Afternoon tea in London

Few things are more English than taking tea, a staple that is both refreshing and relaxing and has natural compounds beneficial to health, which perhaps explains why the Tea Guild estimates that each person in the UK drinks three cups a day on average, an intake that verges on obsession.

The institution of taking afternoon tea is undergoing a renaissance in London as people seek to escape the breakneck pace of life in the modern metropolis and indulge in a touch of unashamed luxury at one of the English capital’s top hotels where one experiences five star service from liveried staff that are polite to a fault, among a beautiful setting.

The distinctly British twist of taking afternoon tea was invented by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford (1783-1857), who began to take tea and small cakes to quell the hunger that arose in the afternoon while waiting for dinner, which was served late. The idea caught on with other ladies-in-waiting of Queen Victoria and became an established social occasion.

Afternoon tea is elegance. One is transported back in time to an era when life seemed slower and more refined, to indulge in some of the finest and rarest teas in the world, and nibble at sandwiches and cakes, and of course that unique English indulgence: scones, a rich, biscuit-like pastry that is eaten with clotted cream and jam, perhaps with a glass of vintage Dom Ruinart champagne to add a celebratory touch.

Tea itself is a word derived from the Chinese Amoy dialect word tay, and drinking the beverage became popular in Britain following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, according to exhibits in the Brahma Tea Museum near Borough Market, when it was an expensive luxury product enjoyed by the aristocracy and wealthy. Many 17th and 18th century paintings feature teacups, tea strainers and tea caddies as symbols of wealth.

The craving for tea was so strong that British silver reserves were depleted buying Chinese tea. Britain turned to trade opium grown in India to pay for its tea addiction and fix its balance of payments problem, resulting in the 1839-42 Opium War, after which Britain introduced tea to India, whose plantations it could control.

WHY AFTERNOON TEA IS GREAT

“Afternoon tea is English. It takes you back in time to the golden time of the British aristocracy. There are not many places that provide this and most places in the world don't do it well. It is a little piece of heaven where people can take a break in their day and indulge in a luxury meal that is fabulous value for money. It is quite a treat,” says Renaud Gregoire, food and beverage manager at Claridge’s.

The hotels stick to the traditional components of tea, scones and sandwiches but each one offers subtle variations. “We have become more creative and do very elegant themed teas that follow the social calendar, such as a floral theme for the Chelsea Flower Show. We changed the non-vintage champagne to a rosé and we gave the pastries a twist so that they looked like flowers, and introduced floral teas into the menu. For Wimbledon we will provide a celebratory lawn tennis tea featuring champagne and strawberries,” says Gregoire.

The Dorchester introduced a wicked choc afternoon tea in May that starts with a chocolate martini, has a chocolate tea that French choclatier Luento Santoro makes from the shells of South American cocoa beans that is only served at The Dorchester.

NEW BREW

Afternoon tea has become popular once again “because it makes everyone feel special and elegant,” says tea expert and writer Jane Pettigrew. It is an opportunity to dress nicely and behave well, linking us to a time of elegance and gentility when those taking part behaved with courteous manners and kindness, so it is an antidote to the rough and tumble of ordinary life,” she adds, or as Brett Perkins, public relations consultant at the Dorchester puts it, “tea forces you to sit for two hours and just stop while with lunch, people run in and run out in one hour,” he says.

This resurgence has been catalyzed in part by the Tea Guild through the introduction of its annual tea awards. “The Tea Guild has put us in competition with each other, so the hotels have really worked harder. There is more interest in tea as well. In the past we had a selection of five or six teas an now we have over 30 and keep introducing new ones and training staff so that they know the teas better,” says Gregoire.

The Pavilion at The Dorchester won the Tea Guild’s Best Afternoon Tea in London award this year, and is the first hotel to have won it three times. “This is really competitive and the prize is fought out between the five star hotels,” says xx. A recent redesign of The Pavilion at The Dorchester created an orange and amber interior with draped curtains, pillars topped with golden floral capitals, which contrast with the palm fronds and statues of African figures that line the room. The atmosphere is 1930s colonial with waiters in tailcoats and white tie, giving the impression of people escaping the hot tropical sun.

Sitting in the tea salon at Claridge’s in Mayfair, one cannot help but be transported to another era by the 1930s Art Deco style of the room created seven years ago by Jerry Despont. Mirrors crowned with silver ostrich feather motifs line the walls with recessed lighting that yields a soft glowing light, with the room dominated by a magnificent Dale Chihuly chandelier sculpture that features 800 blown glass flutes that is suspended over a huge vase of red flowers and green foliage. Hushed conversation and the tinkle of monogrammed silver spoons against bone china accompany the piano and strings that provide a soft musical backdrop that leave one feeling that Jay Gatsby is somewhere in the room.

Afternoon tea has lost its stuffy, aristocratic image as dress codes have relaxed from formal to smart casual, extending its appeal to a new generation, although men still need a jacket and tie at The Ritz! The older ladies wearing pearls still take tea but you are just as likely to see designers, media planners and groups of young women taking a break from shopping, as well as tourists. “We get a lot of business people because lunch at tea they can take their time to discuss business while lunch is something they complete in an hour,” says Gregoire.

The popularity of tea is such that booking in advance is essential at weekends. “We are booked three months in advance at weekends. Monday used to be a slow day but we are now booked solid on Monday's as well as demand has been increasing for four or five years,” says Gregoire.

TEA

Earl Grey is the most traditional afternoon tea, but each hotel offers a selection that rivals their wine lists for choice. Organic teas are increasingly popular and menus have appellation teas such as Tencha, a Japanese green tea described as “the Dom Perignon of tea” by Claridge’s “that Victoria Beckham has started to drink”, and others from India, Ceylon and China, and even Tregothnan, a tea from Cornwall, England. Fortunately, a tea sommelier is on hand for those that cannot tell their silver needles from their pouchong. “Lapsong souchong has a strong smoky taste that many people do not like it, so a Siam tea may be a better choice,” advises the Dorchester sommelier.
An even wider selection of teas from the thirty typically offered at London’s top tea spots is available at the Tea Palace near Notting Hill, a modern tea emporium offering the widest selection of teas and infusions in the UK. Oolong, white tea, jasmine, rooibos and white snowbuds are among the 160 teas on the menu.

FOOD

The secret to a good afternoon tea is quality. Claridge’s sticks to the classic finger sandwich ingredients of organic ham, hickory smoked Daylesford chicken, eggs, cucumber, and salmon. “They are light flavours in bite size, crust-less finger sandwiches. We cook the hams and roast the chickens in house and carve them by hand, which is a lot of work,” says Gregoire.

Scones should have a light flavour, as “you should not feel like you cannot walk anymore afterwards,” says Gregoire, and typically are served with strawberry jam, though Claridge’s provides an exquisite pale citrus jelly that it obtains from its Parisian tea supplier that is lighter and less cloying. “We feel it goes better with the scones,” he says.

The scones baked by Claridge’s pastry chef Nicolas Patterson are incredibly light and melt in the mouth, complemented by the light taste of the jelly and the rich Devonshire clotted cream that dissolves over the palette. “The cream and jam complement each other. The jam gives the flavour and perfume while the cream the rich, sweet thing that you crave,” he says.

Bite size French pastries provide an additional sweet touch and are changed daily to give an element of surprise, such as banana cake, rhubarb and berry mousse, chocolate with a lime sorbet, and a fruit tart. “The cakes and jams change seasonally and we are always looking at new things. It is indulgent. It is the kind of food that you would never have at home, so you throw diet out the window,” says Perkins.

So sit back, relax and enjoy a couple of hours in the slow lane.