We’ve all found ourselves sat in front of a delicious cream tea hand poised to reach for a small pot of the counties finest jam or the West Country’s best clotted cream, wondering is it jam or cream first?
Every tearoom in the West Country groans with the discussions of ‘The Devon Way’ verses ‘The Cornish Way’ but instead of wondering surreptitiously if it is you or the person sitting opposite that is displaying the improper etiquette, let us help you to get the most out of your stay in Devon.
According to The Cream Tea Society, a cream tea should always be served with a pot of tea and only with clotted cream, so far so good as we can all agree. It’s not clear why there is such a line drawn in the sand between the two counties, but what is clear is we have all fallen victim to public ridicule set across doylies. Make no mistake, when in Devon the only way to eat your scone is to lay the cream first, and top with jam. Since the first recorded cream tea was in Tavistock, Devon, we’re pretty confident that this trumps any argument to the contrary
Now you know the best way to prepare your scone, you need somewhere quintessentially English to enjoy it, and as it happens, we know all the best places along the English riviera…
Lay out your tea things in the timeless English garden of Higher Venice, we think there is nowhere better than this beautiful historic home nestled into the Devon countryside to enjoy warm scones and fresh cream at your leisure.
Though to really up your game you can take the plunge at Stargazy, with room for up to eight of your favourite people to take it easy and enjoy the sea air from the balcony or pop along to the Bigbury Tea Garden for a cream tea with a splendid view of the infamous Burgh Island.
Or perhaps if you’d like to show off your newfound knowledge of scone etiquette you’d enjoy visiting Anne of Cleve’s Tearoom near our charming apartment, Hawkes Way in Totnes, a few minutes’ walk through the picturesque historic lanes of this market town.
However you eat your scones you should always make an effort to do this delightful pastime justice by giving it the backdrop it deserves, the wonderful Devon countryside. To explore how we can make your authentic Devon experience even more memorable, get in touch today.
Make us all jealous by sharing the backdrop to your Devon cream tea with #CreamFirst or tag us in on Facebook @YourDevonEscape or on Instagram @you_devon_escape
Written by Helen Tompson