Pinkies out!

The Sheraton is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a ‘Silver Afternoon Tea’; for all you non-romantics out there the marriage celebration is traditionally recognised with silver hence the theme. This opens the way for lots of glitter and those tiny silver confectionary balls but thankfully executive chef Malcolm Webster has adopted a far more sophisticated and creative approach.

We start by choosing the tea. Twinings have provided a selection of exclusive and rare loose- leaf teas which have romantic, mouth-watering or exotic names such as Silver Tip, Jasmine Pearls, Rooibos Orange & Cinnamon, second flush Darjeeling  and our first choice,  Russian Caravan.
When tea was transported from China to Russia in the 18th by camel, it would absorb the aroma of the route campfires hence the inspiration for a modern blend of Keemum and Oolong.  My friend and I loved its strong, refreshing smoky flavour. It is served from a samovar and three hourglass timers are provided to achieve the perfect brew for green, black and white tea. We drank our smoky black brew with finger sandwiches of delicate crab and avocado, cream cheese, chive and cucumber and my favourite, soft rolls of juicy rare roast beef.

Next we had scones with Devonshire clotted cream and rose jelly. Tattinger soaked sultanas studded one scone whilst another was dark with molasses treacle. The rose jelly was particularly lovely. Working our way up to the second layer of our cake stand we sampled coconut and poppy seed cake with sugar spun topping, fairy light  meringues with slices of sliver dragon fruit and creamy silver tea Panna Cotta.

We decided that a chrysanthemum flowering tea would compliment the top layer of our feast, cupcakes and chocolate truffle surprise. The floral notes were perfect with the increasingly sweet delicacies.  I am not going to reveal the surprise though, that would be cheating.

Silver Afternoon Tea is served 2pm – 5pm throughout September £17.95 per person; other seasonal Afternoon Teas can be enjoyed throughout the year.