The Ultimate Afternoon Tea Experience at The Savoy: A London Must-Do!

Traditional afternoon tea. The epitome of indulgence in the finest English manner. A culinary experience that feels all the cozier when London is, yet again, grey and rainy. The legendary luxury hotel Savoy has been serving the classic tea time since opening its doors in 1889. Welcome to the Savoy. My name is Helene, one of the afternoon tea managers. Please allow me to show you the afternoon tea experience. Afternoon tea consists of several elements. One of them is, of course, the tea itself. Followed by finger sandwiches, usually with cucumber, salmon, eggs and chicken in curry sauce, accompanied by two canapes per person. Scones with lemon curd cream, strawberry jam and clotted cream. And finally, a selection of bite-sized cakes and pastry. The daily afternoon tea is a highlight at the five-star luxury hotel. Traditionally, guests start with a glass of champagne. While we're enjoying the champagne, we'll be having our first course, which is the finger sandwiches. Award-winning pastry chef Nicolas Houchet and his team make hundreds of these sandwiches every day. To maximize efficiency, he uses some tricks of the trade. We do have slabs of sandwiches, basically, which are ready to be sliced together. And the reason is to allow the sandwich to be tightly packed together, to have a neat finish. As you can see, this creates some beautiful colored layers, which are quite visually eye-catching. It wouldn't be afternoon tea without the actual tea. And guests have 28 varieties to choose from, the most popular of which is a black tea produced especially for the hotel, the Savoy breakfast tea. And following tea-drinking etiquette is strongly recommended. We don't stir the tea like this. You go up and down. And as well, to make sure to not cling your teaspoon at the edges, to not make any noise. And of course, we don't lick the teaspoon. But of course, rules are there meant to be broken, to not be scared, because you can just be who you are during afternoon tea and enjoy your maybe special occasion. The tradition of afternoon tea dates back to 1840 and was invented by the Duchess of Bedford, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. She thought there was too much of a gap between lunch and dinner. So she asked her service to, in the afternoon, to make sandwiches, to make scones, to make cakes. And she really enjoyed that. She was eating it and she loved it. So she started inviting her friends for it as well. So this then became, all her friends came over and this became a tradition. By the time the Savoy Hotel opened in 1889, afternoon tea was already a well-established tradition. The Savoy was built as London's first luxury hotel and maintains its status as such. Since day one, afternoon tea has been an institution of its own. And the highlight of the tea ceremony has to be the étagère with cakes and scones. We are baking them throughout the day, every half an hour, to make sure that they arrive piping hot and just at the right texture and temperature at the table. How to eat scones is a hotly debated topic in England. The most divisive question, what comes first, jam or clotted cream? So far, there is no law against either. Last but not least, the cakes are served. It's so nice to have mousses and such, but cakes are the most important element and are also like a palate cleanser, something with fresh fruits, which after the scones, after the sandwiches, after the cakes, is a nice refreshing touch. Every day, around 200 guests come to enjoy afternoon tea here. The price, including champagne, is around 90 euros per person. What makes the afternoon tea so special is the atmosphere, it's the room, the live music, it's our guests, of course, it is the people that work here, our afternoon tea waiters, that love to talk to people. A lot of our guests come here for special occasions, special celebrations, so we always love to find that out. As far as culinary experiences go, it can hardly get more British than the afternoon tea at the Savoy.