During our trip to England last year, we visited Bath and of course, I had to visit the Jane Austen Centre! They had a tea room and a Jane Austen blend tea which made me very happy (as you can imagine).

First, the tea:

I also bought a book called Dining with Mr. Darcy

This tea is a blend of Chinese teas “with a delicate taste”. I read that the use of China teas is accurate to Jane Austen’s time because Indian tea was not readily available. This description on the packet is extremely accurate because the tea is a light, almost woody tasting tea. I thought it was a bit too plain at first but the more I drink this, the more I enjoy it. This tea goes very well with sweet foods, especially biscuits (I tried caramel digestive biscuits with these and they went together very well).

Brewing instructions are to “bring freshly drawn water to boil and pour over the tea leaves straightaway.” The brewing time is between 3-5 minutes and I would recommend you go with the 5 minute brewing time because this tea is very light tasting.

The packet also says not to drink this without milk and I completely agree with that statement. I made this tea for my dad, who wanted something plain. He promptly added milk and sugar and the resulting drink tasted (and looked) like sweet milk.

And now, the Jane Austen Centre and  Tea Room:

This is the entrance to the Jane Austen Centre! Apparently, the doorman is one of the most photographed people in England. All the staff are also in Regency-era clothes and are cosplaying different Austen characters!

You can buy tickets on the first floor. After buying tickets, I proceeded to the second floor, where I had a talk to start the tour. The talk was a general introduction to Jane Austen’s life and was quite informative (although if you’ve read a few Austen biographies not much information will be new to you).

After the talk, we headed to the exhibition area, which was actually pretty small but packed with information. The exhibition focused on Jane’s life in Bath and we got to learn about income in Jane Austen’s time, the Bath Oliver biscuit, the clothes they wore, etc. It was actually very interactive and I had a good time.

On the third floor is the Regency Tea Room!

All the menus had references to Austen characters, which I absolutely loved and appreciated.

Menu 1/2

Menu 2/2 – sorry for the blurriness! I didn’t realise it was like this until after I left

My mom and I shared the Tea with Mr. Darcy (£18/1 person, £34 for 2 people):

The portions turned out to be really huge – we couldn’t finish! I really enjoyed all the food here and the scones were fantastic!

Of course, I had my tea with the Jane Austen blend and it went very well with it!

If you’re a fan of Jane Austen (and tea), you have to make your way to the Jane Austen Centre and have tea here when you’re in Bath.

About the Jane Austen Centre
Website
Address: 40 Gay Street, Queen Square, Bath, England BA1 2NT (Bath is a city built for walking so it’s best to use Google Maps if you’re unfamiliar with the area. That’s what I did and I had no problems finding the Centre)
Opening Hours: Find the opening hours at this page