Christmas tea comes early

19th October 2009

When it comes to afternoon tea, it's not too early to think of Christmas. Each year the naysayers bemoan the impending arrival of Christmas, trying to postpone the festive season until the first door of the Advent calendar has been opened, but these unlucky people could miss out on the joys of a festive afternoon of tea-taking! If you're planning to partake in afternoon tea over Christmas we urge you to book now!

Irene Gorman, Head of The Tea Guild reveals that, "afternoon tea at Christmas is a wonderful way to get together with your family and friends and catch-up before the holidays begin. I always take my daughters out for afternoon tea at Christmas and we really look forward to it – the pleasure of being together and enjoying delicious food, teas and champagne in festively decorated tea places really puts you in the mood for Christmas! It’s wonderful and I can’t wait for this year’s Christmas Tea!" But unless you want to miss out on the merriment it's imperative to book your table early! London hotels get booked the fastest but even the smallest tea rooms will fill up with festive tea-takers. Irene warns that "leaving (your booking) until the middle of December will only leave you disappointed." The great thing is that once you have the tea in your diary it's a lovely treat to look forward to now the nights are drawing in.

This year, if you're in charge of arranging the office party, think of afternoon tea as a fun and festive alternative to the traditional knees-up. Irene reveals that afternoon tea is a "stylish and different way for colleagues to get together" and, as it's a day-time activity, there isn't the added pressure of having to get home after a late, and often expensive, night out.

Most members of The Tea Guild go to great lengths to decorate their venue and make a real effort with the decor. Irene points out that this always "feels Christmassy and helps guests to get in the festive mood." And although Irene acknowledges that going for afternoon tea used to be considered a very appealing activity for women it is now something that everyone is enjoying! Couples, groups of friends, families and work colleagues - everyone can get involved with afternoon tea.

Below, we've rounded up some of the best venues in which to take afternoon tea this Christmas in London. Next week we'll focus on venues around the rest of the UK.

Keep an eye on The Tea Guild's pages too! We'll be featuring more members that offer Christmas afternoon teas around the country in the forthcoming weeks... You're bound to find the perfect venue to celebrate Christmas 2009!

The English Tea Room at Brown’s Hotel

The Tea Guild's 2009 winner of Top London Tea offers guests the perfect place to unwind, catch-up with friends and indulge in Christmas cheer throughout the month of December. The plush furnishings and elegant wood-panelled salon at Brown's are a quintessentially cosy place to hole up, with excellent teas and some very special festive foodie treats on the menu.

The hotel's festive afternoon tea includes the additions of cranberry orange scones; classic mince pies; chestnut Mont Blanc tartlet (a sweet tartlet with frangine of almond cream, soaked with rum and topped with chestnut paste); chocolate macaroons filled with Guanaja chocolate; Christmas cupcakes - made from orange, almond and polenta cake, topped with yogurt and gingerbread biscuit; and mulled wine shot glasses - an exotic treat of poached pear and citrus fruits mixed with mulled wine mousse and topped with spiced crumble. Scrumptious! If you have room, the cake trolley will be circling the room with Christmas cake and Chocolate log cake and there is a wide range of tantalizing teas available to drink too.

Leyla Mussaud, manager of The English Tea Room reckons that festive afternoon tea is "a great alternative to a full festive lunch, while (guests can) still indulge in the festive ingredients in a relaxed and traditional setting (with) log fires and Christmas decorations". Brown's resident pianist will also be playing a selection of well-known Christmas carols and, according to Leyla, "traditional afternoon tea is even more popular over the festive season than at any another time!" All the more reason to book a table now!

Brown's Hotel, Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BP / 020 7493 6020 / www.roccofortecollection.com

The Promenade at The Dorchester

Come November 21st, this illustrious Art Deco hotel will be serving afternoon tea with a festive twist. Having scooped The Tea Guild's prestigious Top London Tea Award three times in the past decade, The Dorchester is pulling out all the stops for Christmas. Diners indulging in the Christmas Carol tea can enjoy a selection of sandwiches, scones, festive pastries and mince pies all accompanied by a children's choir or duo. Adorable!

According to Renaud Gregoire, Director of Food and Beverage at The Dorchester, “the festive season is a time for family and friends to come together. Sitting down to a traditional Afternoon Tea in sumptuous surroundings is the perfect way to celebrate this. As The Dorchester has been honouring the British custom of Afternoon Tea since it first opened in 1931, where better to experience this tradition?” Where indeed! Available until January 4th 2010.

Park Lane, London W1A 2HJ / 020 7629 8888 / www.dorchesterhotel.com

The Lanesborough

As the first hotel in London to offer guests the expertise of a tea sommelier, The Lanesborough is the ultimate venue for any tassophile to experience a festive afternoon tea. Between November 23rd and January 3rd visitors can indulge in a traditional afternoon tea enhanced with the addition of champagne, strawberries, mince pies, festive tea breads, stollen and Christmas cake. If you become stuck while perusing the 56 blend-strong tea menu Karl Kessab, the hotel's tea sommelier can guide your choice of cup, "I am always on hand to advise and recommend teas from our extensive range, meaning you can sit back and relax." Phew!

The hotel's cosseting atmosphere is particularly perfect during the Christmas period. “Afternoon tea at The Lanesborough holds a great reputation and during the festive season we see even more people joining us - it is a real treat for the whole family" Karl adds.

The Lanesborough, Hyde Park Corner, London SW1X 7TA / 020 7259 5599 / www.lanesborough.com

The Ritz

Taking afternoon tea at The Ritz (a Tea Guild Award of Excellence winner for the past five years) is an experience not to be forgotten. But taking tea at The Ritz during the Christmas period is elevated to the magical! From December 14th until Christmas Eve, guests at the 3.30pm, 5.30pm and 7.30pm tea sittings will be treated to a Christmas Tea menu and a glass of champagne accompanied with carol singing. If you fancy skipping Christmas dinner this year we think afternoon tea is a brilliant substitute for turkey and stuffing. On Christmas Day there will be a special appearance from Father Christmas, bringing presents for the children - plus a glass of champagne for the adults! This very special afternoon tea is available at the 1.30pm, 3.30pm and 5.30pm sittings.

Consider the fact that at weekends afternoon tea sittings sometimes need to be booked twelve weeks in advance and you can see why it's essential to get your Festive Tea at The Ritz in the diary now!

The Ritz, 150 Piccadilly, London W1J 9BR /020 7493 8181 / www.theritzlondon.com

“Tea” at Liberty

Christmas shopping can sometimes veer close to becoming a chore. We've found that scheduling regular rest-stops and treats for you is the only way to cope with an ever-growing present list! If you do your shopping at Liberty in London, Tea - the store's adorable afternoon tea room - is the perfect place to recharge your batteries before re-entering the fray. Re-fuel on turkey and cranberry finger sandwiches; mini mince pies; Christmas cake; spiced cinnamon cupcakes; warmed plain and fruit sconces with blackberry and orange blossom jam and Cornish clotted cream... all washed down with an extensive menu of exotic and artisan teas. There, that's better! Ready, steady, shop! Available from December 1st through to the 31st.

Liberty, Great Marlborough Street, London W1B 5AH / 020 7573 9767 / www.liberty.co.uk

The Garden Room at The Athenaeum

Making time to see all your friends during the festive season can be tricky so book in an afternoon of tea treats with your pals. It's the best way to catch-up before Christmas! The Athenaeum offers a delectable Mistletoe menu for tea-lovers to indulge in...

Start with a glass of Golden Fizz - a champagne cocktail including cognac, cinnamon syrup, fresh ginger and bitters - along with your choice of fragrant loose leaf teas. Sandwiches include roast turkey with seasonal berry chutney; honey roast ham with red onion marmalade; free range egg and cress; Scottish smoked salmon; and cucumber with cream cheese. Next? Cranberry and allspice scones are served with home-made strawberry or mixed berry and vanilla jam plus Devon clotted cream. The menu also includes snowflake cupcakes, mini yule logs, mince-pies, star-shaped cookies, Aberfeldy single malt fruit cake, stollen, toasted crumpet, tea cakes, chocolate Father Christmases, candy canes and chocolate dipped marshallows!

We recommend that you skip lunch - and dinner! - in preparation for this festive feast! As Alison Wheatley, the hotel's Marketing Manager opines, "afternoon tea at Christmas is a relaxing and decadent thing to do after the stress of Christmas Shopping (and) a good way to get together with friends as it feels like an indulgent and special occasion". Available from November 30th 2009 to January 10th 2010

The Athenaeum, 116 Piccadilly, London W1J 7BJ / 020 7640 3399 / www.athenaeumhotel.com

Claridges

This chic Mayfair hotel has always been a luxurious choice for afternoon tea and this Christmas, there is magic in the air at Claridges! A special festive feast of tea-time treats has been arranged for those taking afternoon tea from November 21st to January 3rd. The tea will include a selection of dainty finger sandwiches, freshly baked apple and raisin scones, assorted French pastries along with an array of Christmas pastries too. A glass of champagne plus your choice of tea from a menu of 30 blends from around the world will complete the tea table's mouth-watering set-up. If you're able to secure a table at the weekend your tea will be accompanied by the dulcet tones of the Southend Boys' Choir who will be singing a heart-warming programme of Christmas carols. Surely you're feeling Christmassy now?!

Claridge's, Brook Street, London W1K 4HR / 020 7629 8860 / www.claridges.co.uk

The Park Restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

According to Trevor Burke, Food & Beverage Manager at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park, “there is no better way to end a Christmas shopping day than to treat those dearest to you to a fantastic Festive Afternoon Tea". We couldn't have put it better ourselves! From 27th November until New Year's day the hotel will offer guests a tempting menu of festive treats including mince pies, stollen, Christmas cake, ginger cake and yule log. Along with the hotel's tantalizing choice of teas from around the world, The Park Restaurant is a perfect pit-stop for exhausted Knightsbridge shoppers!

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA / 020 7235 2000 / www.mandarinoriental.com

The Montagu at Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill

Situated moments from Oxford Street The Montagu at Hyatt Regency London offers a welcome hideaway from the frenzied shopathons occurring moments away! Roaring log fires are a charming invitation to while away a Winter's afternoon over tea and cakes. The hotel's festive afternoon tea - on the menu from December 1st - means resistance to relaxation will be futile! Until New Year's Day the elegant tiered cakestands will include seasonal treats such as roasted Norfolk turkey with cranberry mayonnaise or smoked duck breast with wild rocket sandwiches; cranberry and sultana scones and festive pastries such as mulled wine macaroons. Mmmm.

Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill, 30 Portman Square, London W1H 7BH / www.london.churchill.hyatt.com / 020 7299 2037

The Goring

As a winner of The Tea Guild's prestigious Award of Excellence for two years running you're assured of perfect service at The Goring. Graham Copeman, General Manager, sets the scence for their festive afternoon tea, "Tea at The Goring at Christmas time is truly festive - the fire is lit in the lounge and decorations add extra sparkle to our sumptuous rooms. Looking out over our gardens, you can pretend you've already escaped to the country and the holidays have begun as you indulge in the finest of afternoon teas - with the extra Christmas cheer of mince pies and champagne, of course”.

Available from 14th November until January 3rd, the hotel's Traditional Christmas Tea includes freshly cut sandwiches, warm scones, mince pies, home made pastries and a pot of The Goring's 'Christmas Chai' tea - a Ceylon tea blended with cardamom pods, star anise and cinnamon - for a warming treat. You can of course choose your own tea from the extensive tea menu if you prefer but we recommend you indulge in this gently spiced brew. Go on, it's Christmas!