Mother's Day Favourites with Whittard

With Mother's Day fast approaching, I got my mum to try out some of Whittard's gift selections. This is what she thought!

From our mutual love of the theatre to our longstanding obsession with Guinea Pigs, my mum and I have always had a lot in common, but one of our defining similarities is our love of tea. 

Not a morning goes by where we don't sit together with a cup, chatting about our days ahead and sharing gossip from the day/night before. It's a ritual in our house, and one which I'll miss a lot when I find a place of my own.

When it comes to tea, I have to admit that she's a lot more adventurous I am, always happy to try out the various fruit and exotic varieties, that I'm less keen on. So when this lovely Mother's Day selection from Whittard dropped through the door, I knew she'd love it. Now I won't go into too much detail about the different varieties available, because you can see that for yourself here, instead I'll just pick out a few of her faves and let you know what she thought.

Pretty Tins with Whittard

Darjeeling

"I've never tried Darjeeling before, usually opting for breakfast teas when I'm out, but this was lovely. I'd definitely choose it again - a nice refreshing cup of tea."

Goji & Acai Berry 

"The first thing that hit me about this tea was its lovely rose pink colour. There wasn't much in the way of perfume, but I appreciated its subtlety and loved the refreshing fruity rang on the taste buds."

Mango & Bergamot

Mango & Bergamot 

"I love mango, so this was a real treat to try. The delicate fruity flavour of the blend comes through nicely and is balanced well with the subtle bitterness of the Bergamot tea. A lovely tea!"

So, that's what my mum thought. What will you be getting your mum for Mother's Day?

The Afternoon Tea Club: Mother's Day Competition!

Mother's Day is just around the corner so if you're still on the lookout for the perfect gift, we have just the thing ...

Last week we were lucky enough to receive the best kind of junk mail we have ever received through our letterbox - chocolates! Designed by The Happy Mail, a London based 'bake and deliver' company, these beautiful packages are just as much a treat for the eyes as they are for your sweet tooth - think marshmallows, popcorn, mini Smarties with a sprinkling of rainbow confetti and pinstripe tissue paper - so cute!

The treats were so good in fact that we teamed up with the lovely people at The Happy Mail to give you the chance to win a very special prize to celebrate your wonderful mum this Mother's Day (March 15th FYI)! 

Up for grabs we have a fabulous Afternoon Tea themed Mother's Day Box delivered to your door complete with all the treats and tea you need for a perfect Mother's Day afternoon in - don't worry, there's enough for you to tuck in too!

We'll let The Happy Mail do the talking: 

A perfect gift for Mothers Day or just to let them know that you are are sorry you can't be there today but no doubt you'll be thinking of them (especially when they are tucking into those tasty treats!)

This package contains all the fun for a perfect afternoon tea. Packaged with a little vintage style spoon and Rose Garden tea bags, you would definitely have made the right choice.

Sound good? To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is follow @the_happymail on Twitter via our competition link below.

The competition closes on Saturday 7th March at Midnight and the winner will be announced on Sunday. 

Good luck!

Laura & Caroline x

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Open to UK residents only. Only one entry per person. Competition will close at midnight on 07/03/2015. The winner will be chosen and announced on 08/03/2015. The Afternoon Tea Club's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The Afternoon Tea Club is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied by third party connected to this competition. There will be no cash alternative. Winner will be notified via email. By entering the competition the winner agrees to participate in such promotional activity on our website and Twitter. No responsibility can be taken for any entries which are not received for any reason.

The Afternoon Tea Club Cuts the Cake

Ah January, detox month – time to ask for gluttonous forgiveness and get over those overindulgent chocolate binges and festive drinks.

Whittard's Green Tea.

But if you’re anything like us, the chocolate pile from Christmas, doesn’t just disappear come the last verse of Auld Lang Syne. With all the good intentions of gym memberships, substituting orange Matchmakers for carrot sticks and fitting that 20 minute run into your lunch hour, it just seems a little bit sad, wasteful, criminal even, to throw away those untouched boxes of Malteasars.

So rather than punish ourselves, we declared February would be our realistic detox month – time to ditch the cake and start the detox!

Goodbye cake, hello fruit ... tea.

The lovely people at Whittard got us into the spirit with a detox package perfect for tea lovers like us. Bundled together with the Whittard seal of approval was a beautifully presented tin of green teas, caffeine free fruit tea and our very own Pao mugs equipped with infusers – suddenly, detox didn’t seem so scary!

Superior Green Tea selection.

Putting our new mugs to the test, we went for the loose fruit tea. There’s something about the smell of the Strawberry and Kiwi tea that just wakes you up. It’s refreshing and airy and though we did leave it to brew for quite a long time, it doesn’t hit you in the face which is good if you’re feeling a little bit un-enthused about the whole cutting-down thing.

Gotta love accessories.

From the green tea selection our favourites had to be the Strawberry and Rhubarb and Gunpowder flavours. On completely opposite ends of the tea spectrum, the Rhubarb flavour was subtle but pleasant, something to wind down with, whereas the Gunpowder was, as you would imagine a little heavier and smoky.

The verdict? If you’re hoping to battle the February fitness climb, these teas are the perfect companion to give you a little sweet fix and feel good about it. 

For more info visit www.whittard.co.uk and let us know how your tea detox is going at @TeacupReview!

The Afternoon Tea Club Reviews: Chocolate and Orange Scones by Sconnoisseur

A few weeks ago the guys at Sconnoisseur (cool name, right?) sent across a lovely parcel of Chocolate and Orange scones for us to try out. Now, I'm not usually a fan of chocolate orange treats - show me a Chocolate Orange at Xmas and I'll run for the hills - but after looking through the Sconnoisseur site and seeing the team's commitment to using only the finest ingredients and luxury combinations, I knew I had to give them a go.

For around £11 you can buy a box of four individually wrapped scones, with jam and tea, and whilst this may be a little more expensive than supermarket varieties, the Sconnoisseur presentation really makes the product, offering a bit of luxury for those after a treat - just look at that box!

Flavourwise, they don't disappoint either with the subtle blend of chocolate and citrus combining really well to create a zesty but dense scone - making for a lovely alternative to the traditional raisin and a far cry from the overpowering chocolate orange sweets I've tried in the past.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend Sconnoisseur to anyone looking to treat a loved one to Afternoon Tea at home - a great way to inject a bit of luxury into your celebrations!

Take a look at the full range of Sconnoisseur goodies here

What's your favourite variety of scone?

  

The Afternoon Tea Club Reviews: Carlo's Bake Shop, Las Vegas

If you’re a fan of any TV show that involves cake then you’re bound to have come across Carlo’s Bake Shop on the popular TV show Cake Boss. On a recent trip to Las Vegas we were lucky enough to sample some of the sweet treats this famous bakery has to offer.

Carlo's Bake Shop, Las Vegas.

Yeah we won’t lie, we got in to a bit of a daily routine of stopping by the shop for a morning croissant and latte – the novelty certainly didn’t wear off!

But the main attractions that caught our eye were the wonderful biscuit miniatures - presented in a cute Carlos Bake Shop box. This bite size box was perfect for taking home to share … or eating in the hotel and then rushing back to buy some more for friends back in good old Blighty.

Biscuits to go.

The biscuits come in all shapes and sizes with pink and green sprinkles, jam and chocolate flavours alternating through each one. Apologies for the post-US Airways-battering, evident in the photo. That’s either the airline’s fault for poor transportation or ours for failing to take a decent photo before munching on the first batch – we’ll take the fall for this one.

The taste? As you would expect from one of the US’s favourite bakers: buttery perfection.

Have you tried any famous bakes? Tweet us at @TeacupReview #FamousCakes