Tea at the Washington Duke

on sunday (december 14) a few girlfriends and i met in durham to have our second annual afternoon tea at the washington duke. this is such a special treat for us partly because we hardly ever see one another, and partly because the tea is such a feminine and fantastic experience to share with close friends. we have really enjoyed going before christmas because it gives us a chance to be surrounded with extravagant decorations which really puts us in the holiday spirit (not that i need any help being in the Christmas spirit)! the tea offerings at the washington duke are simple: classic tea or tea royale. both years we have ordered the tea royale which offers the classic tea with the addition of a glass of champagne, champagne royale, or a mimosa. the teas are served as loose tea in a beautiful pot and each guest has a tea strainer which is placed over the tea cup to catch the loose tea. after the tea is served, the server brings a tier of 3 plates with all sorts of scrumptious tea sandwiches, tarts, candies, cakes, and other handcrafted sweets (for which i do not know the names.... yet). they also bring a basket of homemade scones with dishes of clotted cream, lemon curd, and raspberry spreads to accompany the scones.
our server this year was the same server as last year and she remembered us! she even brought out a special treat for chrissie's upcoming birthday (december 16).