As this tea was served in my apartment ease of access to the venue was extra easy- no need for public transit or finding parking! I could make exactly the type of food I prefer when making savories and sweets including my favorite Queens Cakes.
Ease of access (location, hours, ease of making reservation, dietary menu options): 10/10
The décor of the apartment is not as cute as some of the places I've been, though I've been slowly decorating more and have a cute zoom-area set up it's only ok and very Ikea-and-nerd-chic. Staff (me) seemed very stressed making sure everything got done at the pre-arranged time. The tea items in the place setting are cute individually but are mismatched in an odd way rather than a cute way.
Atmosphere (décor, place settings, staff): 5/10
Atmosphere (décor, place settings, staff): 5/10
This is a little tricky since I used several items I had already (scone mix, brownie mix, flour and baking sundries from past projects, etc.). I would estimate that I spent ~$35-$40 (divided out) on this tea set up. When you factor in baking and assembling time it's definitely fun every once in a while but I do prefer going to the professionals overall!
Price (value for money and time): 6/10
Price (value for money and time): 6/10
Tea selection was overwhelming (so many tea samples...) but also easy to pare down to my few favorites and the tea I picked was a cherry blossom seasonal from Lupicia, very delicious!
Tea: 8.5/10
Tea: 8.5/10
The scones ended up being a little flat so I couldn't really cut them but they weren't dry and had a good flavor.
Scones (and/or crumpets): 7/10
Scones (and/or crumpets): 7/10
Savories included a sun-dried tomato and mozzarella toast, a turkey cheddar and apple sandwich, and a curry chicken salad sandwich. All flavors I really like and ended up being delicious! The sandwiches were a little hard to eat though as they kept losing fillings D:
Savories: 8.5/10
Savories: 8.5/10
Sweets included Queens Cakes, brownies and caramel popcorn. The queens cakes and brownies were really good, the popcorn was leftovers though so it was a little melty/sticky. I feel like I needed a fruit or fruit based dessert, something a bit lighter to round out the dessert course.
Sweets: 6.5/10
Sweets: 6.5/10
Total average rating: 7.3/10
Overall DIY holds up in terms of location and flavors however there's some downsides. I made way too much food both for day of for one person and I have an enormous amount of leftovers (delicious leftovers but still...so many!) Even cutting corners by using mixes and stuff I already had making sure to plan the menu and execute it starting days beforehand is really a lot of work! I'll probably keep doing DIY for any future virtual tea but unless there's a reason I'll leave making all the fiddly tea treats to the professionals!
And of course my outfit! I wore my Pup in Cup JSK for the café theme, I thought the tea cups and parfaits worked well!
Blouse: BtSSB
Cardigan, socks: Angelic Pretty
Beret: The Black Ribbon
Shoes: Sheep Puff
Necklace: BB&B
Rings: BtSSB and Majo no Recipe
Recipes used:
I discovered your blog through Instagram, and I know this is a random comment, but I love your blog!!! It's such an enjoyable read!!! Your outfits are so cute! (also a Bay Area Lolita-adjacent otome kei/ casual here, so it's nice to see more of us out there!!!!!)
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