AFTERNOON TEA EXPERT & FOOD HISTORIAN (AFTERNOON TEA)

Belinda Davenport, is our resident Afternoon Tea Expert who you can meet in a variety of different ways…..

Belinda Davenport earns the title Afternoon Tea Expert from almost 20 years of research, experience and by UK Tea Academy qualification at master’s level and can tell you as little or as much as you would like to know about what makes an afternoon tea great, or how Afternoon Tea has developed over the years.

Working to the UK Tea Council Tea Guild’s 17 standards for excellence for afternoon tea delivery, Davenports Tea Room achieved the last Top Tea Place in the UK from reputable, experienced judges such as Malcolm Ferris Lay, tea consultant to Buckingham Palace, who anonymously visited the tea room to assess the delivery.

After winning this coveted award in 2016, judge James Pogson, a previous chair of the UK Tea Council, described Belinda as an Ambassador for Tea, something she still takes to heart.

Analysing what makes the best afternoon tea over 14 years, resulted in Belinda contributing to The Hand Book of Tea Tourism, Routledge (2022), the only UK author from 60 Worldwide Tea Professionals contributing to the book.  Her published academic research paper ‘Service Quality in an English Tea Room: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words’, she studied 250 of Davenports Tea Room’s online reviews using Hansen’s Measurement of Meal Eating Experiences, a combination of DINESERV & SERVQUAL, to confirm a 14 year observational study.

Add to this, her love of researching Afternoon History, Belinda has qualified with the UK Tea Academy’s Afternoon Tea Masters level with course director Jane Pettigrew, a well known Tea Historian and author and also William Hansen’s The English Manner Afternoon Tea course.  Why…just to plug any gaps!

Her reading list is extensive and is currently reading The Empire of Tea & also Queen Victoria’s diary 1839 through so far 1854 to establish the Duchess of Bedford’s influence on her for afternoon tea and her tea drinking habits, so Belinda can easily be considered a Food & Drink Historian, specialising in Afternoon Tea

So, please join us for afternoon tea and Belinda will tailor your drinks selection based on what flavours you would like to compliment your afternoon tea, however if you would like to know more about tea, you can join us for a Tea Tasters Afternoon Tea, which gives you a greater variety of teas, with the selection tailor made for your party and Belinda will explain different teas, brewing techniques and a short history.

If you want to learn more about the history & social etiquette of afternoon tea, you can book the Ultimate Afternoon Tea Experience.  This is your opportunity to learn about the history of afternoon tea and understand about different teas, brewing techniques, but more emphasis on the history & social etiquette of tea through informal easy discussion tailor-made to what your party is interested in.  Enter into the fascinating world of teas, which many don’t even know it exists….as tea is certainly not just tea!

“My main interest is finding teas that suit individual’s palate, pairing them with the afternoon tea and brewing them according to personal taste.  I get great pleasure introducing teas to individuals, even those that don’t drink tea”.  So much so, she has featured in Country Living magazine (Coronation edition 2023), Cheshire Life feature (June 2023).  “In the past when customers have suggested that something is Traditional, I have extensively researched to find out if it is or how it has been altered over time, and also to enable me to deliver the Ultimate Afternoon Tea Experience.

Belinda is available for talks, press appearances and would be happy to be involved with TV programs having already featured on BBC Breakfast News, BBC One Show, BBC Put your Money Where Your Mouth is and C5 Digging Up Britain’s Past.

Belinda Davenport is the UK Representative on the European Speciality Tea Tourism forum and a member of the International Tea Tourism Working Group.
She holds an MA in Tourism Management (Bournemouth) & is a qualified & experienced travel & tourism lecturer.

Besides, her personal experience running the tea room, Belinda represented the UK, personally hand-making 14,000 & 18,000 scones respectively for the famous Hankyu British Fair 2013 & 2014.

In 2023, Belinda was lead presenter on English Afternoon Tea at the Stockholm Gastronomy Conference.