Raiding local trees and throwing their leaves in boiling water cuts down on aphid infestations, but it won't make a good cup of tea. Enjoy leaf-water made from ingestion-appropriate plants with today's Groupon: for $11, you get one Higher Tea service, a $21.95 value, at the Empress Tea Room and Bistro in Temple Terrace, about 25 minutes northeast of downtown Tampa. Tea is served Tuesday through Saturday.

Based on the British tradition of afternoon tea, the Empress's Higher Tea pleasures palates with an array of dainty tea sandwiches, a choice of soup or garden salad, and decadent tea breads, scones, and assorted pastries. Slurpable selections include the soup du jour and the Empress's signature king-crab soup. Of course, the experience includes an entire single-flavor pot of tea, so you can polish your whist skills over many cups of steaming-hot steeps. Take your tea in the Victoria room, where formal linens, crystal, and bone china serve as perfect complements to the Empress's refined brews and delicate chews, or the comfortable Garden Room, which provides an outdoor setting without the distraction of intemperate trade winds. For sippers whose tea breaks usually consist of pounding a hot can of Fresca with clotted cream in it, the Empress offers an elegant alternative.

Reviews

Five Citysearchers give Empress Tea Room and Bistro an average of four stars, and 66% of Urbanspooners recommend it.

• Having been to Tea rooms all over I can tell anyone this is beyond compare. – Jonjac, Citysearch
• Tasty high tea sandwiches and treats. Crab bisque is a star as are the scones. – David, Urbanspoon