BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Enjoy a comforting hot or refreshing cold cup of tea and community. Ross House Coffee has opened a new location in the Greystone Mansion. Housed in the historic Auburn building, Greystone Teahouse offers a variety of teas, sweet treats and high noon tea options.
“I had heard that the Greystone Mansion was going to be available, and I’m friends with the owner, so I called her and said, ‘Hey, let’s put a tea shop in there,’ And she’s like, ‘You know, that’s a great idea.’” said owner Toni Holt. “It just happened to be available right when my lease [for the West Magnolia Ross House location] was over, so it was a perfect transition into it. All the furniture and everything was already in here, I just had to bring tables, my food, ideas and employees.”
With her other Ross House locations primarily focusing on coffee, Holt said she had the idea for a teahouse after being inspired by the health benefits of tea and the unique experience it would provide customers compared to other local options.
“I knew that I didn’t want to do another coffee shop so close to Ross House, I didn’t want to take away from that business,” she said. “I have just recently been drinking tea, and really like it. I have been researching, and I feel like tea is really healing. I feel like God has given us these tea leaves for healing purposes, and so I’ve really been researching that too, how it heals your body in all the different ways. I think it’s just healthy and it’s fun. We have tons of coffee shops in town, but no tea shops in Auburn, so it was just a great idea.”
For those looking for a tasty way to feel better, Holt shared some of the ingredients that can be found in the tea options at the Greystone Teahouse and the physical benefits that can accompany them.
“We have a couple of different turmeric teas, which are really good for inflammation,” she said. “We have a strawberry hibiscus, and that’s good for blood pressure; it kind of opens up your valves. We have a beetroot tea, and that also helps lower blood pressure. We also have chamomile and lavender, which are calming and make you feel at peace; they also help with blood pressure. We have peppermint, which is really good for headaches. We have one for stomach ease, which is what we call it; in case you are having some stomach issues, it will help with that. And then we have a stress-free one, to kind of give you calmness and peace.”
Along with teas, Holt said the Greystone Teahouse also offers treats to fuel time with friends, study sessions for students or whatever else brings customers to the historic location.
“We have some desserts and cakes, and then all the chocolate croissants, some apple puff pastries and a maple puff pastry,” she said. “We’re doing our sausage, egg and cheese as well as out bacon, egg and cheese on our English muffins instead of a biscuit. We do the high noon tea, we do a little pastries on top [shelf of the stand], little cheesecakes or mini scones [on the middle row] and then little sandwiches with pimento cheese [on the bottom plate]. So if someone wants to have a group sitting there, you just set it in the middle, each person pays the price for it and then they get to pick their tea.”
Holt said the high noon tea is more than just a mid-day treat; it is offered anytime the Greystone Teahouse is open.
Since opening the Teahouse, Holt said the community response has been positive and she looks forward to providing a space for people to gather and make memories together both big and small.
“The community has been very supportive,” she said. “People love this house, and we don’t want to just use it for offices; we want to share it with the community. We want to have events here, probably not wedding events, not wedding receptions, but we do want to have tea parties and just little get-togethers for people, rehearsal dinners, stuff like that, just little parties.”
The Greystone Teahouse is located at 434 E. Magnolia Ave., Auburn, and open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and closed on Sunday. For more information, visit www.rosshousecoffee.com/.
