Time for Tea....The William Cecil Hotel, Stamford

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're having a tea-riffic week!

Today we are joined by the lovely Victoria, who is sharing her recent afternoon tea adventure at The William Cecil Hotel in Stamford. Let's find out about her afternoon tea experience.....

Sophie, Anthea and I, whom had all met through the local branch of the Clandestine Cake Club, decided that a Sunday afternoon treat would be a visit to The William Cecil – a property owned by the Burghley Estate and run by Hillbrooke Hotels.  We were served our tea in the Olympic Bar, which is a nod to the last Lord Burghley’s sporting prowess.  It’s a great place to eat and drink, in civilised surroundings.  I digress…

The William Cecil, Stamford

Afternoon tea for two is £25, but we could easily add another person for £12.50.  Absolutely fantastic value, as we compared our other experiences of afternoon teas up and down the country.  The tea arrived on a three tiered stand and pots of tea, with Teapigs tea, included in the price.

So, the bottom tier had three different types of sandwiches: cheese and pickle, cucumber and smoked salmon.  All were in incredibly soft bread, with tasty fillings and completely crustless; pretty perfect!  There could have been more filling in the cucumber sandwiches, but maybe I’m being fussy.

Afternoon tea - The William Cecil, Stamford

Up to the middle tier, where the warm, plain scones were waiting for us.  Of course, we had the jam or clotted cream discussion, but all three of us agreed that it’s jam first, which we think is the Cornish way.  Whichever way it is, these were delicious and not claggy.  They were deliciously light and fluffy – and didn’t last long on our plates!

Afternoon tea sweet treats
The William Cecil, Stamford

Now to the very top with those sweet treats.  We each started this layer with a macaron, mine was vanilla, Sophie’s was coffee and Anthea’s was strawberry – all were light and very fresh.  Anthea shared her macaron making success (maybe there’s a blogpost waiting there!); we were impressed!  Onto the slice of carrot cake.  Being members of the Clandestine Cake Club, we try to fancy ourselves as Great British Bake Off critics, but there was no criticising here.  We all saved our slab of brownie until last.  Sophie is a brownie baking queen and was disappointed that they weren’t squidgy, but we all agreed that they were delicious.  Not to forget the lemon posset at the end.  A great palate cleanser after all that eating.

A great value afternoon tea, to which we’d all return at some point soon.

Those sweet treats all look rather scrummy don't they! To find out more about the afternoon tea on offer at the William Cecil in Stamford please visit their website.

A huge thank you to Victoria for sharing her afternoon tea adventure with us - we always love to hear where Victoria has been enjoying a spot of afternoon tea! If you have an afternoon tea that you'd like to share with us, please get in touch!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Tried and Tested.....Teapigs

Hello there,

Welcome back to another Tried and Tested tea post from Tea With Me and Friends. Today we are sharing with you some of the wonderful teas from Teapigs that we have recently enjoyed.

Now you might have seen teapigs before - but do you know much about them? Teapigs were born in 2006 by Nick and Louise who wanted to bring the world pure and simple, high quality tea. Their tea list includes 24 whole leaf tea varities, served either loose leaf or in their tea temples. Black, green, red or herbal teas can all be found on their website.

To start with I thought I would show you something quite different....popcorn tea! This is a Japanese favourite and blends together traditional green tea with toasted rice. Sounds crazy...but tastes wonderfully nutty and totally unique.

The tea temple is full of the toasted rice, which gives a wonderful aroma and whole green tea leaves. I brewed my tea for approximately 3 minutes and was pleased by the amber colour of my brew.....

It tastes like no tea I have tried before - very fresh, but with a distinctive nutty flavour. 15 tea temples will cost you £4.49, which is 30p a cup.

Next, lets look at the Super Fruit tea on offer, which is full of Hibiscus, elderberry, blackcurrant, raisin, natural flavours, ligonberry and blueberry.....

Fruity teas are usually my least favourite brew as they are often quite wishy-washy in flavour. However, Teapigs have changed my point of view by creating a fruit tea using whole berries in their tea temples to give more flavour when brewed.

I brewed my tea temple for about 3 minutes again and gained a cup of deep red, berry flavoured tea! It's a cheerful colour to look at in the cup and is very fruity on the tastebuds too. I would definitly buy this one again, and would like to try it cold as I imagine that would be very tasty too.

The Super Fruit tea is avalible as both loose leaf and in tea temples. Take a peek at the Teapigs website for the different sizes and prices.

Finally I wanted to share with you the mao feng green tea.....

This is a delicate, yet tasty green tea that produces a wonderfully pale green cup of tea. I have tried lots of different green teas, but this one gives flavour yet is not over powering - very refreshing.

This tea is also avaliable in loose leaf or tea temples.

Three very different, but very nice teas! For more information about Teapigs please visit their website.

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel