Afternoon tea, or low tea as it’s sometimes referred to by its English originators, is a custom that arose amongst the upper classes during the height of Jane Austen’s romantic period and is a strong contender for the most fun meal of the day. I mean, what other meal consists of small snacks and finger foods, most of them sweet at that!
You don’t have to be over 60 or a character from an Agatha Christie novel to enjoy this time-honored tradition; in fact, tea is becoming no less an appreciated drink than its big brother: coffee.
Enjoying a cup of tea in one of Stockholm’s finest tearooms is much more unhurried than your average hipster fika of passively guzzling down a latte while tweeting.
At afternoon tea you get a whole pot to savor during a leisurely afternoon of relaxation. So why not leave your laptop at home for the day, call a friend and treat yourself to a cup of black, white, green, red, chamomile, sweet or creamy hot tea to keep those winter chills at bay.
Svenskt Tenn
I settle into the pillow-filled wicker couch in the middle of Svenskt Tenn’s second-floor tearoom, overlooking the water. It’s an ice-cold day and my feet start to thaw as I take in the lulling fiddle of Haydn’s classical compositions and a cup of Tenn’s tea of the week, a spicy Christmas blend that’s more comforting than a pair of warm woolly socks. The window seats are taken up by pairs of chatty women, enjoying scones and finger sandwiches from three-story trays, delicately wiping the corners of their mouths with the Josef Frank elephant-print napkins matching the curtains.
The menu features a black and white picture of Svenskt Tenn’s founder, Estrid Ericson, enjoying her favourite beverage, stating that she would drink five cups a day of the stuff, perhaps in her preserved workroom which has been nicely integrated into the tea salon.
Cadierbaren, Grand Hôtel
It being the perfect time of day for afternoon tea, I get the last free table at Cadierbaren, which just happens to be a grand piano, its strings visible through the glass surface. Just one bay away from Svenskt Tenn, this ultra-fancy Grand Hotel bar takes its name from the hotel’s founder, Régis Cadier, and is the kind of place where you drink champagne for breakfast beneath the sparkling chandeliers and crown-moulding ceiling. The dark panel walls incorporating a roman-numeral clock above the entrance and gold-engraved pillars call to mind an exclusive country club from a P.G. Wodehouse novel, the ideal setting for sipping on some creamy tea, pinky-finger in air, while admiring the view of the Royal Palace. They even have their own special blend named Finest Tea Blend of Grand Hôtel, which I dare say is quite something.
Chaikhana
A peaceful and elegant colonial-style tearoom tucked away in the cosy, cobblestoned and razor-thin streets of Gamla Stan, Chaikhana has the feel of an ancient Chinese dynasty herbal shop with its walls of square shelves containing big porcelain jars filled with tea leaves. Marble, dark oak and heavy crimson drapes look inviting in the soft lighting and black and white photographs of tea pickers around the world underline the rich selection. The menu is an amalgam of English and French tea traditions, offering everything from smoked salmon and pâté to fruitcake and cucumber sandwiches.
Lady Hamilton Hotel
Another gem of a tea salon in the very fitting milieu of Gamla Stan. In a house dating from the 15th century, Lady Hamilton Hotel (named after Lord Nelson’s lover, Lady Emma Hamilton) has done a fine job of bringing forth both the nautical spirit of the famous couple and the graceful mood of the traditional English tearoom. At weekends, afternoon tea is served in this Parisian-green room full of clotted cream and lemon curd lovers seated on white chairs with rose-colored cushions. The affair is actually a buffet of cakes, scones, and marmalade of many sorts, and should leave no one unsatisfied.
Esters te och kaffehandel
Esters opened up in 1899 and doesn’t look like it’s changed much since. Sweden’s oldest tea shop certainly looks the part, with its creaky timber floor, rustic furniture, worn and wooden counter, vintage tins, and canvas bags bursting with coffee beans, but there’s plenty of colour here as well as the shop offers a good selection of products.
Those stylish Löv tea tins along with other modern and motely tea packages can be found here, giving the shop a distinct fruity fragrance. There’s also a good selection of Swedish honey and over 100 types of tea, scooped from those classic Chinese tins one sees in most teashops. Esters serves afternoon tea on weekends and is considerably less expensive than most tea salons, but no less delightful.
