We held our daughters 14th birthday party on sunday, which fits in with this weeks edtopic of birthdays perfectly !
We took her and her friends to a cafe/pub in Edinburgh called the Cauldron. Its a magic and saucery themed venue where they get you to mix magic potions and cast spells !
I've never seen anything like it before. You have group areas which are quite private and you basically get offered what we call high tea. That as tea/drinks with sandwiches and cakes.
However, for the tea and drinks - you get given individual botanicals, which you have to mix, grind and then brew - this is the potion making ! For my first cup - I tried lavender, jasmine, nettle and rooibos. Imagine a nice cup of tea crossed with massage oil - and thats exactly what it tasted like !
You get served by potion masters who tell you what to do and put all your cakes on these lovely 'magic' stands. You are also given a wand which turns on different lights, etc on the stand which is pretty cool !
The spell book for wizard afternoon tea tells you what to do and has different recipes for different types of tea for you to try.
The sessions last an hour and three quarters - so are fairly long, and as can be seen in the above pic - by the time they take everything out to you, there is a heck of a lot going on ! It really was fun, and the girls certainly enjoyed it ! They had a table to themselves, while my wife and I were at the next table - which was quite nice for them.
It was fairly expensive, but from our perspective it was a special occasion and the girls really loved it - quite an unusual experience, thats for sure. And they provided way more to eat then we could all manage.
It was quite a quirky place and was all done up to look mysterious. I really loved the direction sign for the rest rooms !
And how about these cool hunting trophies - a serpent, a unicorn and a dragon ! Sounds like the average day hunting in Fife !
They also have a fully stocked bar, and I understand you can also do it with alcohol ! That would be fun - but it might also be messy by the end of the night !
And heres the stairway that gets you down into the cauldron from street level - with their magic cauldron on the door !
Well we certainly enjoyed it - it was a very different birthday experience, but our daughter and her friends loved it ! If you are into Harry Potter-style magic and stuff - then you'd probably like this ! It was loads of fun !
