[AD – Gifted] This was a complimentary Afternoon Tea in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own
If you love Gin and Afternoon Tea – you are in for a treat! Get yourself ready for an Afternoon G&Tea – nope, I can’t take credit for that clever play on words: thanks, Gin & Temple.
G&T’s Northampton has only been open for 6 months, however, it has quickly gained a great reputation in the town centre for being one of the only gin focused bars. It offers a unique setting, full of quirky decor features and they know how to make a good gin cocktail!
But not only are they one of Northampton’s rising stars in gin bars, they have also found an incredibly niche gap in the market by providing a tipsy Afternoon Tea service that Northampton is going to love!
Known as their “Afternoon G&Tea” – G&T’s have created their own Afternoon Tea service which includes a selection of finger sandwiches, scones, homemade cakes, pastries and sweets. But the element that makes this Afternoon Tea setup so special is that it comes with a gin and tonic of your choice, which comes in a vintage tea set!
I now no longer want to drink my gin and tonic the normal way – from this day forward, all G&T must come in a vintage tea pot, because I think this is incredibly cool!
As we arrived, we were greeted by the lovely bar staff who run G&T’s – getting there wasn’t a problem, as they are located right in the heart of St Giles Street and there’s plenty of car parking around. We were asked straight away on both of our preferences of gin were, so he could find us a happy medium on what Gin and Tonic tea pot we would be sharing together.
After a brief discussion on our Gin preferences, he came up with … gin which would suit both our taste buds – it was great that we were given a personalised tea pot of gin and tonic, which made us feel like our voices had been heard.
We were taken upstairs to their super swanky space, which I could see working really well for special occasions such as hen do’s, parties, gatherings, or even just a nice quiet space to work with a laptop over a cheeky cocktail – a very versatile space with gorgeous windows and a view of St Giles Street.
We were sat in the ideal location for an Afternoon Tea setting for two – on their magnificently colourful couch that screamed colour and vintage with it’s different cross stitch patterns and the hilarious addition of the Rick and Morty cushions – fans will love it!
Other quirky aspects of the room included the gin bottles used as decorations or candle holders, wooden chairs and tables, decoupaged chairs of classic comic book covers and one with stags on, plus a fire place covered in twinkly lights.
Our eyes were drawn EVERYWHERE.
Now for the moment, we had been waiting for… the food and gin! Everything looked spectacular as it came out and offered a variety from your traditional Afternoon Tea.
The cakes, scones and a selection of homemade tartlets, chicken skewers and even mini pots of chilli sauce were presented on a traditional, vintage glass afternoon tea display and we were stunned with just how much was on there.
Then, a big wooden tray of sandwiches from brown to white bread, homemade wraps and even crisps came in a big sharing tray – it was definitely enough to feed us both, if not more!
And finally, the piece a la resistance was the Gin and Tonic that came in a gorgeous vintage teapot, with cups and saucers, which just made drinking gin a whole lot cooler and sophisticated.
The staff were happy to talk us through each of the items on display and informed us that it was kindly supplied by the Sandwich Bar based on Bridge Street, which is great to see two local independent businesses working together and not against each other.
We first started with the sandwiches and honestly, we both didn’t know where to start – there was a selection of fillings from Egg and Cress, which I’m not usually a fan of, but with the addition of the cucumber, made this a very delectable flavour and was full of filling. We also had Cheese, Pickle, Ham and salad which you really can’t go wrong with and on brown bread, just made this sandwich so wholesome.
One sandwich we were both surprised at was Turkey with Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce – a very Christmasy option and not the one we were expecting, but we had no complaints!
On the other side, a selection of wraps – it was nice that we had the choice between a sandwich and a wrap, as usually, you’re stuck with sandwiches.
I wasn’t a fan of the Ham and Lettuce one as I found this a little dry, however, I particularly enjoyed the cheese and ham wrap, as it was really cheesy, with plenty of moisture to make this edible.
The crisps were a nice touch too for when we felt too full, but still wanted something to nibble on.
We had a lot of fun pouring our gin from our teapot into our cups, especially that we were given a bowl of garnishes to specifically suit the flavoured gin we had – the grapefruit and limes were a lovely, refreshing touch and made our G&T’s look more colourful.
We swiftly moved onto the other tier of savoury and sweet selections, starting from the top with the tartlets and chicken skewers. We both commented on how it’s rare to have chicken skewers included in an Afternoon Tea, but we were all here for it as we are both big chicken lovers!
We also enjoyed the two choices of tartlet, one of which was more of a chutney with a small piece of brie on top which was a really sweet, but full of creamy texture from the brie.
My friend was particularly a fan of the savoury items, seeing as she prefers savoury over sweet.
The second tier we moved onto was where all the sweet stuff was; including the homemade cakes and scones, which lets face it, if you have a sweet tooth like me, you know you’ll love this…
Already, my eyes were set on the big cupcakes, which had plenty of icing and decoration on and just looked incredibly moist from sight. There was two to choose from; a zesty lemon one with a sugary orange and lemon sweet slice on top and a warm looking coffee cupcake with chocolate decorations on top.
Both cakes upon biting in were so deep with icing flavour, but the inside lacked filling which made the inside of the cake fluffy, but with no moisture. However, with the amount of icing it had on top, it made up for this.
A highlight for me was the messy, but oh so tasty, caramel slice, which was THICK with caramel sauce squished inside the biscuit and chocolate layers which crumbled as soon as you bit into it, but was so lush to the taste.
We also had a selection of cakes, including a homemade Victoria Sponge with a sprinkle of coconut on top, plus a plain Victoria Sponge, both of which are classics and certainly cooked to be the perfect combination of sweet, flaky, crumbly and ofcourse, delicious!
Finally, the scones are always the part which I believe make an Afternoon Tea. Upon appearance, they were very good looking and we could clearly see that they were homemade sultana scones. Yum!
The scones already came with strawberry jam and what looked as though was margarine inside. Personally, a great scone is always one that has clotted cream and upon tasting, I was slightly disappointed because it lacked that creamy texture from the traditional clotted cream. However, I can’t deny it was still beautifully presented, it tasted nice and the strawberry jam was lovely and sweet – just next time, I hope to see clotted cream as opposed to margarine!
As best as we tried, we couldn’t finish it all! We did have the option, however, to take some cakes home, which I took home to give to Josh (he always likes it if I bring treats home for him if he can’t go along!) and we spent the rest of the evening enjoying a nice Gin cocktail downstairs in their bar area – which was a nice way to end the experience.
Overall, G&T’s have captured a new audience and a new way to enjoy Afternoon Tea – I am really looking forward to seeing this become a regular thing in Northampton as we are lacking in unique and wonderful ways to enjoy Afternoon Tea on St Giles Street.
I’ll certainly be back again, whether for the Afternoon Tea or for a cheeky G&T!
Afternoon Tea at Gin & Temple is served on Saturdays and Sundays only from 12pm – 4pmAnd costs £19.95 per person. Must be booked a minimum of 48 hours in advance.
Will you be combining your G&T with an Afternoon Tea?
Rating: ★★★★
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