Carol Kornides recalled having afternoon tea with her paternal grandparents, Tom and Carrie Winfield, in Jeannette. "My grandfather would pour a little liquid in the saucer and I would drink from the saucer,” said Kornides of Latrobe as she stood inside The Victorian Lady of Academy Hill, the Greensburg tea parlor she owns with husband Jeff. That is how her love of tea began. "Tea is more than a hot beverage,” Kornides said. "It’s a drink that helps you relax. My grandparents were English and had tea with bread and honey. I have such wonderful memories of my childhood sipping the tea with my grandparents.” Now, she’s grown up and is the one serving guests a wide selection of teas in fine English china cups and saucers trimmed in gold. "I’ve noticed guests lingering a little longer,” she said. "Maybe because during the pandemic they haven’t gone out much, so when they do, they savor that time, just like a cup of fresh hot tea.” Built around 1884, the Victorian Queen Anne style-home is in the Academy Hill historic district of Greensburg. The couple purchased the home in 2003. They will be closed to decorate for the holidays and will reopen Nov. 7. The Victorian Lady is just one of several places in Western Pennsylvania to enjoy tea. Tea for two, or more Ginny Vayda of Greensburg, a guest at The Victorian Lady, said the drink just tastes better in a tea cup, especially when someone steeps (the process of extracting the flavor and health- promoting compounds) the tea for you. "Spending an afternoon in a tea parlor gives you an opportunity to look at the person across the table from you and enjoy their company,” said Vayda, a lifelong tea drinker. "It’s a place where you come in the first time as a stranger, but you leave as a friend.” Tea parlors serve food to complement the drink. At The Victorian Lady of Academy Hill, there are three-tiered trays filled with scones, sugar frosted grapes, assorted savory tea sandwiches and assorted sweets. Lemon curd and Devonshire cream are included to complement the scones. Learning about tea is one of the benefits of going to a tea parlor, said Rose Mallik of Avonmore. She said Kornides’ tea parlor is the best-kept secret in Greensburg. "It’s peaceful. She has a wonderful selection of food, as well as tea. It’s become a Christmas tradition for me and a group of friends,” Mallik added. Theme-inspired teas Holidays at the tea parlor are a special time, agreed Ken Milko, owner of Flowers in the Attic in Penn Hills. He hosts festive teas as well as themed events throughout the year, such as "Harry Potter,” "Titanic” and princess tea parties, as well as wedding and bridal showers. Many guests come dressed in attire to reflect those themes. He serves Davidson’s Organic Teas in an old Colonial-Victorian farm house that has six working fireplaces. "Tea is about the experience, " said Milko, who has been hosting tea events for 20 years and also grows flowers on site. "The home sets the tone.” Coffee or tea shop? Diana Stoughton had planned on opening a coffee shop when her son, Gryphon Saldin, suggested she would be better off selling tea. She named the store after him, Gryphon’s Tea in Bloomfield, formerly located in Lawrenceville. "People are drinking more tea than ever,” Stoughton said. "They aren’t relying on the office coffee maker because they aren’t in the office. They are also buying a lot more tea. They can’t see mom or grandma (because of the pandemic), but they can send them tea.” She offers 120 loose-leaf teas and 40 proprietary blends. A cup of tea is $3. "The loose tea is fresher and we go through it quickly, so it doesn’t get old,” said Corrin Corbin, "tea maven” at Gryphon’s. "Don’t let anyone tell you how you should drink tea,” said Corbin. "It is individual. It’s like someone telling you how to dress. It’s not their right to do that. Drink your tea the way you want — black, with sugar, with cream, with honey, with lemon. Put what you want in it.” She said business increases at this time of year as the weather gets cooler, but devoted tea lovers drink it all year. She said drinking tea is soothing. "For me, the process of making tea is relaxing,” Corbin said. "A cup of tea warms the body, warms the soul.” Nina Komaniak, who owns Moonbeam Café in Oakmont and offers seven loose-leaf teas, purchases from Gryphon’s Tea. "I would not go anywhere else for tea,” she said. "Gryphon’s has the best.” TeaTime magazine Lorna Reeves, editor of TeaTime magazine, said any season of the year is a great time for tea. She said people often think of the cooler months for hot tea because of its warming effect. She quoted British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone: "If you are cold, tea will warm you; If you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you.” "Companies that sell tea directly to consumers are reporting robust sales of tea,” Reeves said. "And, of course, there is a renewed interest in the health benefits of tea, especially its antioxidant properties.” She said loose-leaf teas often give the drinker more control over the resulting infusion than tea bags do, and it is usually easier to tell if the tea is of inferior quality simply by the appearance of the dry leaf. "Typically, loose leaf also results in a more nuanced cup of tea than a tea bag would yield because the particles in tea bags are small and designed to steep quickly,” she said. "Some tea companies package their whole-leaf teas in mesh sachets, which allow for the leaves to properly expand during steeping. "I tell people to buy the best loose-leaf tea they can afford. Often, on a cup-per-cup basis, it might be less expensive than its tea bag counterpart.” Stay for tea At The Inn on Negley, a bed-and-breakfast in Shadyside, both guests and those not staying there can enjoy high tea inside or on the deck. The high tea is styled after the traditional teas of the British Isles, as well as more contemporary repasts from tea rooms across America and Europe, said owner Liz Sullivan. The inn uses tea from Harney & Sons. Guests dine on a chef’s choice of three sandwiches, two scones and three pastries. The menu is seasonal. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are available. Each guest has a tea pot. Sullivan said the use of fresh artisan bread and specialties such as Concord grape pie or spiced pumpkin cheesecake made by head chef Nick Krug add to the experience. King said a holiday favorite is the turkey cranberry sandwich. "We’ve seen a broader audience of guests, from college students to older adults, and not only females,” Sullivan said. "Men enjoy tea, too.” Tea talks The family tradition of tea is one of the reasons Margaret Harris, owner of Blue Monkey Tea Co. in Squirrel Hill, opened her tea shop. Iin her home country of Poland, she said, tea is a household beverage. Harris has hundreds of teas. She said her online business has grown because of the pandemic. Before covid-19, Harris taught tea classes in the store. She offers a Facebook Live event at 5:30 p.m. Saturdays. Topics include Tea 101, cooking with tea and even a tea-leaf reading. She is planning a special event on Oct. 31 for Halloween. Harris said the most popular teas are Pittsburgh Breakfast, Triple Z (sleepy time tea) and Flu Fighter. She added that fall favorites such as Apple Cider Tea, Pumpkin Cream Rooibos, Chestnut and Caramel Chai sell well. She has an assortment of British and Irish teas. Harris of Scott, who has a medical background, said she prefers to drink tea from a clear glass so she can see the color. "We also have a large section of rare, high-grown teas from different parts of the world for our tea connoisseurs,” she said. "I could talk about tea for days. It’s my passion.” Health benefits Nathaniel Pantalone, owner of Dobra Tea Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill, said tea can be more relaxing than coffee because of its natural properties. The Bohemian-style tea room has choices from all over the world and serves the drink in traditional vessels. The chai tea is most popular. "After the terrible Tree of Life tragedy (October 2018), people would come to us for a little bit of sanctuary before or after a funeral, sitting in grief,” said Pantalone, a Swissvale native. "I tell my staff you need to help our customers find something to help them, especially if they aren’t feeling just right.” According to WebMD, green tea’s antioxidants may interfere with the growth of cancers of the bladder, breast, lung, stomach, pancreatic and colorectal, and can prevent clogging of the arteries, burn fat, counteract oxidative stress on the brain, reduce risk of neurological disorders and stroke and improve cholesterol levels. Black tea may protect lungs from damage caused by exposure to cigarette smoke. White tea has the most potent anti-cancer properties. Oolong tea has been marketed as a weight loss supplement. There has been limited research on the benefits of herbal teas. Julianne Hagan, a registered dietitian, nutritionist, registered nurse and certified diabetes care and education specialist based in O’Hara, said having tea time is "lovely, but sweetened tea that is consumed in quantities of 20-plus ounces contributes to obesity and has many more negative than positive qualities.” "Instead, slow down, sip unsweetened tea and stop multitasking for a few minutes,” she said. "Have a conversation and savor the moment. That’s where many of the positive benefits of tea can be found.” JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne at 724-853-5062, jharrop@triblive.com or via Twitter .