At the Tea Table with La’Shell of Books by the Cup

A graceful pour of tea from teapot to cup paired with soothing sounds of jazz is La’Shell’s specialty. She is the writer behind Books by the Cup, a blog devoted to book reviews and tea time, too. While you may not see her face online, her hands have made several appearances through her Instagram series “The Morning Steep”. You can always count on her tea pouring clips to bring a peaceful moment to your morning and encourage you to put the kettle on. At the tea table La’Shell chatted about her sweet tea to loose leaf tea journey, a character she would share a cup of tea with and she gives us a virtual tour of her fabulous tea nook.

The kettle is on and I can hear it about to sing. What tea are you going to steep for us today?

I’m having Belgian Chocolate Rooibos from Brooklyn Tea. It’s a delicious dessert tea. I’ve added a little hazelnut creamer for a yummy tea latte.

What a tasty idea! How did your tea journey begin?

My tea vocabulary was elementary. As a Southern Belle, Sweet Tea was the extent of my tea experience.

My journey with quality (qualitea) tea (loose leaf tea) started about 5 years ago. I wanted to have a few friends over—women who have been like mothers, aunties and grandmothers to me—and I thought a tea party. Southern hospitality (hospitalitea) can cause many of us to go all out for a few friends. I decided on a tea party.

I didn’t know anything about loose leaf teas. After sharing my tea party idea with a friend I consider the party planner extraordinaire, she told me about loose leaf teas. Off to Teavana (now closed) I went to purchase a few loose leaf teas for the party.

I’ve never looked back & I’ve come a long way, with still more to learn about tea.

What came first for you: your love for tea or your love for reading?

My love of reading. I had an aunt who would encourage me to read at a young age and I’m so glad she did. I can only imagine what it might look like if those 2 loves would have collided a bit earlier in my life.

Take us on a virtual tour of your tea nook & reading space.

My tea nook hasn’t made its official space reveal debut since I’m still working on some finishing touches and plan to share it on my blog/Instagram when I’m finished.

This space is one of the wonderful surprises from my husband who tells me I’m addicted/obsessed with books and tea, but supports my tea habit. It’s a cozy space with a lamp and 4 cozy chairs.

Under my chair, near the lamp, there is a stack of books I’m currently reading, planning to read or need to do pictures for posting on Instagram, haha.

There is a table in the middle for tea and cups of course. There is also a tea cabinet mounted on the wall stocked with a variety (varietea) of teas. Below the cabinet is a sideboard/buffet on wheels.

On top of the buffet is my kettle, a few cast iron pots, a few tins of various teas. Inside of the buffet, more tea along with a few other necessities (necessiteas) including 4 shelves of tea cups.

For a short tour of some of my tea cups, check out my tea shelfie highlight on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by La’Shell (@booksbythecup) on Sep 15, 2020 at 6:20am PDT

Speed Round:

Black, Green, Yellow, White, Oolong or Puerh?
Oolong

Hot, Iced or Cold?
Hot

Teapot, Infuser or Gaiwan?
Teapot with infuser

Straight, Sweetened or Latte?
Sweetened Latte

Cheese or Chocolate pairing?
Chocolate

Choose one fictional book character and/or author that you would like to have tea with.

Funny you should ask this. At one point I wanted to do this as something regular on my Instagram/Blog but since I’m a mood drinker it can be challenging.

I think my favorite pairing is No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith with Rooibos. The main character Mma Ramotswe loves bush tea (aka Rooibos) and that’s the only tea she will have. Mma Makutsi tries different teas (me too) but I love knowing whenever I sit down with them (reading) we will be having some tea. This has been my go to series when I need something familiar and cozy when I’m in a slump and feel like I should visit a friend I want to catch up with.

Find Books by the Cup:

Blog | Instagram

ABOUT THIS SERIES: Tea tells stories and when connected with humans, more are created. That’s where the idea for this blog series, At the Tea Table, originated. With this series, The Cup of Life asks tea lovers around the world to take us inside their tea lives to share their favourite steeps, spaces, routines and more. Meet some of your fellow tea drinkers here.