I have just come back from the Langham hotel on Regents street, London, after sampling an ingenious collaboration by their scrummy ‘Palm Court’ tea room and Beefeater 24 Gin: G and Tea. Gone are the days of Champagne with your swanky tea and in fact gone are the days of good old English infusions, Afternoon tea is now served with a new twist a proper G&T and an infusion made from the same aromatics used to infuse Beefeater 24 Gin, (we have orange, lemon, grapefruit, green tea, juniper, coriander seed and aniseed, said in a Greg Wallace voice) and it’s pretty nifty.

It makes perfect sense really. I remember when I was growing up my Mother and one of her greatest friends Dottie used to hit 5 o’clock and have a G&T and a piece of cake. I used to think they were incredibly sophisticated, and nowdays, as a grown up if I am going to have a drink in the afternoon its always a G&T and frankly any excuse to have cake is always a good one but with a G&T it doesnt get much better.

The Tea included all sorts of finger sandwiches, just as they should be, classic. Proper cucumber, ham, egg, roast beef and smoked salmon sandwiches. There were warm scones that were as light as a feather with thick clotted cream and fruity strawberry jam and the most fantastic array of finger cakes. I will definately be going back to have tea at, (wait for it a brilliant fact coming up), the first grand hotel to serve afternoon tea.

As for Beefeater 24. Its Good. Really good in fact. So good that I might switch over from my beloved Plymouth Gin. It is made in my hometown after all. Its the new top end Beefeater Gin and it shows.

Beefeater G&T starts in January at the Palm court in the Langham hotel.

www.beefeater24.com