Happy New Year!

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me ands Friends - we hope your year has started well!

We decided to start 2015 with a look back over the wonderful year that was 2014. It was a special year which saw us become finalists in the UK Blog Awards 2014 and celebrate our first Birthday with a Giveaway, we have been overwhelmed with the support of all our readers. We spent a tea-riffic Saturday at an afternoon tea masterclass with Dominic Teague, the talented chef behind the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Inspired afternoon tea at One Aldwych. We also met Pastry Chef Ji Sun Shin - the creative force behind the amazing afternoon teas on offer at the Ampersand Hotel.

Then there were the afternoon teas themselves.....it's very hard to pick a favourite, so here is a selection of the teas we have enjoyed.....

There was the Cuban-inspired afternoon tea at St Martin's Lane which we enjoyed in January...

Afternoon tea at St Martins Lane

We enjoyed afternoon tea at the Rosewood Hotel in February, where they egg mayonnaise was piped into the sandwiches and a Valentine's afternoon tea at Royal Horseguards Hotel which included corset cookies and edible lipsticks!

Afternoon tea sandwiches at the Rosewood Hotel

A saucy valentines afternoon tea at Royal Horseguards Hotel

In March we played with dinosaurs and edible planets at the science themed afternoon tea at The Ampersand hotel.....

Science themed afternoon tea at Ampersand Hotel

In April we paid The Dorchester a visit to try their rather elegant afternoon tea and we walked the red carpet at the UK Blog Awards 2014 (we even found cake!)....

Elegant afternoon tea sandwiches at The Dorchester

Tea With Me and Friends at the UK Blog Awards 2014

We tried an edible garden afternoon tea at the Intercontinental Westminster in May and learnt a lot more about tea at the Mandarin Oriental Tea Master afternoon tea in June...

Edible Garden afternoon tea at Intercontinental Westminster

A selection of teas at the Mandarin Oriental

The sun shone for us in July when we visited Chewton Glen in Hampshire and in August we visited the Isle of Wight for a spot of afternoon tea at Chessell Pottery Barns.....

Afternoon tea at Chewton Glen

Sweet treats at Chessell Pottery Barns

We visited the zoo in September for afternoon tea at the Marwell Hotel and got our bunny ears out in October for afternoon tea at the Playboy Club in London....

Afternoon tea at Marwell Hotel

Bunny ear cupcakes at the Playboy Club

We enjoyed individual tea stands in the New Forest at the Limewood Hotel in November and finished the year at the Lancaster London Hotel in December.....

Afternoon tea at Limewood Hotel

Lorna picking her favourite sweet treat at the Lancaster London

And these are just some of the wonderful afternoon teas we have enjoyed! 

We were also joined by some lovely guest bloggers who shared their afternoon tea adventures with us, including Sarika who has shared her international afternoon teas and Nicci who visited The Bentley in London. We like to thank everyone who has contributed to our blog this year, from the guest bloggers who have written articles to the hotels who have shared their afternoon tea creations with us and the pastry chefs who have answered our nosey afternoon tea interview questions! 

We would also like to thank everyone who visits our blog, leaves comments for us on our Facebook page or follows us on Twitter - we love hearing from all of you and hope that you will continue this journey with us in 2015.

Tea with Me and Friends

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

2013...our year of afternoon teas

Hello there,

Well its finally the end of 2013 and what a tea-riffic year it's been! Lorna and I have sampled rather a lot of afternoon teas this year, many of which have featured on this blog.

Looking back over the year we've indulged in traditional afternoon teas in the sunshine......

Afternoon tea at Warren House

and afternoon teas inspired by the catwalks.....

Pret a Portea at The Berkeley

We've sampled disappointing afternoon teas....with no tea in sight.....

Not Afternoon Tea at The Oxo Tower

and saucy afternoon teas accompanied by nipple tassels.....

Burlesque Afternoon Tea at Volupte Lounge

We've enjoyed an afternoon tea inspired by a children's book.....

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired tea at One Aldwych

and spooky offerings at Halloween.....



Halloween afternoon tea at the Ampersand

Its been a lovely experience and we are so pleased that you've joined us on our tea adventures so far!

Lorna and I have been reviewing the tea's we've indulged in this year and we've tried to decide which was our favourite....but it turns out that is a very hard decision to make!

We both loved the service at the Intercontinental Westminster hotel, the waiters were all friendly and so helpful and our teacups were never empty......



Afternoon tea at Intercontinental Westminster

And we were both blown away by the tea knowledge that the waiters at the Athenaeum hotel demonstrated when helping me decide what tea to drink with my afternoon tea.

The tea menu at The Athenaeum

We had a lot of fun at The Reform Social & Grill - so much so that we actually went several times this year! Lorna really enjoyed her Gentleman's Afternoon Tea there.



Sweet treats at Reform Social & Grill

I loved the creativity of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea that One Aldwych had on offer this year - so much so that I have signed Lorna and I up to their afternoon tea masterclass in March (blog post to follow!).

The savouries were not forgotten in One Aldwych's
 Charlie and the Chocoalte Factory Afternoon Tea!

If you ask our friend Becca....her favourite afternoon tea is the Pret a Portea at The Berkeley. Inspired by fashion, it is a highly imaginative tea.....

Pret a Portea at The Berkeley

Each tea we have tried has been very different and we've thoroughly enjoyed most of them! One things for sure.....there are an awful lot more afternoon teas out there for us to try and we can't wait for 2014 to begin!

Thank you once again for reading our little blog, we love sharing our thoughts and photos with you.

Wishing all our readers a Tea-riffic 2014 - filled with tea and cakes!

Rachel & Lorna