How to Host a Full Afternoon Tea
“If you are ever passing my way, don’t wait to knock! Tea is at four; but any of you are welcome at any time!” -Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
The art of enjoying an afternoon tea has been around for centuries. A quintessentially English tradition, tea is generally served in between lunch and supper. Here in the United States, where my family currently lives, tea time is not necessarily a daily ritual. However, in my own personal habits, I do usually enjoy a cup of coffee and a little homemade treat like cookies or a piece of cake at around 2:00 to 3:00 pm! This coffee tradition is one that I have held with my family and friends for years, and it does make me curious about the habits of both tea and coffee hours and one became more popular over the other!
I do, however, find it fascinating how the tea time hour held a special place for people of all classes. The time for tea was where women, at the time, of a higher class might socialize with some freedom. For those of the working class, they would have a moment of peace and rest.
how did tea time start? a short history:
The Duchess of Bedford is often credited with creating the afternoon tea hour, though this is contested. She claimed this light meal in the later afternoon was a way to help get through the day when supper was often served so late into the evening. As you will soon learn, there are all sorts of different times to enjoy tea and variations of which treats to serve!
In my curiosity, I did want to look into how coffee became so popular in the United States and tea times became popular in England. I had a feeling this had something to do with American Revolutionary War and the Boston Tea Party, and I was correct! Coffee became a natural substitute to tea as tea was thought of as a “traitor’s drink” - how scandalous! Apparently, if you are an American with a deep love for coffee, then this is deeply rooted in your patriotism. It is believed that the revolution itself was planned over many hot cups of coffee.
If you are ever exploring American historical museums, you might notice that they had coffeehouses or chocolate houses in their little towns. The coffeehouse was an establishment, used mainly by men as women were not allowed inside, to converse casual or intellectual topics and political topics as well over a cup of coffee, chocolate, tea, or even alcohol. These coffeehouses were also established in London, too!
But back to tea… The concept of brewing a delicious pot of tea was discovered by the Chinese long before it ever came to England. In fact, the legend of tea begins as early as 2737 BC when the Chinese emperor Shen Nung servant accidentally boiled some leaves into a pot of drinking water and decided to give it a try. There have been containers filled with tea in tombs dating as early as 206 BC, and it was not until the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD) that tea became China’s national drink.
It was in 1662, as the story goes, that tea became a popular drink in England. Catherine of Braganza, the princess of Portugal, arrived in England to marry Charles II. With her, she brought a chest of tea, and she created an entire culture around the drink at court. This, in turn, inspired the poet and politician Edmund Waller to write the piece “Of Tea, Commended by Her Majesty” in 1663.
As time went on, tea became ever more popular and was often considered more medicinal than anything to simply be enjoyed as a midday treat. This is still held highly in the eyes of herbalist all over the world, and it is even how we first began our blog here many years ago! Because of its medicinal values, this became an important job for the women in the household to manage and brew the tea. In fact, women were the key holders of the household tea box, and had control over it! I find this slightly ironic as men were the only people permitted to enter coffeehouses at the time, where the tea was served publicly. You will find, however, that in paintings during the 17th-19th centuries that the tea box is always situated closely to the highest ranking female.
Seeing as women were not allowed to enjoy tea in public, it is only natural to assume that they found ways to enjoy it at home! This is where the Duchess of Bedford, Anna Russell, comes into the story. She was the first to request little sandwiches and confections to enjoy with her tea. The argument is, however, that this was already established before she became credited with the idea. During the Victorian and Edwardian periods, tea could mean several different types of occasions. There was Low Tea, or a simple cup of tea with a scone or slice of bread in contrast to High Tea which is basically an entire meal!
Read on to learn some tips for hosting your own Full Afternoon Tea!
tip 1: which tea service will you serve?
There are several different types of ways to host tea. For instance, there is Low Tea or Cream Tea. During this version, only scones or sweets are served with a cup of brewed tea. This is similar to what I personally enjoy on the daily! For a Full Afternoon Tea, you may find a selection of finger sandwiches, savories like little quiches or sausage rolls, scones and clotted cream with marmalade, and this is followed by a selection of sweets like petit fours and macarons. Here is a quick breakdown of different tea service styles:
Morning Tea or Elevenses: This is an Australian addition to tea service, otherwise known as “Elevenses” in England. You may recognize this term from The Lord of Rings books, as this is one of the meals enjoyed by hobbits! This is a mid-morning break for refreshments coming after breakfast and before lunch. This is very casual, usually including tea and biscuits, or perhaps a small cake or pastry like a croissant or ginger biscuits. This tea time was quite popular in the 1830s and 40s!
Cream Tea or Devonshire Tea: This tea is much lighter than Afternoon Tea with only tea, scones, jam, and cream. The cream from Devonshire is world renowned “clotted cream” which is a crust yellow cream that has been sat out overnight and then cooked at a low heat. I actually just learned about this while watching an episode of “Edwardian Farm” where my favorite domestic historian, Ruth Goodman, learns to make a traditional clotted cream. It was fascinating!
Strawberry Tea: This is basically the same thing as Cream Tea, but fresh strawberries are also served. I believe this would be popular, historically speaking, when strawberries were in season during late May and early June.
Afternoon Tea or Low Tea: This is the classic tea that most Americans mistake as High Tea, which you can learn more about below. This style of service was so-called Low Tea because it was served on low side tables in a host’s drawing room. The meal is served on a three-tiered tray called a “curate” or afternoon tea service. The trays are meant to signify the order that the meal is eaten, with finger sandwiches on the bottom, scones with spreads like jam or clotted cream on the second level, and small desserts on the top level.
High Tea or Meat Tea: High tea is very similar to Low Tea, except that it is served later in the day and has to include a meat course. Of course, you can guess where the name comes from… it was served on a high table! This would be something like sausage rolls or pickled fish along with vegetables, cheeses, breads, and then a homemade cake or pie. High tea is eaten with a fork, knife, and spoon rather than with your fingers, like an afternoon tea.
Royal Tea or Champagne Tea: A Royal Tea is served in the same style as a Low Tea or High Tea with the addition of a glass of champagne or sherry. This also can include edible flowers, fresh strawberries, or a fourth luxurious course!
tip 2: choose a type of tea
Now that you have decided which type of tea service you will be hosting, you may want to take a look at the different types of teas that are available to drink! There are so many wonderful teas to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to begin. You may serve any type of tea that you prefer, such as green or white or black tea. Black tea, however, is the only tea that should be served with cream and sugar. This is because black tea is quite strong.
Blended teas are perfect for an Afternoon Tea service! English Breakfast Tea is a blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Kenya black teas that gives it a full bodied flavor. This tea actually originated in America rather than England, even though it is named after the latter. Other traditional teas might be Earl Grey, a Ceylon tea infused with bergamot orange, or Irish Breakfast tea, which is made with Assam and is characteristically red in color. Each of these teas tastes beautiful mixed with milk or cream.
Tip 3: keep the kettle hot
One thing that many Americans can be confused by, as tea is not regularly served, is that the tea pot merely holds the hot water and tea. You must first boil the water in a kettle on the stove - not the ceramic or porcelain teapot! There are several rules of etiquette one should practice when servicing their own tea party. For one, the kettle needs to be kept hot at all times. Have your kettle boiling hot when servicing the table, and the host or hostess should be the one to pour the tea for their guests. It can be smart to have a warming plate nearby to keep the water hot.
Other dishes you may want to include for your tea would be teacups and saucers, spoons, a tea caddy with different teas to choose from, tea strainers, a slop bowl, cream pitcher, sugar bowl, and lemon slices on a small dish. For proper drinking of your tea, the spoon should only be used to gently stir the tea, and then it is set on your saucer.
tip 4: choose your food selections
Once the style of service has been chosen, now you may decide what your menu will be! There are oh so many wonderful tea time treats that can be made. If you are hosting an Afternoon Tea, it is customary for the treats to all be finger foods, or those that do not require any silverware. Here are a few finger food options that we love!
Finger Sandwiches: Cucumber or radishes with mayonnaise, egg salad, peanut butter or jam, BLT, crab salad, or cheese are all good options!
Scones: In england, scones are the same as an American biscuit. American scones are more cake-like and sweeter. Either option is fine! There are various types of scones to make. You might like Blackberry and Wild Violet Scones or Cheddar and Herb Biscuits for something unique!
Spreads: Anything that you might like to be spread on a biscuit can be served at tea! This would include jams like Strawberry Jam, Mixed Berry Jam, Orange Marmalade, or Apple Butter. Don’t forget some clotted cream!
Tea Cakes or Buns: Hot cross buns, teacake, tea loaves, or iced buns. Try a recipe like these Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread or Sweet Potato and Honey Parker House Rolls.
Biscuits: Otherwise known as a cookie here in the states! Biscuits are a lovely addition to tea time. For a true English tea, you might want to serve a shortbread cookie.
Pastries: There is nothing so sweet as a delicious pastry to accompany your tea like croissants or cream puffs.
Cakes: Little bite size cakes are preferable, those such as petit fours, Victoria sponge, or fairy cakes.
Check out our ebook, “Tea at Beatrix’s” for more ideas on what to make for tea!
I hope that you enjoyed reading this post about hosting a tea service! I know that there is still much more that I have to learn. It is always such a pleasure to read up on food history and traditions. I know so much of it is dependent upon what was happening in the world at the time. I also have a passion for learning about the food culture around my own personal ancestry. I hope that you do as well!
This month on our Patreon, we shared our April ebook called Tea at Beatrix’s which features recipes inspired by the original tales written by Beatrix Potter as well as some ideas for hosting tea. I hope that you may enjoy purchasing a copy with our own original recipes or consider joining us on Patreon. It’s $3 per month to access all of our ebooks, digital art, inspiration, and exclusive videos.
xoxo Kayla
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