The Royal Horseguards Hotel Afternoon Tea
Earlier this week, I and some of my work colleagues went to the Royal Horseguards hotel for afternoon tea as a farewell to one of our number who is moving on to pastures new. This was a new venue for me and I think I can safely say that the event was a success and the afternoon was enjoyed by all.
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| Chicken and mayo, Cucumber and Philadelphia cheese, Honey roast ham and mustard, London smoked salmon and dill creme fraiche, Egg mayo and watercress, Crayfish Marie Rose crouton |
As there were a few of us the tea took a rather more freeform approach than I’m generally used to with afternoon tea – some went for the sandwiches first, some dived straight into the cakes, and someone made a cream and jam sandwich with the scones. It was a bit chaotic but fun. There was also some champagne drunk, but most importantly for me, of course, there was the tea.
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| Plain and fruit scones with Cornish clotted cream and preserve |
Strawberries and Cream, Spicy Rooibos, Persian Pomegranate and Organic Darjeeling were the blends chosen by my colleagues while I, of course, went for the Oolong Fleur D’Orient as I was eager to try another Oolong.
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| Blueberry and chocolate meringue, Mango cheesecake with yellow butterfly meringues, Chocolate torte, Lemon drizzle cake |
The tea was a nice light textured Oolong with a mildly floral scent and taste but, as is often the case when being served in a large teapot, once it had brewed for a while it became rather bitter and I was unable to finish the pot, even after adding sugar (for full disclosure I didn’t try it with milk as we had sent it away as no one needed it and I couldn’t be bothered to ask for more).
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| Oolong Fleur D'Orient - first cup |
I, therefore, took the opportunity to assist everyone else with drinking their tea, in the interests of taste testing — although they were all rather well brewed by that time — so I could decide what I was going to drink next, and finally settled on a pot of the Persian Pomegranate.
This has a beautiful colour and a lovely smell and tasted good after a few minutes brewing, although it didn’t have the sweetness I would have expected from a fruit tea. Once it had brewed for a while (about ten minutes or maybe longer, I wasn’t really keeping track) the sweetness came through more as the pomegranate taste intensified. However, once again, I was unable to drink the third cup from the pot as by that time it was far too strong tasting for me.
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| Persian Pomegranate - first cup |
As for the other teas I tasted – the Spicy Rooibos needed time to brew properly. The person who had the first cup said it didn’t taste of much, but it hadn’t really had time to steep when it was poured. I tried it about twenty minutes later and it was definitely spicy and is something I have added to my list of teas to check out in the future. I didn’t try the Darjeeling but I understand it was very nice, however, I did try the Strawberries and Cream, chosen by two of our team.
I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t come out pink like the pomegranate tea, but it did smell like strawberries and cream. It was quite a delicate tea with a subtle flavour that I’m not entirely sure tasted like strawberry, but I did like it – and I don’t tend to like strawberry flavoured things.
Unlike the pomegranate tea, this was sweet enough to drink without sugar, although I’m sure it would taste nice with a little sugar to make it even sweeter.
All in all, I very much enjoyed the afternoon tea and would definitely consider going there again. I also have a new tea company and some interesting teas to add to my list to check out properly in the future.
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| Before we really got going on the food!
*I say mainly because having checked their website I can’t find the Oolong Fleur D’Orient or Strawberries and Cream teas so am unable to confirm they are made by Novus. This may be because they are made exclusively for the Royal Horseguards hotel.
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