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My plus-one and I were recently invited to this year’s leg of the Jacaranda Afternoon Tea at the Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff. The self-explanatory affair is inspired by the colourful, sweet-smelling lavender-coloured flowers that emblazon Johannesburg and Pretoria in late spring.
The hotel has kept this annual tradition for over a decade, which paints a joyous picture of how guests, both domestic and international, have appreciated its beauty. As it turns out, tea is a very colourful girlie who loves to play around with various flavours, aromas and colours.
Four Seasons tea infusions
Before you question why my plus-one, Yamke Manjeya, and I kicked off the afternoon by scrutinising lovers of this hot beverage, the tea we drank was no random brand from your nearest supermarket—this was private school stuff that moonlights as royalty.
The Four Seasons Exclusive Black Tea is infused with bergamot and citrus aspects. Our host, Ayanda Phetha, schooled us on how, while the tea isn’t immediately pungent, once it’s been brewed, the flavours come alive and elevate the aroma.
We undermined the Satureja butterfly green tea at first, but its fruity and floral components boasting cherry blossom, jacaranda and lavender flavours definitely gave it a kind of je ne sais quoi that you don’t get from traditional green tea.
The blue dragon phoenix pearls oolong tea has similar floral elements, with jasmine pods that give the tea its fresh blue colour and minty, ethereal effect. The pods look like nuts, giving this tea a texture that sets it apart from the rest of its cousins.
The Jacaranda Afternoon Tea is running until 30 November, and these and other flavours can be purchased at Nigiro Tea House in Parkhurst.
Egg and mayonnaise sandwiches and salmon that wouldn’t be bullied
- What: Jacaranda Afternoon Tea
- Where: Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff
- When: 12pm and 3pm until 30 November
- Cost: From R650 per person, R400 for kids at Private Edition
When it was finally time to start sipping, my plus-one chose the hotel’s best-selling marula strawberry honeybush rooibos tea, whose fruits are infused with vanilla bean pods.
“This lady is finishing my tea,” my plus-one lamented, because as soon as I smelt her tea, I knew I was going to abandon mine. No, I can’t even recall my own tea of choice, so clearly it was nothing to write home about.
I don’t even understand why she wanted to hog the tea; it’s not like it had gin in it or anything.
Look, I’ve enjoyed a good egg and mayonnaise sandwich in the past, but the one that was part of the tea pairing was so good that I didn’t even want to ask for the recipe because I just know I’d botch it.
A Facebook post I recently saw said: “In life, be like a beetroot. Even if there are 10 colours on the plate, beetroot will turn everything red.” I thought of this as I munched on my beetroot-cured salmon which had not turned red, and I realised that sometimes you just need to be a salmon and refuse to be bullied by the beetroots of the world.
Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like baked concoctions (no, they are not goodies), but I hope my daughter never reads this article because she’d never let me live down my admission to enjoying the scone. It won’t matter to her that I didn’t even finish it; the operative word would be enjoyed.
Verdict on the overall experience
Returning to the Four Seasons with Yamke was a sort of full-circle experience because the last time the hotel invited me as a guest, she had been my plus-one and we both left with a renewed sense of feeling welcome, because our previous experience had left absolutely nothing to be desired. It was refreshing to be hosted by people who treated us with absolute respect, kindness and courtesy.
I don’t know about my plus-one, but I’ve religiously avoided high teas all my life (there are hundreds of these all year round in Johannesburg) because I find them rather pretentious and elitist.
No, I don’t hate the proverbial soft life; I’m just a simple girlie, is all.
While I can’t deny or confirm if this sentiment has changed, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the experience and I’d probably do it again.
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