Jane Austen Tea & Fun Shopping Adventures

Sharing some trendy cafe visits, beautiful stationery and new favorite tea blends

I recently took a quick spring trip to meet up with lovely cousin Becky - you may remember her from past travels and BTS reaction videos that I’ve roped her into. She’s not really an ARMY (quite yet 😉), but, speaking of the Bangtan boys, one of the spots we visited during our shopping expedition played not one, not two, but three different songs featuring BTS members - and Becky remembered their names, so we must be making progress. 😂

The place with the BTS tracks in their song rotation was called Thirty-Six Cafe, and they served up incredible Japanese souffle pancakes in an absolute bower of many-hued pink flowers. It has been dubbed, unsurprisingly, “the most Instagrammable place in St. Paul.” The pancakes tasted as good as they looked, although they were so sweet and filling we both ended up taking half our plates home. I noticed the people at an adjacent table ordered pancakes as well as savory toast, which I think was a smart idea. Between the latte and the pancakes, there was a lot of sugar. 😆

Luckily there was plenty of strolling and shopping along Grand Avenue to do to work off some of those calories. We had quite good luck at both Anthropologie and Paper Source, two of my favorite stores. Just walking around Anthropologie you can’t help but absorb design inspiration, and Paper Source is the same. Its iconic wall of envelopes and cards in every shade of the rainbow is so beautiful!

I haven’t put together my new paper daffodil wreath from Paper Source yet, but I can’t wait to start it! I love decorating with the other two paper flower wreaths that I’ve bought from Paper Source in the past. That paper crafts section is my Achilles’ heel - everything is so cute and different and creative. Having worked up enough appetite for afternoon tea, we took a drive in search of it…

Bingley’s Teas turned out to be one of my favorite stops of the day! I believe their small shop/tea room is only open on Saturdays - they do a lot of their business online - but it was so fun to browse the teas in person. The owner was so nice and friendly and knowledgeable about tea, answering our questions and bringing out different shining tea jars filled with beautiful leaves for us to sniff the fragrance.

Each blend is perfectly tailored to the different characters from Jane Austen’s novels, and the descriptions are a delight. I had a hard time deciding which teas to buy and whether to pick my favorite characters/scenarios or my favorite flavors. 😅 “Compassion for Mrs. Bennett’s Nerves” is hard to pass on! It was a quiet day in the shop, and we were able to sit and have a pot of tea although we hadn’t made a reservation. We tried “A Tea Rose Gown for Mrs. Allen” which was so delicious - I’m not usually a fan of black tea with flavors added, but the vanilla and rose were very light and pleasant. “The Patience of Miss Price” was one of the bags I purchased - I have had several pots already, and I’m sure I’ll use it all up, but the vanilla flavor in that one is a just a bit too strong for my tastes.

Green teas tend to languish at the back of my cupboard, so I stuck mostly to black teas - I also bought “Captain Wentworth” and “Elinor’s Heart,” both of which I’ve been enjoying so much. As you might guess, the gallant captain has a more robust taste, while the sensible Dashwood sister is a little more mellow and gentle. I couldn’t leave Emma behind, so I did pick up one green tea, “Emma’s Perfect Match.” I feel like I need to get a clear pot to brew this one in - whenever I open the bag, the tea leaves look so beautiful! Maybe Miss Woodhouse will win me over to green tea, I really do like the flavor combination with strawberries (for Donwell!), roses and hibiscus.

I almost bought “Longbourn Wedding” which was a white tea - I don’t have much experience with white tea, and the owner was telling us it needs to be steeped at a slightly lower temperature. I’m noticing now that the website specifies what temperature each blend should be brewed at and for how long. I love drinking tea, and I love the ceremony of preparing it, but I confess I have never paid much attention to the water temperature! I felt like I learned a lot about tea just by visiting Bingley’s.

Hope you all have a lovely Friday and enjoy today’s new shopping vlog/haul - with a cup of tea or calming beverage in hand!