0522HarfordSpring22 - Flipbook - Page 30
Adrianna Wilson, 16, right,
of Forest Hill, treats her
father, Nick Wilson, to a
birthday lunch.
High tea offers assorted tea sandwiches, sweets and warm
scones served with sweet cream and lemon curd, and tea.
Hunt Valley insurance company, decided to turn
their passion for teatime into a full-time job.
Never mind that they had little experience in the
hospitality industry. “From the beginning, neither
one of us knew what we were doing,” said Meyers.
They sought guidance through a small business
program at the Harford Community College
designed to help entrepreneurs. They decided to
include a retail shop at the front of the tearoom
to supplement sales, and checked out tearooms in
nearby Pennsylvania to gather inspiration.
Inside the cozy tearoom, Tea By Two strikes an
inviting balance between classy and comfortable,
with tables draped in floral cloths and mismatched
fine china.
“Sometimes people think about tea and they get
very uptight about it,” said Meyers. They wonder:
“Do I have to put my pinkie in the air?” Two By Tea,
she says, is more about relaxation. “Our take on tea
has been more of a ‘come and escape from the world
for an hour and a half.’ ”
The menu of teas features around 100 different
varieties as well as a dozen or so rotating flavors. The
majority of brews come from the East Indies Coffee
& Tea company, a wholesaler based in Lebanon,
30 | SPRING 2022 | harfordmagazine.com
Pennsylvania. There are pu-erh teas, fermented
black teas that Meyers said only recently became
available for import from China. “My coffee drinkers
love that,” she said, due to the rich, robust flavor
pu-erh makes when brewed. Other varieties include
green teas, steamed or cooked to retain their color.
Staff encourage guests to try new flavors, and
offer refills on pots and new flavors at no extra
charge. If a flavor isn’t to someone’s liking, they can
switch it out for an alternate for free. “We don’t want
you to sit there … and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I hate
this,’” said Meyers. She also encourages people to
buy small samples of teas to try at home in the retail
shop.
Customers like Rye also love the food. Afternoon
tea comes on a three-tiered plate with traditional
snacks like cucumber sandwiches as well as
homemade sweets like brownies and cookies. A
special scone comes with a helping of airy clotted