Festive High Tea at Cinnamon Lakeside

Friday, 16 December 2011 01:35 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The spirit of Christmas is everywhere at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, emanating from the hotel’s lobby lounge where a majestic Christmas tree stands tall.

The Lounge gets into full gear from 20 to 25 December with an extra special festive high tea featuring customary seasonal treats.

The Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo High Tea offers the perfect occasion to reunite with family, friends or colleagues over delightful snacks, exceptional tea or the hotel’s famous iced coffee.

The ambience is suited for the occasion with plush furnishings, light piano music and intermittent views of the pool and lake. For the festive high tea, the hotel’s chefs go all out with their Christmas goodies. Be they mince pies, stollen, brudher, plum pudding, love cake, Christmas cookies or ginger bread, you will find it all and more at this incredible buffet. Sparked by the popularity of the treats being sold at the hotel’s delicatessen, Goodies, the Christmas edition has become a most looked after event in the seasonal calendars of many.

The custom of drinking tea originated in England when Catherine of Braganza married Charles II in 1661 and brought down the practice of drinking tea in the afternoon with her from Portugal. However, according to legend, one of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting, Anna Maria Stanhope also known as the Duchess of Bedford, is credited as the creator of the concept of ‘afternoon tea’ meal in the mid-1800s.

As the noon meal had become skimpier, the Duchess had suffered from “a sinking feeling” at about four o’clock in the afternoon.

At first, she had her servants sneak a pot of tea and a few breadstuffs to her. Later, adopting the European tea service format, she invited friends to join her for an additional afternoon meal at five o’clock in her rooms at Belvoir Castle.

The menu cantered around small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets and, of course, tea. This summer practice proved so popular, the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends, asking them to join her for “tea and a walk in the fields.”

The practice of inviting friends to come for tea in the afternoon was quickly picked up by other social hostesses and thus, the afternoon tea was born. Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo continues this tradition with a daily high tea where guests are treated to a delightful assortment of sweet and savoury goodies at the hotel’s lounge.