Wenham Tea House to Pour First Drink with New License Saturday

Eight months after Wenham Town Meeting unanimously backed a pouring liquor license for Wenham Tea House, the license will be publicly put to use for the first time on Saturday.

Christopher Keohane, the Tea House's operation manager, said the license was received on Wednesday. The Tea House hosted a private engagement party on Friday night and will use it for the first time for breakfast and brunch on Saturday.

The license allows liquor to be poured from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m.-11 p.m., although the Tea House's hours don't include all those hours. It can also be used for private functions.

The license also bars the Tea House from setting up a bar and requires that liquor is served with food.

Keohane said mimosas and Bloody Marys, for example will be served along with beer and wine. He is also working on developing a menu that will include tea-infused and coffee-infused cocktails.

Keohane said he is also "moving slowly" at serving dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, possibly starting in 2013.

The license is limited only to the Wenham Tea House and could not be transferred or sold.

The process started in February when Tea House operator Henry's said it wanted a pouring license. After the Special Town Meeting vote in February, the measure went to Beacon Hill as a Home Rule Petition. It was passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Deval Patrick in June.

Last month the Wenham Board of Selectmen approved it after a public hearing where nobody spoke against it. Keohane said he picked up the license on Wednesday from Tracy Masterson at Wenham Town Hall, and immediately took it down to Henry's Market, where his father was working.

"It was not just us, there was a lot of other people who helped make it happen," John Keohane said on Friday afternoon as he was setting up to pour the first drinks with the license.

In July. John Keohane said he expected to have the license in hand this fall. The license, he said, is a key to many components of his plans for the operation. The Tea House reopened under the management of Heny's in March.