Tea for Tea....Hamiltons Tea House

Hello there, welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends!

Recently a new tea room has opened in my home town, Farnham, it's called Hamiltons Tea House and of course as soon as I saw it was opening I was intrigued. Farnham, like lots of towns, is packed full of coffee shops, both independent and commercial, but we are sadly lacking in proper tea rooms. I discovered that Hamiltons is a family run business, with a passion for great service and making afternoon tea accessible. So accessible that you don't need to book! 

Hamiltons bakes their own scones daily and uses local suppliers (including the lovely Ellie from Bakehouse) to offer a menu that includes breakfast, lunches, cream teas and of course afternoon tea. They have an extensive tea menu, a great range of coffee and hot chocolate and a martini menu....so you can enjoy a cocktail with their afternoon tea! Sounds perfect doesn't it! 

I've now had the pleasure of visiting Hamiltons on two occasions, once for a cream tea and once for the full afternoon tea experience. The cream tea was my first visit and we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the tea menu, the knowledge of the staff and the general wonderfulness of the scones, which were served warm, with clotted cream and strawberry preserve.....

You can pick a plain or sultana scone and a pot of tea from the menu. The tables have tea timers on them and the staff suggest how long your tea should brew for. The crockery, like the tea room, is modern and simple. 

This Saturday, my sister Lorna was visiting and we didn't have any plans for lunch. So on impulse we popped into Hamiltons to see if a table was available, as it was a busy Saturday lunchtime we had a 20 minute wait, but it was worth it! We decided to try the afternoon tea, to discover what a non-booked tea experience would be like. It's a set menu with savouries, scones, cakes and unlimited tea all for £17.50 per person. I wondered whether offering the tea as an walk-in option would effect the quality of what was being offered, would everything be pre-made and a bit stale? After ordering our teas we had a short wait, but when the food came out we were very happy....

Two fabulous stands full of fresh food were brought to our table! Just look at Lorna looking loving at the scones (she's actually scowling at me because she's hungry and I was taking photos!). The bottom plate housed the savouries and a vol au vent, the middle plate has the sweet treats on and the top has the cream and scones.

The sandwiches were so fresh and the bread to filling ratio was perfect. We enjoyed Cucumber, dill and cream cheese, egg mayonnaise, Ham and wholegrain mustard and rare roast beef and horseradish cream finger sandwiches on white and brown breads. There wasn't a crust to be seen, which always makes me smile. Then there was a huge vol au vent, packed full of coronation chicken. The pastry was flaky and the chicken creamy and mildly spiced. A real highlight for me!

The scone plate includes two scones per person, one plain and one sultana - both were generous in size. The scones are served with butter, clotted cream and strawberry preserve. I only ate the fruit scone on this occasion...but it was fresh, baked the whole way though and not at all claggy - perfect for getting cream and jam into my mouth! I can also confirm that the sultanas in the scone were plentiful. 

Sorry this is an awful photo (I was too excited by the cake)...but each afternoon tea stand included three sweet treats. I think the selection changes, on this occasion we had a mini apple crumble concoction in the shot glass (a crumbly base, topped with apples and cream). We also had a piece of chocolate brownie and a mini lemon slice (which I know is delicious as it comes from Bakehouse). Neither of us could finish the whole stand, but we were given boxes to take the extras home in (which always makes a lovely treat the next day!) 

Our tea pots were filled up regularly throughout the afternoon tea and we were encouraged to try more than one tea. Hamiltons had just launched their Christmas tea, which we decided to try. The Christmas tea was fruity and warming, full of cinnamon and clove - really Christmassy! 

The service we experienced on both visits was brilliant, everyone is friendly and knowledgeable about the products. Even though it was busy, no one was rushed and everyone got the same warm welcome. This is the perfect tea room in my humble opinion....simple, not fussy, serving great produce and with friendly staff. I'd definitely recommend popping by Hamiltons if you happen to be in Farnham, if you want to guarantee a table you can book ahead. More information about the menus can be found on their website. 

Thank you for popping by today, I hope you've enjoyed reading about our latest afternoon tea adventure!

Rachel & Lorna

BRUU tea subscription - discover new tea without leaving the house!

 Hello,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you are keeping well and safe.

Recently we were sent a tea subscription box from BRUU tea, a UK company who want to share their love and affinity with tea with everyone! BRUU tea's mission is to get people trying better tasting tea and their focus is tea subscription services. The subscriptions are based on individual's preferences and therefore hopefully you should receive teas that you really enjoy each month. 

So, let's tell you a little about our box....

First off, it's letter box sized, so no worries about missing your tea when its delivered at the beginning of each month. 

The box contained three named tea pouches, a mystery tea and some chocolate as an extra treat!

I liked the packaging, each tea pouch was labelled clearly and came with a little card to give you information about the tea. On the front of the card is the name, type and brewing instructions. On the back of the card you learn what the tea is, where it's from and why BRUU thinks its a great tea to try. Personally I love learning about new teas and blends when I try them, I think its interesting to read where they have come from etc. 

In my box I had a black tea, a green tea and a fruit tea. I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn't come across the black tea or the fruit tea blend previously.

I liked the handy little information cards, which can be stored easily for future reference. Although because they are nice and small, the print is also a little small!

On to the teas themselves.....

The black tea - Surianalle from Kerala in India

First thing I noted....the tea leaves are really fine, some will probably escape your strainer. The tea once brewed is a lovely, punchy morning tea. It's got a nutty brown colour and a really fresh taste, perfect for starting your day. I don't think I have come across this before, but really enjoyed it. 

The green tea - Mao Jian from Hunan, Xinyang China

A light yellow colour once brewed, I have to say this isn't one of my favourite green teas. To me it tastes "green", and I can't really taste that sweet and floral notes described on the tasting card...but that could just be me!

The fruit tea - Turkish Apple 

This blend surprised me - it includes lemongrass from West India, apple from Turkey and pineapple from America. The leaves have an almost creamy smell to them (this sounds weird, but honestly it smells creamy!). The blend creates a lovely warming cup of tea, perfect for the grey weather we are experiencing in the UK at the moment. The pineapple and apple brings the sweet notes, perfect against the mild spice of the lemongrass. I think you could enjoy this at any point in the day. 

I really enjoyed this blend! 

The important bits: The subscription starts from £10 and you receive three pouches of tea, enough for 20-40 cups depending on the tea. Subscription options are either rolling monthly or in blocks of 3, 6 or 12 months and you are free to cancel whenever you want. Postage in the UK is free, but BRUU tea will ship their subscription boxes outside of the UK too.

I'd like to thank the team at BRUU teas for sending us this subscription box. But please note that this gift hasn't effected our taste buds and all opinions expressed in this blog post belong to me!

If you'd like to find out more about BRUU tea please pop by their website.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Rachel 

Coffee and Cake worth walking for!

 Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you are keeping well today.

As you know, we love to support local, independent businesses especially when they help with our coffee and cake cravings! Imagine my delight when I discovered that Bakehouse, the fabulous baker from Aldershot who we have featured before on the blog, has teamed up with The Coffee Cabin! 

May I present Farnham's newest mobile coffee van...Candice!

The van serves tea from T2, along with coffee from DT Roastery in Winchester, hot chocolate, and freshly baked treats from Bakehouse. Amy, the owner, is super friendly and serves the coffee with a smile, even in the awful wet, cold weather we're experiencing at the moment. 

Being a mobile offering, means that Amy and Candice the van move around the area, so you need to check out the Instagram account to find out where they are.

I have visited the Coffee Can twice now, both times they have been located on the Shepherd and Flock roundabout in Farnham (passed the pub and down the lane a little bit). But they have also spent some time in passed week at The Royal Oak pub in Wreclesham. So far I have enjoyed a black americano and a mocha, both have been delicious. I particularly enjoyed the mocha, which was chocolatey and a little bit bitter - the perfect blend. I also want to head back for a hot chocolate, which looks delicious! 

Cake-wise I have sampled the peanut butter slice and the salted caramel cupcake. As you already know I love Bakehouse cakes, which are always fresh and so full of flavour. The salted caramel cupcake was really good though, with the perfect ratio of cake to icing....it's possibly my favourite cupcake from Bakehouse so far! 

I should also mention that Amy uses biodegradable cups for her hot drinks.

If you happen to be in the Farnham area of Surrey and fancy a cup of coffee, I'd definitely recommend looking for Amy and Candice the van! I'll be heading back....there are a lot more cakes to sample!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel

It's Pretzel time!

 Hello there!

Happy new year....is it too late to say that now?? Don't know about you, but can't believe we're mid way through January already! 

Anyway, here in the UK we are still in lockdown. Staying home is still not that much - missing friends, family and loved ones. There is only so much baking you can do yourself....so I've been looking at the different sweet treats that can be delivered to me at home. We need to provide our own moments of joy and for me these can definitely lie in cake and biscuits! There are so many companies now offering their sweet treats via the post, I thought it was about time I indulged a little.

I found PostBox Pretzels on Instagram, they came highly recommended and I thought the concept was quite different. Basically they make crunchy pretzel sandwiches, covered in chocolate stuffed with yummy centres. Better still....they post them to you!

They offer a selection of flavours including Honeycomb, caramel crisp, s’more, chocolate orange & The Nutty One.  You can either pick specific flavours to make up a box or opt for one of their selection boxes. When picking your own, you can also select your favourite chocolate coating, giving you even more variety.

I opted for the surprise selection to cut out the anxiety of picking from one of the fabulous flavours listed on the website (what if I regret my choice??). The box includes four fresh pretzel sandwiches, with the option to add a personalised message if you are sending as a gift.

Delivery was fast and no need to worry about being home for when your pretzels arrive (although that's not really an issue in the current situation for many of us), as the box fits perfectly through a letterbox. I can confirm that the box makes a very pleasant thud as it hits the floor!

I really liked the packaging, which helped the pretzels arrive safely. If you get the surprise box everything is labelled so you know what to expect when picking your first pretzel to try. As you can see I had the S'mores, Honeycomb Crunch, Chocolate Orange and Caramel Crisp. When I ordered a box for my sister she got a different selection, so you really never know what you'll get when ordering a surprise box! I also love the toppings, don't they look delicious?

I loved the combination of crunchy pretzel and the various softer fillings. I can confirm that the Chocolate Orange was my favourite, which features an orange infused ganache in the middle of the two sourdough pretzels. Mine was coated in a milk chocolate and it was so delicious! Coming in close second place was the S'mores one....in the middle was marshmallow, ganache and salted caramel...such a great combination. Again it was topped in milk chocolate and covered with mini marshmallows. I did also really enjoy the caramel crisp, which was coated in dark chocolate and included a generous serving of gooey caramel in the middle. The honeycomb crisp was a little too sweet for me, but that was personal taste rather than anything else. I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate.

There were four pretzel sandwiches in my box...and I somehow managed to make them last four days. They were a lovely afternoon treat with a mug of steaming hot coffee!

As mentioned, I also sent a box to my sister. She also loved them, her favourites were the smores and chocolate orange ones. 

If you want to find out more about Postbox Pretzels pop by their website. 

Thank you for popping by today, we hope to see you again soon!

Rachel xxx