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Lumo Edinburgh to London 8:56 AM service<\/p>\n
Day One \u2013 The Hari, London<\/p>\n
After a peaceful four-hour train journey, my first stop was The Hari<\/a> in Belgravia. This chic five-star boutique hotel prides itself on its sustainability and luxurious creature comforts. However, we weren\u2019t coming to stay this time, but to sample their gorgeous Italian-inspired Afternoon Tea (\u00a340 classic\/\u00a355 with champagne).<\/p>\n One of my afternoon tea pet peeves is being served a generic tea bag \u2013 especially if you\u2019re paying over \u00a320. Classic builders tea has a time and place, but when I want the full afternoon tea experience, I want the quality of tea to reflect the the dishes themselves. So, I was very excited to see Jing Tea<\/a> on The Hari\u2019s menu, as I have long been a fan of their quality and selection (try their Lala Shan or Dancong Pheonix Honey Orchid if you get the chance).<\/p>\n The selection of Jing Tea wasn\u2019t large, but it covered a decent rage of teas across the spectrum of tea type. We ordered the Darjeeling 2nd Flush and Flowering Jasmine and Lily tea. They arrived in lovely porcelain pots, but the flowering tea would have better visual impact in a glass pot. It didn\u2019t change the flavour profile however \u2013 glass and porcelain rarely does \u2013 so we sipped the quality leaves with pleasure.<\/p>\n Afternoon tea at the Hari<\/p>\n The Hari\u2019s afternoon tea had an Italian fusion take thanks to Executive Chef Marco Quarta. Savoury dishes included focaccia with 24-month Parma ham, Stracciatella & balsamic, bruschetta with heritage tomato, toasted sourdough, basil & olive oil, Truffle arancini (my favourite), smoked salmon & cream cheese in wholemeal bread, and ciabatta with seared carpaccio, ricotta, aged Parmesan & rocket. My guest is Italian, and she gave them a non-committal \u201cnot bad\u201d which I took to be a good thing.<\/p>\n I made sure to just nibble each of the savouries so to leave room for the sweets, which included a choux with mascarpone cream and espresso glaze, mini doughnut with pistachio cream, lemon torte caprese with lemon gel, a chocolate and orange cannoli and a plain and candied orange scone.<\/p>\n Afternoon tea at The Hari was an atmospheric experience with excellent tea and good food in a stylish yet comfortable environment.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Day 2 \u2013 London Tea Friends Festival<\/p>\n After a semi-comfortable sleep in a warm but central hotel, I headed out with a friend the next day to the London Tea Friends Summer Tea Festival located centrally in Lincoln\u2019s Inn Fields. The London Tea Friends<\/a> began as a friend group gathering over a shared love of tea before growing into a weekly community gathering in London. They meet every Sunday in different planned locations, to share different teas (sometimes with a theme), stories and their love for gongfu style tea.<\/p>\n This was their fourth annual festival and my first time attending, so I didn\u2019t quite know what to expect when I walked across the field to find several picnic blankets laid out in a semi-circle with various set ups of teamaking and accessories. We had arrived a little late, so the blanket-stalls were already full of people in the middle of tea talks and tastings. A newsletter had gone out the week before, asking attendees to bring their own cups but there were small disposable ones on hand for those who forgot.<\/p>\n Our first stop was at Leaf & Buds<\/a> who had a selection of Japanese teas to try, including a floral and sweet Sakura Sencha, and a wonderfully nutty rare Japanese black tea grown in the same way as the revered Gyokuro. Maren shared her experience working on a tea farm in Kyoto while others stopped by to sip and listen.<\/p>\n Lotus Realm<\/a>, a new modern tea house bringing Chinese tea culture to London, was our second stop. We tried three different teas: shou Pu\u2019er, Dancong and Long Jing. Before we were told what the teas were, however, we sampled them and pinned on a map of China where we thought they originated. I won second place, which included a Guozi tea pastry as a prize and will be available from their tea house in October.<\/p>\n Our third and forth stops were both Taiwanese. The first was Deerland Tea<\/a> who specialise in small batch, high quality Taiwanese teas. We tried a few oolongs at different oxidation levels and a cold brewed Jin Xuan which inspired me to cold brew my own for the rest of the summer.\u00a0 The second was Herethe<\/a> who create and\/or curate seasonal boxes in support of underrepresented communities. They brought their Garden of Senses<\/a> in support of neurodiverse voices to the festival and had thirsty tea lovers sip their teas before express how these tasted the tea through colour.<\/p>\n There were many other stops I wished I had time to visit before I got my train back, especially Curious Tea<\/a> who are my go-to tea retailer in the UK, but I left with a happy heart.<\/p>\n What I adored about the London Tea Friends Festival is that despite the many businesses hosting workshops and tea tastings, the focus is not on commerce. Instead, it was a celebration of tea lovers to meet each other, drink, sip and be introduced to different styles of tea from all over the world. It\u2019s a community-focused event, and one that should be celebrated.<\/p>\n I would love to see something similar brought to Scotland in the future.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Read more Reviews\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2827_jpg-1024x768.jpg\")
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