I had the poshest afternoon tea at London's oldest hotel. Here's what it was like, and how the very English tradition has changed post-COVID
I went to Brown's Hotel, the oldest and one of the fanciest hotels in London, for afternoon tea.
Queen Victoria, Theodore Roosevelt, and Agatha Christie were among the big names who dined here.
Afternoon tea has gone through some changes post-COVID. Here's how it's served differently.
Brown's Hotel is the first and oldest hotel in London which has welcomed many royals, politicians, and celebrities over the years
Brown's Hotel, which was first built in 1837, is London's oldest hotel, surviving two world wars and now COVID-19.
The hotel has 33 luxury suites, 82 hotel rooms, a restaurant, bar, spa, gymnasium, and drawing room where afternoon tea is served.
Compared to other London hotels which offer afternoon tea, including The Ritz and The Savoy, Brown's is more casual, hotel tea manager Karol Kurowski told Insider.
The room designs at Brown's have barely changed since nearly 200 years ago
The rooms have hardly changed since the hotel was built in 1837, Kurowski said.
The Drawing Room for afternoon tea had wood panelling on the walls, cosy armchairs and sofas, and antiques and artwork dotted around the fireplace and window ledge.
A pianist played a majestic, black, grand piano in the Drawing Room, performing a range of songs from "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers to "River Flows In You" by Yiruma.
I sat in Agatha Christie's seat where she used to enjoy afternoon tea at Brown's
Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana are among the royals who visited Brown's.
Leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Napoleon III also enjoyed what delights the hotel had to offer.
Writer and journalist Rudyard Kipling spent his final days at the hotel before falling ill and passing away in hospital. Agatha Christie spent her time sat in the chair which I'm pictured in above, writing novels and enjoying her favorite coronation chicken sandwiches.
Brown's believes that the Drawing Room was the inspiration for Christie's "At Bertram's Hotel."
But it was The Duchess of Bedford, lady in waiting to Queen Victoria, who kicked off the afternoon tea tradition. In the early 19th century, people only had two meals a day; one at breakfast and one at 8pm in the evening.
The Duchess started requesting a light meal and a pot of tea during the afternoon. Soon after, the practice of afternoon tea became fit for a queen.
The majority of Brown's guests come from the United States
Brown's Hotel's largest customer base is from the US. Many Americans who stop in the hotel choose to experience the quintessentially British afternoon tea at least one time in their stay, tea manager Kurowski said.
This means that the hotel lost most of its customers during the pandemic.
It closed in each of England's three lockdowns and was able to open its doors again on May 17th when hotels in the country were allowed to reopen.
Although Brown's is seeing an increase in the number of guests, Kurowski said staff are looking forward to when full international travel kicks in and COVID-19 restrictions ease, encouraging more people to fly to the UK.
Brown's had to change how it operated and introduced new innovations to keep the hotel COVID-safe
Like many restaurants and hotels, Brown's has had to adapt to a more hygienic and COVID-safe way of working.
The sugar cubes in a small bowl on the table are now packaged up individually in plastic, so there's no chance of someone touching your sugar before you pop it into your teacup.
A small card with a QR code links you to the menu when you scan it with your smartphone, replacing the ordinary menu as we know it. Queen Victoria must have turned in her grave.
This was the menu that Brown's gave to their guests pre-pandemic
After walking in the footsteps of famous historical figures in a traditional English drawing room, it's strange to be met with a modern tech feature like a QR code.
The menu takes you through the history of the hotel and afternoon tea before listing all the teas, food, and champagne. Brown's also offers a full vegan menu and a kids' menu which has a range of herbal teas to choose from.
The waiter gave me a small bottle of hand sanitizer when I sat down at the table
Further safety measures at Brown's include sanitization of the rooms and guests' hands.
Like every hospitality facility in the UK at the moment, face masks are mandatory for staff and the customers, until they are sat down. I was handed a small bottle of hand sanitizer spray containing rosemary and lavender which, unlike other potent hand sanitizers, smelt divine.
Kurowski said Brown's staff had to wear gloves when the hotel was open between the three lockdowns but now that's unecessary. They are also tested twice a week to check they're negative for COVID-19.
There's also a 30 minute gap inbetween each restaurant and hotel room booking, giving staff enough time to sanitize the area before the next guests arrive, Kurowski said.
First, I was served Moët champagne, hot tea, and sandwiches on a Victorian tea-stand
After clinking our glasses of Moët & Chandon champagne, Kurowski brought over two plates of sandwiches on a Victorian silver tea-stand.
The tea came in three traditional silver pots — two for the tea itself and one for the milk.
Scones used to sit on the empty plate in the middle of the tea stand, but now Brown's keep the scones warm and serve them later with the rest of the cakes, Kurowski said.
The atmosphere was cosy, calm, and relaxing with the tinkling of the piano keys in the background.
Here's a close-up of the five different sandwiches
From the left, the selection included smoked coronation chicken, beef with horseradish mayonnaise, cucumber and cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill, and prawn cocktail.
Each sandwich slither had a different type of bread and was freshly made in Brown's kitchens.
The coronation chicken sandwich was apparently Agatha Christie's go-to sandwich, Kurowski said.
Brown's offer 25 different kinds of tea. The first tea I tried was called Afternoon Blend
Afternoon blend, made with Assam tea, was served alongside the sandwiches. This type of tea, which comes from India, was refreshing and complimented the food.
A similar type of tea to the Afternoon blend is the light and invigorating Darjeeling, Queen Victoria's favorite. Queen Elizabeth's first choice was Earl Grey, according to Kurowski, whereas Churchill preferred a Lapsang tea, he said.
After finishing the sandwiches, Kurowski poured me a cup of Oolong tea. Originating from China, this rich, dark brown-coloured tea had a smooth, smoky taste.
After the sandwiches, I was served cakes and scones with jam and clotted cream
After a top up of champagne, another tea-stand arrived, this time with sweet treats.
Five small patisserie cakes sat on the top plate, four scones were on the second plate, and a pot of jam and another of clotted cream was on the bottom.
Don't be fooled by the small portions though — by the second scone, I was stuffed.
There were five different cakes to choose from on the top tier of the cake stand
On the top plate, there was a chocolate and hazelnut tart, strawberry cake, lime and coconut cheesecake, chocolate and banana truffle, and a raspberry petit gateau.
Kurowski recommended to eat the chocolate and hazelnut tart last because of its richness.
The real question is: does the jam go on the scone first, or the clotted cream?
The tradition says that the cream is spread on the scone first, and the jam goes on top, according to Kurowski. Jam first and then cream is the Cornish tradition from southwest England, he said.
Despite the British cream-jam debate, Kurowski said he's seen guests eat their scones in a strange way.
Some have put butter, as well as cream and jam on the scone, while others have sandwiched the two scone halves together like a burger and chomped away.
The third tea I tried was a Chinese Jasmine tea which changed flavor after five minutes
While I was munching away on the cakes, Kurowski poured a third tea for me to try. This one was called a Chinese Jasmine tea, which is classed as a green tea. It tasted fresh and floral but after five minutes, the flavor went bitter due to chemical changes in the tea.
I also tasted a Genmaicha green tea from Japan which had a more delicate taste.
The final tea I tried to finish off the whole experience was a black vanilla tea. This was a richer, sweeter tea which was the perfect end to a quintessentially British afternoon tea.
I even got to take home a goodie bag!
Although the sandwiches, cakes and scones look small, they're quite filling! Kurowski kindly packaged up the remaining patisserie cakes so I could enjoy them at home.
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