Traditional Afternoon Tea

There are no set rules about the content of a traditional Afternoon Tea menu, but it usually consists of sandwiches and a variety of sweet items. A typical menu might read: 

Traditional Afternoon Tea

A selection of freshly prepared finger sandwiches.

Warm scones with clotted cream and preserves.

A variety of home made pastries, fruit cake and biscuits.

Your choice from a range of teas.

A ‘Cream Tea' is generally scones, clotted cream and preserve served with a pot of tea. Many hotels also offer set menus that include a glass of champagne, or the option to add this for an additional charge.

The range of teas on offer can vary from half a dozen to over a hundred, including some very rare and obscure ones. Some of the common teas on offer will include the following:

Assam	A strong full-bodied tea from India, which has a distinctive, ‘malty' flavour.
Darjeeling	An aromatic and astringent tea from India, with a hint of almonds and wildflowers.
Earl Grey	A blend of black teas scented with oil of bergamot named after Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, who was Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834.
Lapsang Souchong	A Chinese tea fired over smoking pine needles, which produces a striking smoky odour and flavour.

Tea consumption increased dramatically during the early nineteenth century and it is around this time that Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford is said to have complained of "having that sinking feeling" during the late afternoon. At the time it was usual for people to take only two main meals a day, breakfast, and dinner at around 8 o'clock in the evening. The solution for the Duchess was a pot a tea and a light snack, taken privately in her boudoir during the afternoon.

Later friends were invited to join her in her rooms at Woburn Abbey and this summer practice proved so popular that the Duchess continued it when she returned to London, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for "tea and a walking the fields." Other social hostesses quickly picked up on the idea and the practice became respectable enough to move it into the drawing room. Before long all of fashionable society was sipping tea and nibbling sandwiches in the middle of the afternoon.

Occasionally you will see hotels serving a ‘high tea'. Traditionally, the upper classes would serve a ‘low' or ‘afternoon' tea around four o'clock, just before the fashionable promenade in Hyde Park. The middle and lower classes would have a more substantial ‘high' tea later in the day, at five or six o'clock, in place of a late dinner. The names derive from the height of the tables on which the meals are served, high tea being served at the dinner table.

Many visitors from overseas still imagine that we are a nation where, in the words of the well-known song, ‘at half past three, everything stops for tea'. Sadly these days Afternoon Tea is usually only an occasional luxury for the British; a birthday treat in a country house hotel, or a welcome break from a hectic days shopping ‘in town'. Luckily the tourist is still able to indulge in a little bit of British tradition for him or her self.