Afternoon Tea at Sopwell House

Thursday 16th July was my birthday and to celebrate James took me for afternoon tea at Sopwell House in Hertfordshire. I was so surprised James had organised this because he's not really into the whole tea and cake thing but he knows how much I love it and it fitted into the rest of the days plans so it was a really lovely idea! Having not been to afternoon tea before he had no idea what sort of thing that he was looking for but he did amazingly well- Sopwell House was beautiful!
 

I always think a lovely country house with beautiful surroundings is the best location for afternoon tea, so Sopwell House definitely met with my expectations. It's a huge Georgian country house situated amongst acres of green landscape; an ideal location for a wedding venue! Afternoon tea was held in the Cocktail Bar and Lounge which we overheard has recently been refurbished. It's really lovely and cosy in there and we felt really at home with comfy arm chairs to sit back and relax in.  I absolutely loved the décor as it was really stylish but homely at the same time (definitely took some inspo for when I have my own house!) with a fire place and large bookcase taking centre stage on the back wall. The silver service was excellent and very fitting with the opulent manner of the rest of the hotel. As soon we arrived our jackets were taken to be hung up and we were served with and a glass of iced water and lemon. We were then given a menu to choose from whether it be cream tea (just scones and tea), or the full works served with Champagne or Pimms. We went for the traditional afternoon tea for £23.95 without the alcohol as James was driving so I opted for an Earl Grey tea whilst James had a coffee.

The food was delicious and we were both so stuffed afterwards. We started with the crustless sandwiches which were a mix of salmon and cream cheese, cucumber, egg mayonnaise and chicken on cranberry bread. Then onto the scones where we got two each; one with sultanas and one without. They were very slightly crusted on the outside and warm and doughy on the inside- exactly how I love my scones- layered with clotted cream and jam and they were a delight! So  yum! After loading ourselves up with the carbolicious sandwiches and scones I wasn't sure if I could fit any more in but the cakes looked far too tasty to pass on. The were six different  miniature cakes and pastries consisting of Battenberg, raspberry macaroon, carrot cake, chocolate éclair, fruit tart and chocolate coffee cake. I'm used to normally having one of each pastry per person where as this was a mix of so James and I decided to cut each one in half so  we could have a small taster of them all. The macaroon had to be my favourite, although it was a tough decision between that and the fruit tart!

After we'd stuffed our faces until we could barely move we decided to take a wander around the impressive hotel. We found a wall filled with signed football shirts of the different teams that had stayed in the hotel. I'm not a football fan in any shape or form but even I was pretty impressed with this! It was quite incredible that we were sat having tea in a hotel that had hosted for the England football team- and apparently Brazil stayed there for three months! We enjoyed having a wander around the gardens too, although it would have been even better if the weather had been slightly sunnier. We're in the July now- where is the sun?! Come on England!

We had a perfect afternoon at Sopwell House and it was such a lovely venue for afternoon tea. I shall definitely be returning! It's somewhere I know my mum and sister would love too. I also think I've managed to convert James too- although only for special occasions!

Are you an Afternoon Tea fan? Where's your favourite place to go?

love Katya x

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