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 & Bistro. Tea is served Tuesday through Saturday.

Based on the British tradition of afternoon tea, the Empress Tea Room & Bistro'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 a 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.