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Top Tea Places 2010

The Tea Guild has now presented the 2010 awards to The Top Tea Place, Top London Afternoon Tea and Top City and Country Hotel winners, in addition to a total of 44 Awards of Excellence and 9 Top City and Country Hotel Awards of Excellence to tea rooms and hotels throughout the UK.

This prestigious award is now in its 25th year and is seen as the ‘Michelin star’ of the tea world, with tea rooms, country and city hotels around Britain competing for the coveted honours.

The UK Tea Council’s team of Tea Guild inspectors have travelled the country to seek out the annual winners of the Top London and Top Tea Place awards, and new for 2010, the Top City and Country Hotel award.

The Tea Guild team of tea experts have taken tea in hotels and tearooms in London and across Britain in their quest to find the finest tea experiences and all visits have been anonymous to ensure the results are fair and accurate. The judges awarded points for the variety, excellence and knowledge of the teas offered, together with the quality of food, service, décor, ambience, and presentation.

The ultimate winner of Top Tea Place 2010 is The Black Swan Tea Room, Helmsley, North Yorkshire. The winner of the Top London Afternoon Tea 2010 award is the Palm Court at The Langham Hotel, and the winner of the Top City and Country Hotel 2010 award is The Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe, Wiltshire.

LONDON WINS 16 TOP LONDON AFTERNOON TEA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

In addition to The Top London Afternoon Tea Award, a special Award of Excellence is given to tea establishments in the capital – the home of some of the world’s finest hotels and tearooms – who were judged to be outstandingly good. The judges were so impressed with the quality of the afternoon tea served at

• Brown’s Hotel
• Claridge’s
• Grosvenor House Park Room & Library
• Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
• “Tea” at Liberty
• The Athenaeum
• The Dorchester
• The Goring
• The Landmark London
• The Lanesborough
• The Milestone
• The Montagu at Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill
• The Park Lane Hotel
• The Ritz, Sofitel London St James
• The Wolseley

- that they awarded them very high marks in every category. 

With 125 points to be lost or gained on the judge’s scorecard, only those tea establishments achieving the very highest standards across a number of categories are awarded a coveted Tea Guild London Award of Excellence. Tea Guild members were assessed on the quality and selection of teas offered, plus flavour, strength and temperature. In addition, the judging system also reviewed the care, knowledge of tea and attentiveness of staff, the overall ambience and the standard and presentation of the food offered.

Commenting on the London Awards of Excellence in the UK’s prestigious Top Tea Place 2010 awards, Irene Gorman, Head of The Tea Guild said: “Each year the standard of entrants for the awards continues to scale new heights, making the judges’ task of choosing those who achieve an ‘Award of Excellence’ extremely challenging and this year’s competition was no exception.

“These Awards of Excellence were presented in recognition of consistently high standards of tea making and customer service, evident in the care and attention to detail with which afternoon tea was prepared and served in all of the establishments.”

Irene adds: “Across the UK, the tradition of afternoon tea has never been stronger, with Tea Guild members busier than ever. More and more people are taking time out to enjoy that ‘very special afternoon tea moment’. It’s the perfect, both fun AND affordable, way to catch up with friends, family or even business colleagues, celebrate a special occasion or enjoy a romantic date.”

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• News article - Top Tea Awards 2010
• The Tea Guild Awards - more detail about the awards criteria