Seth D.
Yelp
We went for the high tea held at the Chateau Frontenac during the afternoon. As always, make sure you have a reservation a head of time.
The atmosphere and seating is quite nice, and you can inside but with a view of the boardwalk near the river. The seating is on the lower level unfortunately, so no sky views.
The French (and Canadians/Quebecois) are not known for their tea culture, and it shows quite strongly in this so called "high tea." The little petitfours are fine and tasty (the sweet ones are the best), but the tea itself is poorly made, and for a meal called "high tea", this should be the most important part.
How is the tea poorly made? The restaurant simply pours hot water (near boiling) on the tea you choose, no matter if it's a green tea, white tea, or black tea. This is a big no-no for anyone who actually enjoys good tea. Green tea must be steeped only around 175 degrees fahrenheit. Any higher risks burning the tea and causing it to oversteep. The staff had no apparatus or way to measure the water temperature! No wonder most people think green tea is too bitter or astringent--it's because it's always made incorrectly.
The second issue is the way the tea is steeped. You are given a pot of your tea infusion and then hot water is just poured into. What's the problem here? After the first infusion, all the next teas made with those same leaves are going to start tasting really bitter and oversteeped. Pretty much after the very first cup, both of our teas were inevitably oversteeped. This led to a too strong, bitter, and astringent flavor that would not go away. The staff wouldn't replace the tea leaves, explaining you're limited to a single tea. They would pour more hot water but this would not fix the flavor since now the leaves were releasing their bitter compounds.
The third issue, the staff demands that you steep your own tea! For a price of around $75 CAD, you are expected to make your own tea. To properly infuse the tea without making it bitter requires timing it with a clock (e.g. on smart phone). The staff just pours the hot water to start the infusion, tells you how long to steep it, and up to your to keep track. I have gotten better infused teas and service at random cafes for less than $5 USD or CAD.
How to improve this experience? The staff should take a course and training on how to actually make tea: green, white, black, etc. All the teas should be premade and presteeped to perfection. Then simply reheat the tea (or leave cold) and serve to the guests. No need for the guests to steep their own tea. For $75 CAD, this should be the default. It doesn't matter how good your tea leaves are, if you steep them wrong it's going to be a bad tea.
So I cannot recommend coming here for anyone who wants an actually good tea. Maybe high tea always tastes bad or the British don't know how to drink tea? At $75 CAD, the staff should be brewing each of your teas FOR YOU, not lazily pouring you hot water and expecting you to know the steeping times. The water temperature depends upon the tea being made as well.
