Afternoon tea

I am a big fan of tea. I somehow made it all the way through college without resorting to massive quantities of coffee, instead opting to sip on green tea. Of course, that changed once I left school and entered the real world. These days, it's not unusual for me to drink a cup or two of coffee a day. Not so good. I'd like to go back to drinking predominantly tea and cut back on the coffee consumption. First new year's resolution? Hmm, perhaps...
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A great start would be going to one of those fancy hotels for afternoon tea. An article from Washingtonian magazine landed in my inbox this morning about this very thing - holiday afternoon tea at various hotels, the Willard InterContinental in particular.

The $47-a-person tea starts with a glass of Moët & Chandon Champagne or a vodka-tea cocktail—your choice. While you sip, you can dip into a chocolate sleigh filled with fresh berries sprinkled with powdered sugar. That’s just one treat. Other sweet touches include cranberry and gingerbread scones—accompanied by jams, lemon curd, and Devonshire cream—as well as such pastries as bite-size fruit tarts and delicate chocolate napoleons.

The scones and pastries are presented on a three-tiered china tray; the top layer is devoted to savory finger sandwiches, including ham and cheddar on a Scottish oat cake, turkey on a buttermilk biscuit with orange-cranberry chutney, maple-smoked salmon on New England brown bread with fennel butter, egg salad with poached quail egg on rye, and shaved English cucumber and watercress with cream cheese on country white. If you want more of anything, just ask.

Then, of course, there’s the tea.

Besides more than a dozen loose-leaf choices—which range from a special Willard blend of Darjeeling, green, and red-bush teas to decaffeinated African amber, an infusion of hibiscus and exotic fruits—there are two holiday brews: chocolate-mint truffle and pear-caramel truffle. (We can vouch for the latter, which has a decadent aroma.)

See how pretty!

The champagne or vodka-tea cocktail, eh. Don't get me wrong, I think that either (or perhaps both) would be a perfect way to get things started. But the next part, the "chocolate sleigh filled with fresh berries sprinkled with powdered sugar"... Now that gets me excited! Add to that scones, cream, and a variety of sandwiches (I'm a big fan of sandwiches, too), and I'm very tempted to call for a reservation... Despite the hefty price tag!