Tea with Margie at Bosie Tea Parlor

A friend (M.) and I enjoyed afternoon tea at Bosie Tea Parlor this week.  It was a good choice of venue: Bosie staff are knowledgeable and warm, the tea and food menus are diverse, and the decor is soothing. 

M. ordered a mild green tea and the salmon and cucumber tea sandwiches.  Because I had a cold I knew I wanted a "therapeutic" tea but not an herbal tisane.  The Gyokuro flavored with rose petals fit the bill.  The aroma of the tea was all rose but it was not cloying.  The liquor was lightly colored.

Bosie offers lots of macarons and ornate pastries.  I selected the Ipsahan pastry (rose macaron filled with rose-butter cream, lychee, and raspberries) because its rose ingredients would be a good complement to the rose-flavored tea.  The ipsahan was so decadent!  The rose butter cream and lychee added a creamy flavor to the tea and tart raspberries balanced the natural sweetness of the Gyokuro and rose.

Afternoon Tea: Brown's Hotel

The afternoon tea at Brown's Hotel is deserving of the The Tea Guild’s ‘Top London Afternoon Tea' award! The service was exceptional and the tea selection was thoughtful.  The food was delicious and seemingly never-ending -- the trays were replenished as we ate.  I apologize for not taking good notes but I remember drinking a Cornish black tea blended with Assam.

My favorite sandwiches were the egg salad and cucumber and the mini-loaf with frosting and coconut mousse were my favorite pastries.

The tea service ended with slices of cake.  Our group of six chose the sponge cake (versus the fruit cake) -- a good choice, indeed!

Morning tea in London

Tea at Brown's is scheduled for Sunday afternoon but everyone morning we've been drinking Clipper's Organic Assam (in unbleached bags).  Deep amber, medium-bodied, and just right for the morning, notes Rotea.  I am curious about the company's organic oolong.  Has anyone drunk it?