Cost – Price varies according to contents. Our hamper cost £32.25 plus £8.45 delivery. (May 2020)
Parking and Access – This tea was taken in the outside area of the venue. There is one step down to enter the venue. The toilets are inside and up a flight of stairs with no alternative access. There is on-street parking available in front of the venue.
Background – Another different Afternoon Tea. Though this was another that was sent through the post. This time we chose to choose the contents of our hamper. The company we chose was Devon Hampers, which offers a ‘choose your own hamper’ option.
This Afternoon Tea was to celebrate my usual companions hugely significant birthday!! It meant I was able to tailor the contents to his preferences. However, it did not include the sandwiches.
Contents – Two sandwiches each (cheese with homemade rhubarb and ginger chutney). Two large cheese scones (which I served with butter, cheese and homemade rhubarb and ginger chutney), Two large fruit scones, a full-size jar of blackcurrant jam and a tub of Langage Farm clotted cream. Four ginger biscuits and a bag of vanilla fudge. We also had a small bottle of ginger beer and a small bottle of Luscombe’s raspberry crush between us.
Options available – There are many options listed on the website for this hamper.
Comments – The Afternoon Tea arrived on the day we had requested in a plain brown box with no instructions on it.
It was opened immediately, which was just as well, as the clotted cream was just wrapped in a single layer of bubble wrap and did not feel cold at all. I put it straight in the fridge on arrival.
It was a lovely warm day when we enjoyed this Tea, so we served it outside.
We returned to the brightly coloured plates, along with the matching teapot and the Paris mugs. We used tea bags that we already had. We also had the two bottles of drink, which I had chilled in the fridge. I had the raspberry crush, which was delicious, whilst my companion had the ginger beer.
We served the Afternoon Tea on the usual two-tiered cake stand with flower-patterned plates. The fruit scones were served on the strawberry cake stand.
The sandwiches were made with our favourite roasted seed bread, cheese and my homemade rhubarb and ginger chutney. Our savoury section included a large cheese scone each (we saved the second scone for another day as they were very large).
We accompanied our cheese scones with butter, cheese and some more of the chutney. The scones, which we had warmed up, were large, light and delicious. We enjoyed them very much.
The sweet scones were also large, so we only had one today, with the second being saved for another day.
As usual, we warmed them up in the oven before eating. The scones were nice and fruity, light and tasty.
The jam was a full-sized jar of blackcurrant jam, made by Hogs Bottom. It was really yummy! Blackcurrant jam is my favourite jam, so I was delighted to find it as an option. Luckily, the birthday boy loves it too.
The clotted cream provided was the same tub of Langage Farm clotted cream that we had received with hampers before. However, this time it had not been wrapped in an insulted package and did not arrive cold. It still tasted fantastic, but we felt it would need to be finished in the next few days, rather than left. We had a large amount left, some of which we used on the second scones.
Finally, we chose to include a packet of eight ginger biscuits and a packet of vanilla fudge.
The choice of ‘cake’ items available was more limited than other sections, and we both particularly enjoy ginger biscuits and fudge! The ginger biscuits were extremely tasty and were a good size.
The fudge came from Buttermilk, a shop in Padstow, that we had visited on many holidays to Cornwall in the past. As we expected, it was smooth, and incredibly good!
I have based my presentation score on the way the Afternoon Tea was presented on arrival. This Tea was generally quite well packed. However, the clotted cream should have been placed in some sort of insulated package for transit.
The savoury score is based on the cheese scones, not on my sandwiches!!
I have scored the tea at 2, in the same way as I did for the sandwiches for Teas that did not include them. Not because the tea was perfect!!
Finally, I have based my service score on the service we received from the company.
| Savoury | 2.0 |
| Scone | 2.0 |
| Jam | 2.0 |
| Cream | 1.0 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.0 |
| Cake (quality) | 2.0 |
| Tea | 2.0 |
| Presentation | 1.0 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 1.5 |
| Total | 16.0 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 