How to Throw a Mad Hatter Tea Party

Did you know that October 6 is National Mad Hatter Day? It happened to work out wonderfully that we were able to launch our new Disney Wonderland Collection of teas on October 6, which means our new Alice Wonderland Blend and Mad Hatter Wonderland Blend have the perfect debut day! The Alice Wonderland Blend is a black tea with silver tips – a nod to her clothing – with strawberry, fig, and blue cornflowers for a little sweet, a little tart, and a little Alice. Disney’s Mad Hatter combines the always elegant Earl Grey along with Milky Oolong for some creamy, dreamy smoothness befitting such a debonair, carefree character.

In honor of Mad Hatter Day, our new Wonderland blends, and all things tea party, we thought we’d update our Mad Hatter blog from 2020! Below, you can read about the history of this spirited, fun-loving national day, glean some Mad Hatter trivia, check out our Disney’s Alice in Wonderland tea pairings, and get ideas for throwing a “mad” tea party! Enjoy!

The Mad Hatter is, of course, one of the main characters from Lewis Carroll’s 1865 story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Disney’s classic Alice in Wonderland movie. The Hatter is a whimsical character drawn by the book’s illustrator, Sir John Tenniel, as wearing a tall top hat with “10/6” written on it, which refers to the cost of a hat in those days-- 10 shilling and 6 pence. Thus, 10/6 is the perfect day to celebrate National Mad Hatter Day.

You can understand why we are all for never-ending tea parties, of course. National Mad Hatter Day is generally celebrated by the wearing of outrageous hats, throwing fun, Alice-themed tea parties, and just general madcap silliness! If you haven’t any idea why a raven is like a writing desk, enjoy saying things that are vexing and maddening to your guests, wish with all your heart to wear outlandish headgear, and can’t get enough of tea, we invite you to celebrate National Mad Hatter day with us.

For starters, we’ve put together a pairing of our existing Harney teas with some of the main Disney’s Alice in Wonderland characters:

• Alice in Wonderland | Disney’s Alice Wonderland Blend
• Mad Hatter | Disney’s Mad Hatter Wonderland Blend
• Caterpillar | Blueberry Green 
• The Cheshire Cat | Indigo Punch
• Tweedledee & Tweedledum | Hot Cinnamon Spice & Hot Cinnamon Sunset
• The Queen of Hearts | Royal English Breakfast
• The White Rabbit | Winter White Earl Grey 
• The March Hare | Victorian London Fog
• The Dormouse | Chamomile

With your Alice in Wonderland-themed teas in hand, throw together a tea party that is festive and anything but refined. While all that is mentioned about the Mad Hatter’s tea party is tea and bread and butter (along with no wine, even though it was offered), here are some ideas inspired by the story and its characters:

• Macarons in festive colors
• Shortbread cookies with “Eat Me!” written in icing
• Teacup-shaped sugar cookies with “Drink Me” written in icing
• Tophat-shaped sugar cookies with “10/6” written in icing
• Queen of Hearts bright red strawberries with the tops cut off
• Caterpillar-inspired blueberry scones
• Bread and the best butter (keep away from watches!)
• Cucumber sandwiches
• Tea sandwiches
• King of Hearts Bakewell tart (an English classic!)
• Assorted nuts to represent the rest of the characters!

Whatever you drink or eat or wear, raise a cup to a reason to be silly and childlike again! Happy National Mad Hatter Day!