Would you like a cup of tea, Father?

There was a time when I used to drink a lot of tea. I used to drink it when I was a teenager, trying assorted Twinings teas to find one I liked (English Breakfast and Irish breakfast used to be favourites), but like heterosexuality in my teenage years, something never felt quite right with it. I was introduced to real coffee via a plunger (cafetiere) in my early twenties and from then I was hooked. From plunger coffee I moved on to harder and darker coffees, and the final nail in tea’s coffin for me came in 1994.


This was London in 1994, when there were only 4 Costa Coffees in town, when it was easier to find a Tory MP being spanked in brothel in Soho than it was to find a decent cappuccino. So there I was in Selfridges, frantically trying to find a Christmas present for my then boyfriend, when I saw a Gaggia and it was reduced. So £120 later it was all mine and I still had to find my boyfriend a present.



Fast forward 12 years and my Gaggia is still going strong, outlasted that boyfriend (and provided me with more happiness, but that’s a whole other post) and gives me the strength to commute out to Slough 4 days a week. So when Paul said we were going to the Savoy for tea, to celebrate Julie’s birthday, my first thought was "Do they serve coffee?" My next thought was "You little ripper!", when I was told the Savoy also does a champagne tea.



So Saturday we, eventually, after first stopping for a quick drink at the very Chi-chi One Aldwych, found ourselves in the art-deco splendour of the Savoy Hotel for tea to celebrate Julie’s birthday. It was Paul’s Aunt Daphne’s birthday gift to Julie and very enjoyable it was too. The service was friendly and attentive (we had a Polish Mrs Doyle, pushing tea like it was crack cocaine), my tea (Japanese Green tea with Cherry and Rose) was fantastic, the cakes, scones and sandwiches were neverending and we had a great time. Oh, and the Laurent Perrier Champagne wasn’t bad either, almost as sparkling as the conversation and the pianist. It was all very English and a lot of fun. I’d recommend it to anyone.