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In 1865, The Langham in London,
became one of the first grand hotels to ever serve afternoon tea. In celebration of this anniversary, on 10
June all Langham hotels worldwide will serve their signature afternoon tea at the same price it was enjoyed 143 years ago; one shilling six
pence.
The Langham London
claims that she was the first grand hotel to serve afternoon tea after an original hotel tariff dated 10
June 1865 was uncovered showing afternoon tea billed as ‘Teas, Plain’ consisting of simple but dainty items including cakes, sweets, bread
and butter and, of course, tea. Other highly popular afternoon tea establishments such as The Ritz and Savoy were not in existence at this time.
The
ritual of afternoon tea was created in 1840 by Anna Russell, 7th Duchess of Bedford, who served it to ward off hunger pangs
in the long hours between lunch and dinner. Soon, her personal indulgence grew into an experience to be shared with her friends. As
hostesses started to host afternoon tea events, a timeless luxury institution was born.
Afternoon tea
can consist of a wide variety of enjoyable nibbles, with some hotels
even offering luxuries such as caviar etc. More common would be petite
scones, smoked salmon pinwheels, tomato, cucumber and egg sandwiches, chocolate-coated tuxedo-dressed strawberries, fresh fruit
tartlets, lamingtons, English fruit cake, and spice cake accompanied by crème
fraiche, strawberry preserve, butter, and of course, numerous varieties
of tea and
coffee.
Brett Butcher, senior vice president – sales and marketing of Langham Hotels International
said, “In a world where we focus on coffee with
heads buried into wi-fi connected laptops, The Langham is taking a step back in time to captivate the senses, restore the art of conversation
and indulge in a timeless tradition which is about friends coming together for a genteel afternoon ritual.”
Today,
Langham offers hotels in Auckland, Boston, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne and Pasadena.
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