’s rainy and cool, autumn/winter is my favourite time of year.

I have a small collection of tea cups which I’ll post below (there’s only a half dozen, don’t freak out…) I don’t know much about them, I’ve only bought one brand new, the rest have been thrifted. I’m very particular about the tea cups I buy, they have to be interesting, and in a set. I don’t mind if they’re vintage or brand new, unique or mass produced. If it catches my eye I’ll buy it. The first cup is by Maxwell Williams.

It’s called the Kimono, and it’s the only brand new cup I have ever bought. It’s got a beautiful cherry blossom and gold design, and is made of a fine china. The cup is fairly deep, almost as deep as a regular coffee mug, which is brilliant.

This one was my first thrifted tea cup, I bought it because the saucer was completely unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The backmark says it was made by Chameleon House, and extensive Googling doesn’t reveal much else. I’ve found another set in this pattern but blue that sold on Ebay, and a red patterned tea pot but nothing on the company itself or the style, when it was made or what its worth.

This pair were sold as a set in an op-shop but aren’t a set at all. The saucer is a rose patterned finer china, the blue pattern is made of thicker lines and the only markings say Made in England. The cup is thicker, more mug like, and has a farm scene patterned in a slightly lighter blue and thiner lines. It also only says Made in England, which is, I assume, the only reason they were bundled together.

This little darling took a little while to figure out, and I still don’t have a complete idea of when it was made but the back mark is from I E & C co, a Japanese pottery company. The backmark labels it handpainted and the details on the china itself are exquisite. The china is very fine, done in rich colors with beautifully even brush strokes and gold detailed moriage. It was made somewhere between the 1900s and 1940s, though it’s hard to find anything even remotely close to it so I have no idea what year it was made or what its worth.

A gift from my middle sister, this little stunner is another Japanese piece which appears similar to some Nasco pieces I’ve seen floating around. It has a raised scallop detail on the saucer, a roughly painted lip on the cup that seems intentional, and the interior of the cup is a pearlised lavender/pink pastel that mimics Mother of Pearl. The backmarks on these two are different, so I don’t know if they are actually a set. The backmark on the saucer is a blue ‘JAPAN’ stamp, while the backmark on the cup is a gold ‘Japan’. There’s no other identifiying marks so I’m assumng it’s just a generic set.

After extensive searching I finally identified the backmark on this set as Noritaki, 1935, for Australia/New Zealand. The pattern still eludes me, it is similar to the Adela, though that pattern was discontinued in 1933. It’s in really, really good condition, which part of me says is sketchy as hell (but not as sketchy as the guy messaging me on snapchat at 1am trying to get pics of me in my jammies…) but I will hopefully be able to authenticate it soon. If any of you chinaware buffs can give me a hand that’d be great!

P.S. If you want to send me tea recommendations, please do!

P.P.S. If you want to send me quirky teas, also please do!