AURORA – Annette Cosentino knows the moment when a Brit first discovers The English Teacup.
“Oh my goodness, they’re like a deer in the headlights,” she said.
They enter this shop in a nondescript Aurora strip mall and grin when they see Horlick’s Malt, digestive biscuits, salad cream, Ty-Phoo Tea and Marmite. They sigh at the coolers of Irish bacon, pasties (meat-filled hand pies), pork pies and bangers (sausages).
Then they see the cozy tea room and smell the scones and the
crumpets.
“It reminds them of home, Annette said, adding that customers “seem to love the accent. “
This process has been happening one “cuppa” at a time since The English Teacup opened at this location 37 years ago and includes Annette and her husband, Gerry Cosentino, who were loyal customers long before they bought the shop 11 years ago.
“We’d always come in because we liked the British stuff, like PG Tips tea,” Annette said.
Annette and Gerry were born near each other in suburban London where Annette’s “Mum” operated a candy store. Gerry was adopted by an American couple and grew up in the United States. They first talked at a church meeting in 1967 when Gerry came back to visit family. “We met that night and went to the movies the next. He asked me to marry him and I said ‘Yes,’” she said. They were married 18 months later.
Gerry had joined the U.S. Army so they moved around a lot before coming to Colorado in 1986 when he was stationed at Fitzsimons Army Base before retiring from the military. “I worked for the Aurora Public Schools for many years with special needs kids,” Annette said. “I really liked that job.”
All the while she shopped at the English Teacup, “I thought to myself ‘one of these days going to have this store,” she said. When she heard the original owner, Jeannie, was selling the place, Annette asked if she could please purchase it.
“It was the American dream,” she said, and an ongoing education in retailing imported goods.
The longtime Aurora residents have raised four kids, now aged 30 to 39, and they all live in the area. The eleven grandkids love to come in for British sweets, whether it’s licorice, Crunchie Bars or wine gums.
One thing that has helped is that Jeannie still works part-time at the shop. “One time I asked her how many customers should I expect each day. She said ‘I couldn’t tell you. One day there are just a few and the next everybody comes in.” Saturday is the busiest day with customers coming from across the metro area including British military personnel stationed at Buckley Air Force Base.
Gerry estimated that 70 percent of their customers are “Brits,” including folks from England, Ireland and Scotland as well as Canadians, Australians and South Africans who grew up with the same fare. In the past few years, events like the royal wedding, Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee and the London Olympics have increased interest in all things British even among Americans.
Three years ago they expanded their space creating a separate tea room. “Before that it was mainly a store with a small tea service,” Gerry said.
Now The English Teacup serves lunch featuring quiche, steak and kidney pies and sandwiches, served with soup or imported Heinz Beans.
Tea and high tea is available every day. Americans tend to misinterpret “high” to mean “fancy,” but it really refers to the time of day: mid to late afternoon.
“People ask if they need to dress up — some do, some don’t. They’re surprised that I don’t charge for tea like the Brown Palace does,” Annette said.
The tearoom has many groups of friends and family that come in regularly, including women who come in once a month to have tea and play cards. Others are members of the Red Hat Society and the Daughters of the British Empire.
The high tea menu includes the classic items: egg salad and cucumber sandwiches, soup, sausage rolls, scones, tea and desserts from Daniel’s of Paris.
One important challenge was getting the scones “right,” Annette said. “When I started out I tried all different ways to make them. I tried the triangle kind, the dropped dough and also in muffin tins. Finally I started rolling out the dough and using a round cutter and that turned out to be just right.” She has added new scone flavors including mango, and all are served warm with imported jam and clotted cream.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, they are stocking the shelves with cans of spotted dick — a popular dessert, as well as stuffing mix, scone mix, marmalades, tea cosies and classic posters such as the iconic “Keep Calm & Carry On.”
Gerry is building extra shelves for a big shipment of Christmas goods including special chocolates, “crackers” — the pull-apart crackling party favors, plum puddings and mince pies.
During this hectic time, shoppers seek out the shop for a pot of tea made properly: a heated china pot, loose tea leaves from rows of jars in the tearoom, and boiling water.
“People relax here. We don’t rush them out,” Annette said.
“It’s so welcoming and calm. It’s like a little island in Aurora.”