The Fortnum and Mason hamper I ordered a few weeks back arrived this week. If I ever make it back to London again, I would love to visit their Piccadilly store in person. In today’s post, I thought I’d share what I ordered. I also have a sneaky plan for the hamper, looking forward to sharing that very soon.
When I placed my order, I chose their “Large” size hamper. I knew it would be a great storage piece for use later. These are the measurements in inches for the large F & M large hamper: 16.14 inches high, 23.22 inches wide/long, and 16.14 inches in depth.
This first photo was taken late at night on the day the hamper arrived. I was like a kid at Christmastime opening up this hamper! The goodies were all throughout the hamper, snuggled down in the tons of pretty, straw-like packing inside. It was like a treasure hunt digging through and finding them all!
Here’s a brighter photo taken today, only I forgot to include the musical tin when I grouped everything together. (Sharing that further down in this post.) Fortnum & Mason has a huge selection of hampers that are already filled or come with select items they’ve already chosen. Those are more cost-efficient to purchase since they are less expensive than individually choosing specific items and creating your own bespoke Hamper. Unfortunately, none of the ready-made large-size hampers contained quite the combo of items I wanted, so I ended up spending a bit more to fill my hamper with the treasures I wanted to try.
One of the items I chose is their Christmas Piccadilly Bag for Life. It was just so darn cute, I couldn’t resist. Apparently, if you live locally and shop in F & M, if your shopping bag ever wears out or gets damaged, they will give you a new one for free. (Bag is available here along with their other beautiful bags: F & M Christmas Piccadilly Bag for Life.)
The bag feels like a heavily coated canvas and the colors are gorgeous–rich and intense!
Here’s what it says on the other side.
Not all the items on their website are available for shipment to the United States. For example, some of the truffles I tried to order ended up having to be removed from my hamper at checkout, maybe because they contained alcohol…not sure. Out of the things I purchased, my favorite so far is the Highgrove Organic Shortbread Selection.
The Highgrove shortbread/cookies are really dense and hearty. It makes me think I’m eating a cookie that is pretty authentic to how they would have been made and tasted back in the 18th or 19th century. I love the flavors, too! (Highgrove Shortbread Biscuits and Tin are available here: Highgrove Organic Shortbread Tin.)
The Sea Salted Caramel Truffles are also very good. I haven’t tried the Old English Hunt Marmalade yet but I know I’m going to love it since I like marmalade.
Here’s a better photo of the marmalade from the F & M website. (It’s available here: F & M Marmalade.)
Oh, and the Clotted Cream Digestive Biscuits are wonderful! I would definitely include them if I were to order another hamper. They are available here: Clotted Cream Digestive Biscuits.
This is the adorable musical tin I chose to include in my bespoke hamper. It’s designed in the image of the Fortnum & Mason Piccadilly Store and inside are 3 different types of biscuits–or cookies as we would call them. There are “zesty and moreish lemon curd biscuits, warming and energizing stem ginger biscuits, and chocolate pearl biscuits.” The tin plays Handle’s Water Music. It’s completely charming! (This musical tin filled with delicious biscuits is available here: Musical Piccadilly Tin.)
One thing I noticed is everything came individually sealed so all of these items could potentially be given as gifts on their own. I’m probably going to do that with the beautiful tin of tea that I added to my hamper. I was initially thinking of displaying it somewhere because it’s so pretty, but I’ll probably end up giving it as a gift.
I wish I liked hot tea, my sister really did and always tried to get me interested in it, but I just don’t like hot drinks at all–well, except for the occasional hot chocolate in the dead of winter. I will say, when I was enjoying one of the biscuits, I was thinking how perfect a cup of hot tea would be with them to offset the sweetness. It would be a great pick-me-up in the afternoon when the energy starts to lag–a bit of caffeine and sugar to jolt the system awake again. Ha! Maybe I can try to make iced tea with these tea bags. I think I’ll try that. By the way, this tea comes in teabag form and in loose leaf. I thought I chose loose-leaf but apparently, I purchased the teabag variety. You’ll find it here: Fortnum & Mason Afternoon Tea.
Looking forward to sharing my plans for this beautiful hamper!
Their London store is beautiful. I’ll be there in
October from So California, will be sure and visit again.
Oh, I’m jealous Diane! Wish I was going! Have fun, that should be a great time to visit.
that looks like many happy tea parties in a charming basket!!
Thanks, Laura! You’re so right, only not sure how long all these biscuits are going to last. Ha!
Oh, Susan that basket is delightful! I think I will make some shortbread cookies and tea and dream about a trip to London. Can’t wait to see how you use that basket. Thanks for all the great ideas.
That sounds like a wonderful idea. The shortbread biscuits are sooo good! Everything tastes homemade, you can just taste the quality of the ingredients.
I was “forced” to order a hamper once I read your post! Perfect birthday present for me!
lol That’s what happened after I gifted one of the Birthday Hampers to a friend for her birthday. After seeing her hamper I was “forced” to order one for myself. 🙂
A year or two ago I started watching an old show that first came on tv back in 1978 called, All Creatures Great and Small. It’s the story of a newly graduated Scottish veterinarian who is trying to find a placement at a time when jobs for vets are hard to find. He applies for a position with an older vet in a country practice in Yorkshire and gets the job. The stories are set in the 30s, as things are ramping up in Germany and continue through the war and after. There were several seasons of the show and it ended in 1990. I remember the program being shown on PBS all those years ago, though I never watched it at the time.
One of the practice’s patients was a dog named Tricki Woo. Tricki belonged to a wealthy widow who spoiled him incessantly and often fed him things that made him go ‘flop-bot.’ 😀 Every Christmas, Tricki would send a Fortnum’s basket full of goodies to the Vets. The baskets portrayed on the shows were huge, much larger even than yours, Susan. And the bachelor vets pounced on those baskets like a starving man on filet mignon, lol. It was a very cute and recurring theme. Sometimes one of the vets would get a basket just for attending to Tricki, even if it wasn’t Christmastime.
That was the first I learned about these marvelous baskets. I have never ordered or received one, but seeing your good reviews, Susan, I may just have to order one, myself. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to seeing what you do with the basket itself. Cheers.
That is too funny! Yeah, I think they make at least two sizes bigger than mine. I’ve seen one that was large enough to use as a coffee table. They are pretty pricey when you get into that size because F & M doesn’t just sell the hampers alone, they only sell them when they are filled and they require a certain number of items for each hamper. For example, I think I had to choose either 8 or 9 items minimally to get my large hamper. It shows on their site the approximate number of items each hamper holds. I don’t think this will be my last one, it was so much fun opening it up. They do make wonderful gifts. I would love to see one of the scenes where the vet is opening up the hamper! Ha! Check out this video for the story behind the hamper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUayv1LGGd4&ab_channel=Fortnum%26Mason
I looked for a clip from the show for you but didn’t find any. 🙁
1707! Decades before our revolution! Wow, I didn’t know it went back that far. Amazing.
I watched that show back then too! I had just started a vet tech program, so my study group would watch it and try to make a diagnosis before it was revealed. Fond memories.
Yes, it’s a sweet show. And even though people lived more simply, they seemed to have a level of elegance to day to day life that no longer exists. I’ve really enjoyed watching it. Thanks for chiming in, Mia.
Can’t wait to see what you do with the hamper. I am going to order one myself you always have great ideas.
What a wonderful hamper! And yes, you can certainly make iced tea with those teabags. (Although I love hot tea and I’d enjoy them that way). That shopping bag is pretty fabulous, too. Thanks for sharing photos of all your goodies.
The tea looks divine . I always feel sad when I get to the last teabag when I have a tin of good tea.
Susan & Pam
Here it is! The scene of the opening of the hamper is at 45:40. This episode is from the original series of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’. Tricki Woo and his owner also appear earlier in the episode. Sadly the picture quality isn’t great.
The remakes of ACG&S lack the original ‘charm’ as I remember seeing the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owXsKiDqQYk&list=PLfGibfZATlGoG7qvpnBQcu2ls34hILR8D&index=1
Di, I’m only now just seeing this post. I’m sorry I missed it at the time! Thank you kindly for posting this episode. Susan, if you happen to see this, you can skip to the 45:35 mark to see the basket arrive. Helen was present, so the men seemed to show a bit more decorum than they did before she came into their lives, lol. Thanks again, Di. I hope you’re enjoying Spring in 2024. 🙂
Oh, I do remember watching the video to see the basket. I’ve been so tempted to order the picnic style one they have right now at Williams-Sonoma and save on the shipping.
Susan
I tried to post the link to the hamper scene but I’m not sure the mods would allow it.
Apologies if I’m repeating myself.
The YouTube title to the episode is ‘Merry Gentlemen (All Creatures Great and Small – S02E14)’ The scene is at 45:50. Tricki Woo and his owner also appear earlier in the episode.
The picture quality isn’t good but it’s from the original series. Later remakes of ACG&S small lack the ‘charm’ of the original.