The past is always present in New Orleans, and few businesses exemplify that more than Bottom of the Cup Tea Room.
Plus, you might even learn about your future there.
Jeanne Powers is the fourth-generation owner of this 95-year-old French Quarter establishment. Her great-grandmother and great aunt opened the business on Royal Street in 1929 and moved it several times before settling on its current location at 327 Chartres Street in 1999.
“Back then, tea houses were considered a safe place for women to discuss politics or just gather,” Powers explained. “And after everyone had their tea, a reader would come around and read the leaves.”
Reading tea leaves is a form of divination that has existed across many centuries and cultures, and this glimpse of what may lie ahead is still a focus of the operation. Powers views this less as fortunetelling than a type of guidance.
“I’ve always seen us as a place where people are seeking something,” she said, “a place for healing and where maybe you can overcome some of the challenges in your life. Most of our readers have been with us for a long time. People should give it a try.”
Complementary products are for sale in the store, ranging from stones with healing qualities to tarot cards. That said, the tea is front and center, blended and brewed by Bottom of the Cup’s sister business, the New Orleans Tea Company.
“We have about 150 different teas, and every flavor name has an association with New Orleans, or the south, or our travels,” Powers elaborated, citing Dancing on Frenchmen, Bourbon Street Vanilla and Fleur de Tea as examples.
The teas are also available at other area coffee and tea shops, and even as far away as Pennsylvania. They are also the basis for a variety of local partnerships. Powers has an ongoing “Tea and Tarot” event series with The Windsor Court hotel, and the Virgin Hotel New Orleans recently added her teas in its rooms and gift shop.
The newest collaboration is with Commander’s Palace: a custom tea blend to serve in the restaurant, as well as the new Le Petit Bleu café. The tea will even be used as an ingredient in certain food preparations.
“I think it’s great: New Orleans businesses getting together and highlighting each other, and promoting the city in the best way,” Powers observed.
Promoting New Orleans is important to her, since her French Quarter location can be both a blessing and a curse.
“Our biggest challenge is the reputation of the city and telling people it’s a safe place to hang out,” she said. “I’m a local, I work down here, bring my kids down here. There is still a neighborhood feeling in the French Quarter.”
Bottom of the Cup’s clientele includes many Quarter residents, joined by visitors from all over the world. Many represent generations of visitors to the shop. In addition to the tea room, there is an upstairs event space and two private rooms for readings.
Whether one is looking to explore the future or simply enjoy a delicious cup of tea, Bottom of the Cup combines echoes of the past with flavors of the present for a uniquely New Orleans experience.
Bottom of the Cup Team Room
327 Chartres Street, New Orleans // 800-729-7148 // bottomofthecup.com
FB: @bottomofthecuptearoom // IG: @bottomofthecuptearoom
