Biltmore - High Tea

On Sunday we had a 3pm reservation at the Inn's library for High Tea. This was the first time any of us had been exposed to a "high tea", so we did really know what to expect.

First we were presented with a box of teas, which we were encouraged to smell and select the blend that appealed to us most. I chose Ti Kuan Yin, which was a Oolong tea infused with fruit like flavor. Mom and O decided on Mayan Chocolate Truffle, which was a dark amber tea comprised of chocolate chips mixed with chunks of chili and red pepper, along with bits of apple and strawberry it smelled delicious.

Each of us received our own pot of tea, let me say now one would have sufficed as I soon discovered a "hot tea" drinker I am not! My selection Ti Kuan Yin was just blah, so I thought I would add a few cubes of sugar to it, after all I had seen that done in the movies a least a hundred times surely that is what it was lacking. Well, let me tell you (6) lumps later and I still found it lacking, though it did gain a stronger flavor the longer it steeped.

Mom and O found their tea to be very aromatic and that is basically where it stopped...hot tea drinkers they are not! Mom sucked it up and managed to down (3) cups I am assuming in the "spirit" of the event. O just kept pushing sugar cubes into her cup and found it about as appealing as her mother! Once we determined we were not a big fan of the hot tea, we turned our attention to the appetizers they were serving us. Each of us received a plate, which contained a mini cheese and spinach quiche, cucumber and dill sandwich on rye, yellow fin tuna on pumpernickel, heart of artichoke and roasted tomato on a toasted baguette, fresh made white bean humus on a pita chip and last but not least Greek chicken salad in a phyllo cup.

Ok, so I found the pita chip with the white bean humus to be very good, along with the cucumber and dill sandwich and the mini cheese and spinach cheese. The roasted artichoke and tomato baguette, yellow fin ( smelled to fishy) tuna on pumpernickel and Greek chicken salad not so much! It reminded me of another culinary adventure, when I had to endure a lunch comprised of Norwegian delicacies just so our daughter could eat lunch with the Disney Princesses. Trust me I made just as many faces that day as I did during high tea!

The definite "high" spot of the afternoon was the baked goodies. We were served (3) trays of delicious cinnamon scones, pineapple muffins, cherry cheesecake cookies, chocolate truffles, butterscotch tarts and orange cream cake, these we liked. Of course they were served with fresh lemon curd, raspberry preserves and cream just in case you wanted to "kick" them up a notch!

All in all we had a very enjoyable afternoon! I will let you in on a little secret, Mom and I did sneak out later that evening and located the local Starbucks. Hot tea aside, nothing beats a Starbucks hot chocolate and a white chocolate mocha on a cool summers evening!