A Tea Kind of Day

Yesterday, I decided to forego my usual morning coffee or Coke Zero but have tea instead. It was a pleasant change of pace.

I have two favourite types of tea, Lapsang Souchong and Genmaicha:

Genmaicha is a Japanese green tea with toasted rice in it. The toasted rice adds a sort of nutty/corny taste to the green tea. I first tried something like it when I was having afternoon tea at Claridges in Mayfair a few years ago. The waiter gave it the euphemistic name "Popcorn Tea", and I didn't much care for it when I tried it there.

However, last year, Ms Eclectic and I had lunch at Gozen a few times and I quite enjoyed the Genmaicha there. It is pleasant, and it is the tea I opted for yesterday morning. More often than not, though, I prefer Lapsang Souchong, about which I have raved often in the past, referring to it as "the Laphraoig of teas". For some reason I absolutely love the smokey, mind-bending flavour of the tea.

To prepare the tea, I "bodomize" it [term via the late BenS]. I like bodomizing tea because when I push down on the press, the tea stops steeping (something I consider important for keeping tea from becoming too bitter). After using the bodomizer, I then cover the teapot with a tea cozy made for me over 30 years ago by my mother:

 Yes, I am something of a tea snot/snob. Not that I'm really all that particular about tea. In fact, a decade ago I knew from nothing about tea and afternoon tea. But since then I have visited numerous establishments, sampling their afternoon teas. During these explorations/expeditions, I have developed a sense of what I like and what I don't like:

- - -

My previous reviews of afternoon (and other) tea presentations, ranked in order of preference:

      These three were superb. Highly recommended:

• The Four Seasons, London, England
• The St. Regis Hotel, Houston, Texas
• The Lanesborough, London, England
  

Those in this large middle group ranged from very good to just okay. I would consider returning to them, but those in the upper portion of the list were significantly better than those in the lower portion of this section:

• Claridge's, London, England
• The Dorchester, London, England
• The Ritz, London, England
• Brown's, London, England

           ----------

• Scolfe's Tea Room, Boreham Street, England (superb, but not really afternoon tea)
• The Pump Room, Bath, England (also superb, but not really afternoon tea)
•  The Windsor Arms, Toronto, Canada
• The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, British Columbia
• The Saskatchewan Hotel, Regina, Saskatchewan
• The Boathouse, Guelph, Canada
• The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, England 
• Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Canada

These next two were unacceptable:

• The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath, England
• The Queen's Hotel, Portsmouth, England

  * * * * 

The chronology of when I visited each place probably affected my ratings, so here's a chronological list:

1. The Four Seasons, London, England
2. The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath, England
3. The Pump Room, Bath, England (superb, but not really afternoon tea)
4. Claridge's, London, England
5. The Boathouse, Guelph, Canada
6. The St. Regis Hotel, Houston, Texas
7. The Queen's Hotel, Portsmouth, England
8. The Dorchester, London, England
9. Brown's, London, England
10. Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Canada
11. The Windsor Arms, Toronto, Canada
12. The Ritz, London, England
13. Scolfe's Tea Room, Boreham Street, England (again, not really afternoon tea)
14. The Lanesborough, London, England
15. The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, England
16. The Saskatchewan Hotel, Regina, Saskatchewan
17. The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, British Columbia