Where To Take Tea: A Guide To Britain's Best Tearooms

This book uniquely combines the fascinating history and tradition of tea with an up-to-the-minute guide to the places where it can be sampled at its very best.

Tea is steeped in history, ritual, and tradition. Susan Cohen takes a nostalgic look at the story of the world's most popular drink, covering everything including the tealeaf, the tea dance, customs and habits associated with taking tea, and the paraphernalia that surrounds it. This story is illustrated with beautiful, and often amusing, sketches and photographs that perfectly capture the feeling of pleasure that is associated with tea drinking.

Taking afternoon tea is an exquisite experience, a wonderfully civilized way to pass time with friends while enjoying delicious food and a refreshing cup of tea. This guide looks at over 50 of the best places to take afternoon tea in Britain. There are over 20 suggestions for London, from the opulent splendor of the Lanesborough and the Ritz, to the architectural wonder of the Great Court at the British Museum. There are also recommendations for places in the great historical cities, such as Bath, Oxford, York, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Windsor and also the beautiful spots of the Lake District, the Cotswolds, Devon, and Cornwall. Whether you want to experience a traditional tea in a Victorian tearoom or a stylish tea with a modern twist at a "designer" hotel, you will find the perfect place in this book.

Refreshing, relaxing, stimulating, warming-there is little to compare with the comfort of a cup of tea.

Susan Cohen is an academic historian with a special interest in British Victorian and Edwardian social history. She has had articles published in academic and popular journals and is a contributor to the New Dictionary of National Biography. In her "spare" time she works as a professional decorative paint finisher and is the author of Outdoor Paint Effects.