Popping My English High Tea Cherry

Afternoon Tea inwards Bath, UK

The thought of nibbling on prissy sandwiches together with sipping tea out of fragile English linguistic communication tea cups did non seduce my husband.

However, he in conclusion gave into my pesky demands to effort this English linguistic communication tradition when I suggested the champagne afternoon tea option. Back inwards February, nosotros took the develop out to Bath, virtually ninety minutes westward of London, together with spent the weekend there. Besides sightseeing, I booked us inwards for Afternoon Tea at The Bath Priory, an elegant 1835 Georgian manor (now hotel, spa together with a-Michelin-starred restaurant) nestled inside iv acres of beautiful gardens.

The setting couldn’t accept been lovelier for my showtime time…noshing on afternoon tea that is. But the weather condition was typical English linguistic communication crap, together with nosotros walked nearly 2 km from the metropolis centre past times the Royal Crescent edifice together with botanical gardens inwards an ugly, drizzling leap rain. Once nosotros shed our damp jackets at reception, nosotros settled into a corner tabular array overlooking the moisture gardens. The hotel has a fantabulous terrace for dining when the weather condition cooperates.

The Bath Priory offers its Afternoon Tea amongst champagne for 44 (30 without) so the damage makes the tea a particular process (though definitely far cheaper than the ones I’ve seen inwards London.) Like I said I had to tempt hubby amongst the booze option, so nosotros chose the champagne menu. We also received an unique tea card where nosotros genuinely could odor the dissimilar teas earlier selecting the ane nosotros wanted. I had no thought it would go so involved!

Soon the tower of afternoon tea treats arrived. Basically, yous amend come upwardly to tea hungry because yous are eating a sum lunch. We ate breakfast or so 10 a.m., knowing that tea would go at iii p.m. We started amongst the finger sandwiches, together with although good made, the flavors didn’t genuinely wow me. The sandwiches included: roast chicken amongst tarragon, local ham amongst mustard, egg salad amongst watercress together with smoked salmon amongst cucumber.

But so nosotros dived into the petite pastries together with scones. OHMIGOSH…the scones! These were similar naught I had e'er eaten before. Picture the most tender, flakiest buttermilk biscuit you’ve e'er had inwards your life – served warm amongst a giant mound of English linguistic communication clotted cream together with homemade strawberry jam. Holy cow! The clotted cream reminded me of Turkish kaymak (a clotted cream made from H2O buffalo’s milk).

 

Forget virtually calories together with simply consume the damned scones! They were sooo delicious! I wanted to spread the cream on everything together with simply consume the scones!

Surprisingly, the British tradition of afternoon tea is entirely virtually 200 years old. In the 1830s, Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford, is credited amongst showtime making Afternoon Tea into a formal social occasion. Finding herself quite peckish inwards the gap betwixt luncheon together with dinner, the Duchess began inviting friends to taste tea together with lite snacks at the Woburn Abbey. When she returned to London, she continued the do together with thence Afternoon Tea became a stylish ritual for the upper classes.

In the 19^th century, tea rooms were becoming quite pop together with were THE identify to encounter friends together with gossip. They were also considered respectable places for immature women to encounter without chaperones, so a perfect excuse to go out of the house, inwards my opinion. In Bath, at that topographic point are several cafés together with formal tea rooms that offering afternoon tea. Reservations are highly recommended, fifty-fifty weeks inwards advance if yous are going to Bath on the weekend.

Just similar anything else when it’s your showtime time, afternoon tea started out a combat awkward for these 2 Americans. We weren’t quite certain what to do or how to properly act. Should nosotros accept our pinkies out equally nosotros sipped tea, perhaps? Well, nosotros ended upwardly devouring nearly our entire tower of treats so I’d country nosotros mastered Afternoon Tea together with had a grand fourth dimension doing so. Maybe I could convince hubby to do some other round?

One of the formal sitting rooms at The Bath Priory.