Time for Tea....Lanes of London

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - today we are joined by the lovely Becca, who recently enjoyed an afternoon tea adventure at Lanes of London.....

Afternoon tea - Lanes of London

Lanes of London is a modern British eatery and bar located on Park Lane in Mayfair, whose website features the sentence "Artisan baking with a focus on indulgence and gluttony". Now that's my kind of establishment!

This afternoon tea adventure began with a little tea talk, featuring teas from JING Teas. The talk was very informative and guests had the opportunity to ask questions about the tea....

Tea talk - Lanes of London

Once teas had been enjoyed, the afternoon tea feast was served which followed the traditional format of crustless sandwiches, buttermilk scones and a selection of seasonal sweet treats.....

Becca really enjoyed the sweet treats on offer at this afternoon tea, especially the pistachio macaroons. Everything was fresh and the flavours were well balanced.

Becca commented on the relaxed and friendly service at Lanes of London, which put guests at ease but was still professional. 

For more information about this afternoon tea please visit the Lanes of London website.

Thank you Becca for sharing your latest afternoon tea adventure with us! If you've enjoyed an afternoon tea recently we'd love to hear all about it - leave a comment on the blog!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

The Friday Review.....JING Tea - Part 1

Hello there,

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a fab tea-filled week!

This Friday Review we are taking a peek at a couple of teas from JING Tea. Launched in 2004, JING is drunk in 75 countries around the world. Their range of loose teas and whole leaf teabags includes authentic examples of Asia's greatest teas, from China, Taiwan, Japan, India and Sri Lanka. And their hand-blown glass teapots and cups are just beautiful!

JING Tea teaware - photo from JING website

I was given several different JING Tea whole leaf tea bags at a tea event recently and looked forward to trying the teas.

JING tea bags

JING pack their whole leaf teas and herbal infusions into large teabags to allow maximum room for the leaves to expand and infuse. I decided to try the Earl Grey and the Jasmine Silver Needle tea bags first...

Silver Needle is a white tea from China. Its buds are picked and sun dried in April, in the mountains of China’s Fujian Province. In August, the tea is laid beneath a bed of fresh jasmine flowers for seven consecutive nights, combining the sweet white tea with a fresh, fragrant jasmine aroma.

JING recommend drinking this light tea at lunchtime or in the afternoon.

JING whole leaf tea bags

This tea should only be brewed for 2-3 minutes as its a light, fragrant tea. Once brewed the tea had a very pale yellow colour and the aroma is a very subtle jasmine.

Jasmine Silver Needle - JING tea 

The tea was light with a very refreshing flavour - the jasmine is distinct but not overpowering and I agree that it makes a lovely tea for afternoon drinking.

The classic Earl Grey is a Ceylon tea, scented with natural bergamot, from Sri Lanka. The tea also features blue cornflower petals, making it a very pretty teabag! It's a robust cup of tea, which once brewed is a lovely dark colour and has a smooth flavour.

Earl Grey - JING tea

The flavour of bergamot is obvious, but not overpowering - again its a refreshing cuppa! I would probably prefer to drink this in the morning as its a more robust tea than the Silver Needle.

For more information about JING tea and to see the other teas in their range pop by the JING tea website....you should also take a peek at their gorgeous teaware while you're there!

JING tea teaware - photo from JING website

Do you have a favourite JING tea? We'd love to hear from you if you do - leave us a comment or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for....an afternoon tea launch, The Capital Hotel

Hello there,

Well I hope you've been enjoying Afternoon Tea Week.

We were very excited to be invited to a little afternoon tea launch that took place at The Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge this week. The Capital is a family-owned and family-run hotel in the heart of Knightsbridge, and they are taking afternoon tea back to its roots with a very traditional English experience.

Afternoon tea
The Capital Hotel

Launching on Wednesday September 9th The Capital Afternoon Tea features those traditional British favourites: Victoria sponge, Bakewell tart and crumpets all baked by the Michelin-starred team behind Outlaw’s at The Capital. 

When we arrived at the launch we found a beautiful spread, demonstrating what the new afternoon tea will look like, we were also given a sneak preview of their Christmas offering!

The afternoon tea launch table
The Capital Hotel

 The afternoon tea includes everything you would expect from a traditional spread. The sandwich fillings include cucumber, egg and cress, ham and mustard and a smoked mackerel pâté, there is also bacon and mushroom quiche to tempt the taste buds. There are plain and fruit scones which are served warm, with home-made strawberry jam and Devonshire clotted cream. The sweet selection includes Victoria sponge, Bakewell Tart....and something rather wonderful....a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich!

Afternoon tea savouries
The Capital Hotel

Afternoon tea scones - The Capital Hotel

Ice Cream sandwiches for afternoon tea
The Capital Hotel

As this was a launch event we didn't get to try the full afternoon tea experience, but we did get to sample some wonderful canape versions of the afternoon tea menu. Particular favourites were the lemon drizzle cake and the ice-cream sandwich.

Mini Ice-cream sandwich at The Capital Hotel

Rather scrummy lemon drizzle cake - The Capital Hotel

This afternoon tea adventure is accompanied by a selection of Jing’s tea blends ranging from old favourites such as Earl Grey to Green tea from Japan or fruit infusions. 

Jing Tea at The Capital Hotel

In additional to this wonderful spread the Capital’s award-winning Barman, Cesar, has created two afternoon tea cocktails using a spot of Sipsmith London Dry Gin for the base.  You can pick from The Basil Street Spritz which includes blackcurrant and hibiscus infused tea and Champagne or how about the Capital Citrus Blend which blends marmalade, orange, lime and apple juice, with Bohea infused tea and Curaçao.   

A sneak peek at the Christmas afternoon tea at The Capital Hotel

Afternoon tea is served at The Capital between 2pm - 5:30pm every afternoon and costs just £29.50 per person, making it a very affordable experience. Afternoon Tea with one of the cocktails costs £35 per person or The Capital Champagne Afternoon Tea comes with a glass of Ayala Champagne and costs £39.50 per person. For more information please visit The Capital Hotel website.

We'd like to thank The Capital for inviting us to their launch, we're hoping to pop back soon for the full afternoon tea experience.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna