Perfectly Posh A Boutique Tearoom

Afternoon tea, done formally

Afternoon tea is the whole proposition at Perfectly Posh, a boutique tearoom in Columbus trading under the Posh Teatime Co. name in Franklinton, the city’s arts district. This is not a counter-service café that happens to keep tea bags. The room is built for seated tea service, with high tea, afternoon tea to go, a tea boutique for taking leaves home, and a run of mobile tea parties, pop-up high teas and etiquette sessions alongside it. The house calls what it does a touch of timeless luxury, which sets the register: cups, tiers and small bites rather than a brunch menu.

The tea list and the tiers

The drinks stay close to tea and are stronger for it. The range covers fine teas, loose leaf, sachets, black, green and herbal, poured by the cup in the room and sold by the packet from the boutique. Food follows the same structure, with tea packages named the High Tea Soirée and the Le Petit, Le Classique and Le Grand afternoon teas built for carrying away. The kitchen looks for ways to lift classic tea-room bites with something unexpected, a candied jalapeño turning up where nobody planned for one.

Order the afternoon tea first

Order the afternoon tea, because it is the clearest expression of what the tearoom does and everything else is arranged around it. After that, the loose-leaf and packaged teas are the thing to take home, and they are the easiest way to work out whether the black, green or herbal side suits you. The event arm is worth knowing about for a group, since the mobile tea parties, pop-up high teas and the Queen Charlotte Vintage Teatime Trailer all travel to you. For a first visit, keep it simple: afternoon tea in the room, then a packet of leaves on the way out.