Ireland Ashford Castle
We leave for the 14 day Ireland trip late Summer. Two nights at Ashford Castle is included. Does this trip also include a high tea at the Castle?
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We leave for the 14 day Ireland trip late Summer. Two nights at Ashford Castle is included. Does this trip also include a high tea at the Castle?
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It did not include high tea in 2023 when I took this tour.
We took this last year in April and it did not include high tea. It was a wonderful tour. The Falconry Experience at Lyrath Estate was really cool. Enjoy!
We've ever only had high tea once on a Tauck tour during our Week in Scotland. Given the negative reactions of some of the men at our table I understand now why Tauck doesn't include it. You'd have thought Tauck was trying to starve these guys to death. Sigh.
I had to look up what "high tea" is. The internet defines it as basically dinner for blue collar workers and implies that a lot of food is served. From the Internet:
"High tea is a British tradition of a substantial meal served with tea, usually in the late afternoon or early evening. It's named after the high tables and back chairs used for eating."
What was it when you experienced it?
We had high tea at one of the castles on our Tauck Ireland trip a few years ago. In addition to the tea, there was a three tiered layered holder (I don't know the official name) of sandwiches, scones pastry etc. It was very tasty and relaxing.
If I remember correctly, we had some champagne., also.
We had "Tea" in Victoria Canada and felt rushed. I am a fussy tea drinker. Waiter did not ask what we wanted to drink and just brought any old tea and an incompleat tier of food compared to those around us. Afer I complained we were treated better. Alas, when we had the included HIgh Tea at Victoria Falls, same experience. Luke warm tea and incomplete tier (likely a leftover from another table?) We weren't hungry since we had lunch and dinner time was not far off.
Best teas we have had are on our own in unexpected places, small locally owned tea houses or cafes.
Our Scotland high tea was also a 3 tiered stand. Top layer were savories using puff pastry. Middle was finger sandwiches. The bottom was sweets including macarons. I can't remember if scones were included. It was ok. We have a tea room locally that does an amazing job. Their menu changes monthly with a theme and includes 3 different teas. Not cheap but very good.
I've had high tea in several hotels with Tauck tours, on my own, not included, Victoria Falls Hotel, the Savoy and Raffles in Singapore, I enjoyed all of them and had the 3 tier stand was pretty much like Claudia described except that I did have scones.
I am certainly not a connoisseur, but I do enjoy a properly prepared cup of tea. I have not taken the subject tour but have had wonderful formal Afternoon Tea at several Fairmont properties while on Tauck tours—The Empress in Victoria, Canada; The Frontenac in Quebec City, Canada; The Savoy in London and The Langham in Boston (not a Fairmont property). Both The Empress and The Savoy served the scones with clotted cream. Delicious.
There is a difference between high tea and afternoon tea. High tea is just as Mike describes and it’s very old fashioned and British people don’t do that anymore, not since before I was born in the fifties
Afternoon tea is a refined experience as described by everyone else and mainly for tourists.
We had something like Afternoon Tea at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi. It was good for a snack.
Oh boy, that’s a tasty looking Afternoon tea, yum!
@British - Yes, I thought so, too. I was impressed with just about everything at that hotel. They did a good job.
We were on the June 2024 tour. Ashford Castle was lovely and the staff will go out of their way to make sure all is right. We are breakfast people. The smoked salmon, the fresh croissant - just name it - was all delicious and made there. My husband did not want to take a jacket, so we did not have dinner in the MDR. We liked Cullen’s at the Cottage, across the moat, for lunch/dinner. Towards the end of the tour, all I really wanted was a simple green salad. The food was fantastic but it got to be a bit much.
So is it tea first and then cream/milk or visa versa?
The reason it is tradition to put milk in the cup first is because early China was prone to cracking when very hot water was put into it. It is a similar reason that it was tradition to put a little boiling water into the teapot and rinse it out before filling the pot. People still do this, but with modern china, it is not necessary.
Mike, that's a meal for me, usually when I do the afternoon teas I don't have dinner.
Years ago when we had afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada, we learned all about the tradition of “proper” tea, as British alluded to above. Our server was wonderful, as was the entire experience.
Tea at London’s Savoy Hotel was also memorable but not as informative as at the Empress.