Steeping Into Fullness: An Afternoon of Tea, Boundaries, and Pouring Back Into Ourselves

2 days ago

4 min read

Some afternoons you plan. Others plan you.

Steeping Into Fullness was the first kind on paper and the second kind in the room. We set out to host a celebration of wellness, change, and womanhood. What we got was fifteen people, one turquoise room at Park Manor 75, and conversations that went somewhere real.

And it was a Sunday in Chicago. The Chicago Marathon was running through the city and the Bears were playing. Those fifteen people chose to spend their afternoon with us anyway, sipping, tasting, and learning inside a beautiful Black-owned business. I don't take that lightly.

We started at the board

Before a single cup was poured, Park Manor 75 welcomed everyone with a charcuterie board. People found their seats, found their friends, and found the florals... carnations, mums, and eucalyptus sitting on burgundy runners with a little gold shimmer underneath.

It was the kind of start that tells you to slow down.

Five teas, guided by Natasha

Then it was tea time.

Natasha Walker, our ITMA Certified Tea Sommelier, guided us through all five teas. She talked through the flavor of each one and the health properties behind it, in a way that made sense to everyone at the table. No tea jargon. Just care.

Since the day fell on Black Women's Day Off, Natasha also shared facts and statistics about health concerns that affect Black women, and they landed right alongside the teas we were tasting. It paired perfectly with the heart of the afternoon.

Here's what we poured:

Brooklyn Tea Cucumber Melon Green
The Irie Cup Women's Wellness Blend
My Cup of Tea Lemon Ginger Oolong
Black Momma Organic Pumpkin Spice
Snooze Oozzz Oozzz from 9TEA3, gifted to us along with top-notch customer service and delivery

Natasha built the order as five seasons, moving from grounding to glow, ease, warmth, and finally rest. Each tea came in its own little clear box, numbered one through five, so guests could see and smell the leaves before they tasted.

Loved that first pour? Brooklyn Tea gifted our community 15% off online purchases with code Chi at brooklyntea.com.

Two bites for every cup

Gabrielle Darvassy of B'Gabs Comfort Cafe in Hyde Park created two curated bites for every tea course, served on tiered stands at each table.

With Cucumber Melon Green: cucumber melon with feta, and whipped goat cheese with honey on crostini
With Women's Wellness Blend: whipped ricotta with fresh organic raspberries and honey, and chocolate-dipped dates with sea salt
With Lemon Ginger Oolong: sesame ginger noodles with chicken, cabbage and carrots, and chocolate-dipped ginger with coconut
With Organic Pumpkin Spice: roasted butternut squash with farro, cranberries, pecans and goat cheese in a maple Dijon dressing, and pumpkin spiced bites
With Snooze Oozzz Oozzz: chilled orzo salad with mozzarella pearls and herbs, and herbed mascarpone crostini with thyme and honey

You could taste the thought behind it. Ginger sat beside the ginger oolong. Pumpkin sat beside the pumpkin spice. Every bite was made to talk to the cup next to it.

Watching those tiers come out from behind the bar was its own little moment.

The conversations

Here's the part I keep coming back to.

Natasha's questions matched the tea course we were in, and the room opened up. We talked about self-care and wellness. We answered the question, "What is something you're currently doing differently in your life?"

People talked about their kids. About saying "no more." About pouring back into themselves. About putting up boundaries, and the harder part, keeping them.

Nobody performed. People just told the truth over tea. That's what fullness looks like to me.

Then we made something to take home

After the tea talk, I thanked everyone for coming, and we moved to the Sip, Scent & Create perfume bar by Lorie of All Butter'd Up.

Rows of scent bottles lined a gold rack against the velvet banquette, and every guest blended a signature fragrance of their own. Seeing people hold up their little bottles with huge smiles... that was the moment the whole afternoon came together. You came in with your stories and left with something you made.

Thank you, Lorie, for gifting this experience to our guests.

The people who made it happen

An afternoon like this is never one person's work.

Thank you to Natasha Walker for guiding us with so much knowledge and warmth. Thank you to Gabrielle of B'Gabs Comfort Cafe for feeding us so beautifully. Thank you to Lorie of All Butter'd Up for the scent bar, and to Brooklyn Tea for their gift to our community.

A special thank you to 9TEA3 for gifting our fifth tea to the whole room. Cyd Lockett and Hassahn Liggins built this Chicago, Black-owned company from a friendship that started at DePaul in 1993, and their Snooze Oozzz Oozzz closed our tasting on rest. If you loved it, find it at 9tea3.com and tell them we sent you.

Thank you to Denisse of K. Carlton Inc, who set up everything behind the bar, and to our volunteers Kimmie and Luu Luu, who gave us their whole afternoon. Kimmie was building tier stands before the first guest walked in.

Thank you to Karla, our photographer, who captured every image you see here and isn't in a single one of them...lol

Finally, to every guest who said yes to this afternoon. You are the reason we gather.

A closing thought

We called it Steeping Into Fullness because tea doesn't rush. It sits in hot water and becomes more of itself.

I think that's what happened in that room. Fifteen people sat with their stories, and left a little more themselves.

Join us at the next table

Our holiday season is already taking shape. Join us on Saturday, November 28 for Friendsgiving in the Champagne Room at Ambassador Gold Coast, and on Sunday, December 20 for Steep & Celebrate at The Warwick Allerton. Find both on our events page.

Everyone is welcome at our table.