Beauty and the Beast Teas

I'm sure that special Beauty and the Beast themed products are nothing new these days, but knowing I'm really into tea (as well as the fairy tale) my friend sent me this link to the limited edition Twinings tea in honor of the Disney movie:

"English tea company Twinings has debuted special-edition Beauty and the Beast packaging($15 for 4) on some of its herbal tea blends, and it's sure to bring a smile to any Disney-lover's face.

The Lemon and Ginger tea features Emma Watson as Belle in her blue dress, while Belle in her iconic yellow dress adorns the packaging of the Camomile, Honey, and Vanilla flavor. The Pure Peppermint tea features the famous scene of Belle and the Beast dancing. Lastly, the Orange and Cinnamon Spice Tea features our favorite teapot, Mrs. Potts. Luckily for us, the teas will be available in the US in leading grocery stores and specialty stores until December of this year."

The boxes would be fun to collect, but they just put a new graphic on basic teas that already existed. I would have loved to see special blends created in honor of the fairy tale. A rose tea would be an obvious choice; I can imagine a flavored black tea called "Enchanted Castle" and a calming chamomile blend in honor of Mrs. Potts. If you could create a BATB themed tea, what would it be?

Blogger Meetup (and Fairy Tale Tea!)

By far, one of the best perks of blogging is getting to interact with amazing people all over the world. I've been following Amy Elize Brown of The Willow Web (now transitioning to a new website, Amyelize.com) for a while now, and loving her insights into fairy tales, especially her research into Sleeping Beauty for her dissertation. You may remember reading some of her most interesting discoveries in her guest post here at Tales of Faerie, 5 Strangest Things I Learned about Sleeping Beauty.

Amy lives in England, so I had never really considered the possibility of being able to meet her in person, but I was thrilled to hear she was coming to Chicago last month! We met up for tea and then explored the German Christmas Market for a bit, a favorite Chicago tradition of mine.

Amy is just as sweet in real life as she is online! (Not to mention I am super jealous of her amazing British accent!) It was fun to search for all the fairy tale themed things at the Christmas Market, and you can see more of her pictures at her blog (including the Fairy Castle at the Museum of Science and Industry!). It was great to meet Amy and her friends, and she was kind enough to bring me some souvenirs from England, including this fabulously appropriate Winter Fairytale Tea!

Into the Woods Afternoon Tea

Any of you live near London? Through this week, you can go to an "Into the Woods"-themed afternoon tea. (Anyone want to fly me out?...)

More information:
"sketch has teamed up with Disney's musical masterpiece Into the Woods, to create a limited edition run of its Afternoon Tea... 
Available from Monday 18th May - Sunday 7th June.

The inspired menu has re-created some of the classic afternoon tea elements and given them a fantasy, fairytale makeover - with items fit for any basket to take to grandma's house.
Included in the re-vamped tea is Little Red Riding Hood's Choux, Jack's Beanstalk Tart and a Prince Charming Green 'Sand-Witch', all complemented by the Baker and His Wife's selection of sketch pastries."
View the Menu Here

How fun is that?

Fairy Tale Tea

Fellow tea lovers alert!! I found these fairy tale teas on etsy. There are so many fairy tale products available these days but this is pretty unique!

From seller SimplyDeliciousMe, 6 tea blends:

"Beauty & The Beast- Black summer roses blend with a dark forest flavor for a new twist on a tale as old as time.

Cinderella-A black tea mixed with vanilla and ginger, with hints of peaches. Keep a lookout for glass slippers and step mothers

Red Riding Hood-A rich red tea blended for a forest berry sensation so good, you may want to share with grandma.

Sleeping Beauty-A soothing blend of Chamomile and Green Needle teas, for a slumber you won't have to prick your finger for

Snow White-A white tea expertly blended with Snow buds and Vanilla for a princess worthy tea.
& The 7 Dwarves- A rich earthy tea with hints of a gold tea that mimics what mining dwarves love most."

I think these are all pretty clever. The only one that seems random is Cinderella. At first I thought the peaches were a nod to the tree Cinderella/Aschenputtel climbs in to hide in the Grimms version, but that was a pear tree. In the ballet version they make use of oranges in the ball scene...anyone aware of a connection to Cinderella and peaches?

Grimm Fairy Tale Tea Set

A non-Disney Grimm's fairy tale tea set!

Available through Reutter porcelain

Little Red Teapot

How cute is this Little Red Riding Hood teapot? Link to Modcloth (where it is, unfortunately, currently out of stock)

Alice in Burtonland

The Chicago Tribune had a pretty good review of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I'm kind of a purist when it comes to books I like being made into movies, so though I love Tim Burton, I'm almost afraid to see the movie. The fact that it's a sequel to the original story could be an opportunity for some really interesting creative ideas, but also could be a reason to separate from the heart of the original story even more than a typical remake would. Apparantly there's a big battle between the Red and White Queens. As much as I love a big epic fantasy with action and excitement, that's not the point of Wonderland. Wonderland is a place of nonsense and absurdity, more like a dream than our world. Good and evil, or enough consistency in plot to carry through an entire battle, seem out of place in Wonderland (which is apparantly called "Underland," an interesting choic, makes it seem more sinister. Not that I mind sinister). In fact, the fact that Alice can go there as an adult seems like that shouldn't be; as if, like Neverland, Wonderland should be reserved for children.

But these are my own personal reservations, I can't really say until I've seen the movie. I'm too cheap to see movies in theaters much so it will probably be a while before it's available on Netflix, but I'd love to hear other people's opinions as they see the film.

Oh and this gives me an excuse to show off my teapot.