Espresso rubbed beef brisket baps, lemon curd tarts with syringes, and cold soup?! Well, this is certainly not your basic bitch afternoon tea …

The Early Bird Bakery has whipped up an afternoon tea for us to all enjoy in the comfort of our homes. If you’re not familiar with The Early Bird they are a coffee shop and bakery that serve up creative and delicious bakes plus sensational brunch options in Kings Heath, They are pretty much bakery Gods! I live in Sutton Coldfield so when my sister invited me to hers to enjoy an Early Bird Bakery Afternoon tea my first thought was “Why is she being nice to me?” and then “Who cares? ITS FREE!!!!! YES I’M IN!”

Delivered on time and all boxed up, the afternoon tea comes with a little information booklet listing everything that you get in your afternoon tea, and how to serve, very useful and very considerate.

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The Sweets you simply serve, the tea you simply pop into a teapot and the savory, well, this is where it gets a bit faffy (Yes, I just made that word up) I don’t know if this is just me but with an afternoon tea, I had it in my head to just take out of the box and pop on a tea stand to serve but not quite as simple as that. The espresso brisket and belinni you have to construct it together yourself. The kitchen was crammed with all sized cardboard boxes and pots full of ingredients so It was a bit of a faff especially when we weren’t expecting but hey ho, you get on with it. I must say everything was so fresh, the quality is outstanding and when you put it all togeather it looks great, just full of colour!

The Early Bird Bakery Afternoon Tea Includes:

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Savory
Spicy Tomato Gazpacho
Fennel and apple sausage roll
DIY espresso rubbed slow-cooked beef brisket, BBQ Sauce, slaw and brioche bun
Cured salmon blini, pickles, creme fraiche, and watercress
Curried cauliflower, chickpea, lentil, lime yogurt, pomegranate, raisin, and coriander salad

Cream Tea
buttermilk scone x2
Currant bun x2
Strawberry, raspberry and orange jam
Passion fruit and lime curd
Clotted cream
Morgans tea

Sweet
Raspberry, white chocolate and rose macaron
Lemon and early grey drizzle cake
chocolate and coffee ganache cake
Gin and tonic choux bun

So when you look at the amount and the sort of ingredients that have been used you would think okay, this is going to be one pricey afternoon tea but much to my surprise this has been one of the cheapest afternoons teas I have ever had, priced at just £17 per person. A small price for such an over-generous spread however comes with a few tiny issues…

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The spicy tomato gazpacho tasted nice but I wouldn’t serve up as a starter before an afternoon tea. I felt it didn’t really tye in well with the rest of the spread and there is a lot going on already in the afternoon tea so I just found it to be a bit unnecessary really. The curried cauliflower salad was very refreshing however again, it didn’t tie in well with the afternoon tea. You got sandwiches, cakes, basically finger food so to throw in a salad, I didn’t quite get it however it did taste good, personally, I would have preferred a sandwich/savoury pastry instead. The lemon and drizzle cake looked lovely but biting into it I think the guys at The Early Bird Bakery when a little bit too heavy on the tea! it was quite cold, had a strong overwhelming aroma of earl grey and was soggy. A little bit of criticism but it certainly didn’t ruin the rest of the afternoon tea which was fantastic.

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The espresso brisket was just pure sexiness, yes I am going to add sexiness into this review, okay! The bun was soft, the brisket was packed full of flavour and was an unusual yet satisfying touch to the afternoon tea. The sausage roll?? not your basic bitch roll we are talking about here Bab! Fennel and apple tasted gorgeous together wrapped up in flakey pastry, small yet filling and you won’t find that in your local Greggs. The blini was light yet gave a naughty little kick of flavour with the pickles, salmon and creme fraiche.

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The cakes are absolutely sensational. Top-quality, the variety was all there and it wasn’t dull! it was actually enjoyable to eat, it was lovely to look at and absolutely devour! My favourite sweet would be the chocolate and coffee ganache cake. Chocolate and coffee, two powerful forces, you team those up you have yourself FOODGASMS all over the world so yeah, it tasted pretty incredible!
The currant buns had a beautiful glaze that tasted wonderful warmed up with a spread of butter. The buttermilk scones tasted gorgeous especially with the orange jam, just wow! Quite different to your basic scone you would find for 35p in your local Asda but you should know that The Early Bird Bakery don’t do basic here.

Okay, so there were a few little hiccups but did it ruin my whole experience? absolutely not. There were more positives than negatives and when you think about what you get for £17, its a fantastic afternoon tea. The amount, the variety, and the quality are all there, quite surprising really for a very reasonable price tag! It was exciting to eat and it was appealing to see, and it was enjoyable to experience with the whole family in my sisters home. Maybe go down the less faff route and add in some more buns for me eh? but Fair play to the bakery for daring to be different and not going down the easy route (meaning finger sandwiches, they always look so sad…) It dares to be different, and I believe its a worthy afternoon tea for all to enjoy, not perfect but will get there I’m sure.

Thank you Early Bird Bakery

Early Bird is currently running a delivery service of their cakes and coffee to your doors, you can check out their website and order here. They are also now open for takeaway on Friday 11-2, and Saturday & Sunday from 10-2.

AMY ELIZA