High Tea in the Blue Ridge: How “A Spot of Tea” Found Its Home at Engadine

Afternoon tea isn’t just for London. In this episode of Asheville Reboot, Ward Henderson sits down with Christy, creator of A Spot of Tea — a fully customizable English-style high tea service now thriving in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Christy shares how her years at Biltmore Estate inspired her to launch this luxury experience, why Hurricane Helene became the unexpected catalyst for her business, and how Engadine Inn & Cabins became one of her premier partners. From Victorian elegance to wellness-focused menus, Christy’s teas are steeped in tradition, creativity, and local flavor.

If you’ve ever wanted to sip tea in a Queen Anne Victorian, savor cucumber sandwiches, or explore matcha-inspired desserts, this is your invitation.

📍 Book your Spot of Tea experience now:
https://www.engadineinnandcabins.com

mountainbeauty@outlook.com

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Transcript

0:00

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Asheville Reboot the podcast, sharing stories of real people during the hard, beautiful work of helping Western North Carolina recover and thrive in the wake of Hurricane Helene. I'm your host, Ward Henderson with Engadine Inn and Cabins. Today I'm joined by Christy, the creator of Spot of Tea, a fully customizable English style high tea experience, now available right here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Hey Ward, thank you so much for having me on today. So, yeah, the spot of tea was really inspired by my experiences working in the luxury hotel realm. I was working at the in on Biltmore estate and helped with their afternoon teas there. And when they discontinued that experience, I found a niche in the market that was ready to be opened up. And it's something I love. I love tea. I found some local purveyors that really provide excellent tea and it's. It's something that I've really just taken a real interest in. I have a background in culinary. I was a trained chef from our local college that is nationally ranked and also have experience as a butler also at Biltmore. So the service and the preparation of the food, everything comes together and it makes it a really unique and special luxury tea experience. Yeah, I know firsthand'cause I've been a part of one of those experiences with our team here at Engadine. We got to enjoy that ourselves. And me being from an English background, I really appreciated the authenticity. So I'm so excited you're here. What's the experience like for someone booking a high tea? Do you have, signature themes or menu items? So we really, we focus on the classic, traditional. Expected menu items for a high tea scones and the, deviled eggs and all the things you expect. But we also, stray into more unique areas as well. We, it's fully customizable, so if someone wants to focus on wellness or focus on certain dietary restrictions, we accommodate those as well with, with notice. We really work to make it a specialized experience so anyone can join. I've partnered with a chef that was in culinary school with me at AB Tech Community College, our local culinary school here, which is, nationally ranked. They're very competitive. It's a very competitive program, and we had a fantastic time in school together she was actually the lead chef cooking for the Biltmore Afternoon teas. And so we've. Work together to take what we learned from the front of house and the back of house, and make a really luxury experience for afternoon tea. and she and I have worked together to curate a menu that was inspired by Biltmore and make really, really special flavors. It's not just what you buy from the store, it is a really unique handmade menu. As you know, this podcast is all about rebuilding after Hurricane Helene. So my question to you, Christy, is how did Hurricane Helene, impact your business? So the hurricane really, it took us all by surprise here in Asheville. And it actually was the catalyst that ended up kicking off a spot of tea. I'd been thinking about curating this experience for a while, but, my career kind of took a shift after the hurricane and spot of tea has become a major part of that. How does this new partnership with Engadine impact the building of your business? So Engadine has actually been one of our premier clients that we've worked with. So we do teas with bed and breakfasts and, lodges and really any private homes as well around the area. But Engadine has been one of our best partners so far. We love you guys and it really fits our vibe with an Queen Anne Victorian house from 1885. So it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Absolutely. So we love the Victorian background and environment. That's why bed and breakfasts especially in Asheville where there's so many historic homes are such a great fit. But we will do it anywhere. And like I said, we customize to the environment and to the particular requests, as well. But definitely there's something very classic about having high tea in a Victorian home that makes Engadine. A premium spot. So looking ahead, what are you most excited about? Any new offerings ideas or goals on the horizon for you guys? So we're always looking to expand and always getting new ideas and finding new recipes and making. New connections one of the things that we've been doing is, expanding into experiences like bachelorette parties and weddings we also have worked with doing more wellness teas so we can focus on the health benefits of green teas. We have a matcha cake roll that we can put on the menu and we have all kinds of fun. Experiences that are associated with more of the wellness aspect of tea. So we can do high tea with the English style or we can move more into the Asian teas. And there's so much to explore and so many different opportunities out there. But also just expanding to new horizons. I don't know. It's gonna be pretty tough to beat those cucumber sandwiches you made that I had that day. Oh my goodness. Well, Christy, thank you, so much for joining us today and sharing your journey and your experiences. You can now book Spot of Tea Experience right at Engadine Inn and Cabins. Whether you're celebrating something special or just wanna slow down and savor something beautiful, visit Engadine Inn and Cabins.com to plan your stay or book your high tea experience. And if you'd like to learn more about Christy's business you'll find her details on our site. Under the experiences tab, and also by emailing her directly at Mountain beauty@outlook.com. Thank you so much for having me on. It's been a pleasure and we're really excited to see what the future holds for A Spot Of Tea and also for Engadine inn and cabins. So thanks for letting me be a part. You're welcome. We're excited to have you guys. Asheville is open for business, and the hospitality here is richer than ever. Thanks for listening to Asheville Reboot, and we'll see you next time.