Perfect afternoon tea in a luxurious castle setting
For nearly 200 years, we have been enjoying afternoon tea – ever since Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, reputedly introduced the concept to avoid that ‘sinking feeling’ between lunch and dinner at 8pm. But what makes a perfect afternoon tea today? I visited Amberley Castle in West Sussex to find out.
For many of us on a typical busyday,afternoonteainvolves puttingateabaginamug,pouring on hot water and adding a dashofmilk.wemightsnatcha biscuitfromthepacketifweare feeling particularly decadent but it rarely gets much better than that.
Which is a great shame. At its best, afternoon tea is not merely a meal. It is an event. Like all great occasions it shouldbeenjoyedintheshared companyofothers,inluxurious surroundings,servedonexquisite bone china, with the finest ingredients – and it should not be rushed.
There are few better locations than Amberley Castle, which is more than 900 years old and is nestled snugly betweentheglorioussplendourof the South Downs and the wildbrooks, just to the west of the ancientthatchedvillagewhich shares its name.
Afternoon tea has long been a focus here but in a postlockdown world the Castle has turned it into an art form.
When we visited, tea was being served in the stunning vaulted restaurant on the first floor and in the three historic reception rooms below. With wind and rain pelting against the ancient castle walls, we seated ourselves in the drawing room where a roaring fire transportedusfromtheghastly grey weather to a warmer, happier place.
Afternoon tea should be a leisurely journey and not a 100-metre sprint. We began ours with a glass of local Sussex sparkling wine from Nyetimber while we selected our hot drinks.
This is an opportunity to be brave. Even experimental. The choice of coffees include the many alternatives to which we have all become accustomed – from latte to flat white – while the hot chocolates dare to be different with everything from milk chocolate hazelnut to caramel and white. But the Newby tea range is exceptional – from English Breakfast, Darjeeling and Lapsang Souchong to Apple Strudel, White Peony and Ginseng Oolong. The final of these proved a great choice.
The food arrived beautifully tiered. First the savoury course. Beneath a silver dome, thin toasted sandwiches were set above resplendent tiny quiches, sausage rolls and other delicacies; with sandwiches beneath.
Wetookourtime–chatting, relaxing by the fire, comparing notes on the tea, enjoying the finebonechinaonwhichitisall served. The afternoon slipped by as graciously as the tea.
Then, like the second half of a play, the curtain was raised on the sweet treats – fortunately not too sweet. There were light, warm scones with clotted cream and jam in their own glass miniature churns; and delicate delights with, of course, some obligatory chocolate with which no afternoon tea would be complete.
Contrasting textures, taste and colour are the hallmark of a good afternoon tea and this one was perfect. Tea time has rarely been such a relaxing, elegantoccasion.theduchessof Bedford would have approved.
n The Full Afternoon Tea costs £50 per person and the Nyetimber Afternoon Tea Flight – with Nyetimber matched to each course giving you three tasting style glasses of Sussex sparkling wine – is £85 per person. As Christmas arrives there will be a festive twist to the menu.