Event pairs tea and Seagrove pottery shops

Participating shops are Blue Hen Pottery, Dean & Martin Pottery, Eck McCanless Pottery, From the Ground Up Pottery, Red Hare Pottery and Thomas Pottery.

Shops are located along Pottery Highway NC 705 and adjacent roads. Visitors may start at any participating shop. A map is provided at their first stop and also online.

As iced tea has long been the southern tradition, this summer event features pitchers and tumblers. Teapots and tea bowls will also be available for those loyal to hot tea.

Each shop has its own unique style of pottery and will feature different items. Visitors can expect a large selection of teapots, mugs, pitchers, tumblers, cream and sugar sets, honey pots, bakeware, serving pieces, decorative pieces and more.

“Each potter works hard to create new tea-related pottery for each event,” said Bobbie Thomas of Thomas Pottery. “If you’re lucky, you might find a bunny sculpture holding a teapot or a pie bird for your next berry pie.”

The six participating potters chose Carriage House Tea as their partner for these events. Each potter chooses two different teas from among Carriage House’s authentic blends. Customers who visit all six of the studios have the opportunity to sip 12 different teas. Visitors will often wind up at Carriage House Tea in Asheboro to shop for teas they’ve tried along the pottery tour.

“Tea and pottery go hand-in-hand because of the need for the teapots, tea cups, tea saucers and tea trays,” said Mary Murkin, owner of Carriage House Tea and master blender. “It is truly a beautiful and brilliant partnership and union!”

Also partnering with Tea with Seagrove Potters is The Table Farmhouse Bakery which will provide their Signature Shortbread, Table Brownies Bites and gluten-free Meringues.

Many visitors plan to start the day in Asheboro with breakfast at The Table Farmhouse Bakery before venturing out to visit the potters and browse for that special piece to take home.

Seagrove, located in The Heart of North Carolina near Asheboro, is a magical destination with unique, distinguished, extremely talented potters spread out over twenty miles of rural landscape. Visitors can find over sixty pottery shops, many with open-to-the-public studios. Exploring them is great fun but a lot to take in in one visit; a lot of ground to cover.

Back in 2015, six potters came together to establish Tea with Seagrove Potters. “They determined that six studios was a very doable number to achieve a leisurely experience in one afternoon while leaving time to explore others as desired,” said Thomas.

The tea-themed pottery shop hop event occurs a couple times a year in spring and summer. The March event invites visitors to warm up with hot tea; the August event offers cool, refreshing iced tea. In between each of these events, these six potters spend time designing and making unique and functional tea pots, tea cups, tea saucers, and tea trays to be ready for the next tea event. “It’s become a passion for these six potters,” said Murkin.