Afternoon tea explained
Afternoon tea has become an essential part of a visit to the UK. But what exactly is it? What is its history and etiquette? And how is it different to cream tea or high tea? All is revealed below!
Illustration, right: Afternoon Tea Party by Mary Cassatt, circa 1890, from the Rosenwald Collection
AFTERNOON TEA CHANGED WOMEN’S LIVES
The fashion for afternoon tea, which began during the Victorian era, was driven by women. Food historian Tasha Marks claims on britishmuseum.org that the first tea parties can be viewed as feminist acts. How so? Hosting afternoon gatherings at home allowed 19th-century women to invite and get to know a cross-section of acquaintances - including men - without their husbands being present, she explains. Political ideas, discussion on books and art and society gossip could flow as freely as the Darjeeling tea. Women were able to show off their personal style, not only in their elegant crockery and table decoration but also with the clothes they wore - even co-ordinating all elements to create a theme. And since the outside world wouldn’t see or judge them, they could leave that restrictive heavy-boned corset in their dressing room, relax and have fun.
It’s a smart argument, which shows that in British life the ritual of enjoying afternoon tea and cake has always been more interesting than simply knowing whether to put cream or jam on to your scone first (more of that later!).
A DUCHESS INVENTED AFTERNOON TEA
It was Anna Russell the 7th Duchess of Bedford, who ‘invented’ afternoon tea in 1840. Dinner at her home, palatial Woburn Abbey 40 miles north of London, was served at the fashionable hour of 8pm but she was always peckish by 4pm. She began to request that a pot of tea, bread and butter, and cake should be brought to her room, gradually inviting friends to join her. As the Duchess was close to Queen Victoria, news of a fashionable new afternoon pastime spread like wildfire through smart society. Soon ‘everyone’ was taking afternoon tea - including Queen Victoria herself, although she plumped for 5.30pm. As the trend spread to the middle classes, an etiquette evolved, dictating everything from the correct way to hold a tea cup to the arrangement of sofas and chairs, which was anxiously followed. This was teasingly referenced during the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Lewis Carroll’s surreal children’s novel Alice in Wonderland, published in 1865. In the same year, London’s grand new Langham Hotel on Regent Street became the first in the capital to serve afternoon tea - and you can still order one in its elegant Palm Court.
WHAT WAS SERVED AT AFTERNOON TEA?
A contemporary handbook Victorian Party-Giving on Every Scale, which was published in 1880, advised that a cup of tea should be served to guests directly on arrival. If no running water was available (as was often the case in the UK countryside), boiled spring water by preference or boiled river water should be used to make the perfect potful. It was important to appear to be generous and provide plenty of food, although guests usually ate very little. Very thin slices of bread and butter should be offered, the handbook advised, as well as decorative plates of biscuits and cakes in the French style: “almond macaroons are much liked by the ladies…as are ratafias, cocoa-nut biscuits [and] sponge biscuits.” A good addition was pound cake “cut into small, short pieces, easy to hold in the fingers”, and ices (both dairy and sorbets) during the summer months. Sherry and claret cup should be served in addition to tea, plus some wine if gentlemen were present.
Lewis Carroll’s mad hatter’s tea party, part of his 1865 book Alice in Wonderland, teased the etiquette around the new trend. Illustration by John Tenniel.
Afternoon Tea by Albert Levering, 1910, in which an imprisoned suffragette entertains her society friends. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Afternoon tea at Lyons Corner House, Coventry Street, London, in 1942. Waitress were known as ‘nippies’ because they operated at great speed.
IT TOOK TEA TO TANGO
Once it was established that women and men could meet unchaperoned in private homes in the afternoons, what could be more natural than to expand the entertainment? A poetry or opera recital was popular, with novelty the most important factor. In the provinces and naval port towns, ‘dancing on the carpet’ to a small band of musicians was common along with afternoon tea served buffet-style. This would include sandwiches rather than bread and butter. When the scene moved into smart London hotels, delicate finger sandwiches and musical entertainment were essential elements. In 1889, The Savoy Hotel opened on the Strand in central London and held afternoon tea in its Thames Foyer, where a pianist played from a specially designed gazebo (it maintains the same traditional style now). The mood was sparkling but sedentary. However, in 1910 the arrival of the sultry, escapist tango from Argentina via Paris set London ablaze. More and more tea dances with full orchestras sprang up to meet the demand from young people desperate to learn and show off their slinky moves. The most celebrated London tea dances were held at The Waldorf and The Ritz hotels and continued for several decades until World War Two.
SHOPPING, SUFFRAGE, FREEDOM!
By the end of the 19th century tea rooms were opening up around the country. And, like the Harrods Ladies Club which poured its first cup of tea in 1890, they were designed for women. An important feature was ladies’ toilets - before that facilities for women were few and far between, so it was difficult to be away from home for long. The first of the famous Lyons teashops opened four years later, creating modish spaces where women of different backgrounds mingled. For many, places serving afternoon tea were a fun new way to combine shopping and socialising ‘in town’. But they also had a serious side, notably providing spaces for suffragettes to meet and listen to talks about women’s rights. Speakers included Christabel Pankhurst of the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union), who appeared regularly at The Criterion in Piccadilly. One unintended consequence of suffragette action, however, was the curtailment of The National Gallery staff’s afternoon tea in early 1914, when militants damaged famous paintings in order to raise awareness. All-day vigilance was required!
Afternoon tea
The Capital Hotel, London, capitalhotel.co.uk
Cream tea
Tea in Devon: heatheronhertravels.com via Flickr
High tea
Welsh rarebit: Tristan Kenney via Flickr
AFTERNOON TEA AND HIGH TEA ARE TWO DIFFERENT MEALS
The drink of tea, made by pouring hot water on to aromatic tea leaves in a warmed pot, had first been introduced to the UK by Charles II’s Portuguese wife Catherine of Braganza in the 17th century, and for a century remained very much an upper-class refreshment. It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that tea was enjoyed by ‘the masses’. Hot and sweet with a caffeine kick, it helped the labours of the day pass more palatably. It was also drunk with an afternoon/early evening meal. But rather than this consisting of finger sandwiches, working people ate a substantial meal when they came home from the farm or factory. This was called high tea because it was eaten at the ‘high’ or dining table, and consisted of a hot, hearty dish like a meat pie with vegetables, bread and cheese. It might have been followed by cake and washed down with tea but that’s the only connection with afternoon tea. In the 21st century, you might nod in the direction of a high tea with warm, savoury dishes such as Welsh rarebit (cheese on toast made with beer, mustard or Worcestershire sauce) or quiche. But you will not be eating high tea in the traditional sense - no matter what the menu claims.
CREAM TEA IS A REGIONAL CLASSIC
While afternoon tea has become an increasingly elaborate meal lasting several hours in the smartest London hotels, it has a ‘sub-category’: the cream tea. Consisting of warm scones, clotted cream and jam, and a pot of tea, the cream tea is a classic treat that has remained unchanged in 170 years. It has formed part of a ‘posh’ afternoon tea since the mid 20th century, but it also stands alone. And since it contains a substantial 600 calories, you will not be undereating if you choose this option.
The cream tea comes from the West Country and proves something of a bone of contention between the counties of Devon and Cornwall, who can’t agree on its exact origins. Devon’s historians point out that Tavistock Abbey handed out bread spread with jam and cream to workers as early as the 11th century. The Cornish counter that the ‘real deal’ was devised in their seaside resorts in the 1850s as a treat for the new wave of holidaymakers brought in by steam train. They do agree on its contents: the scones must be warm, the jam usually strawberry and the cream clotted. But then they diverge again. In Devon, the scones are split and spread with cream before jam is added to the top. In the Cornish version, the jam is spread on to the split scones first and the clotted cream is spooned on afterwards. Either way, a cream tea is super delicious and widely seen in the UK as the best afternoon treat to round off an outing, particularly on a gloriously sunny day.
WHAT IS THE ETIQUETTE FOR AFTERNOON TEA NOW?
If you’re pushing the boat out with afternoon tea at a plush hotel, it makes sense to capture the spirit of the tradition for both your own and other customers’ enjoyment. Smart casual clothing is generally worn, and it’s considered rather ill mannered to put your phone or other belongings on the tea table. When pouring a cup of tea, it doesn’t matter if you put milk or tea in first, it’s simply preference. Sugar is spooned in and stirred without clatter, then the spoon is put down on the saucer. The teacup is held by the handle only and the saucer is left on the table. Tea is drunk in sips without any noise. Your afternoon tea will be served all at once on a tiered tray, but is actually three courses: finger sandwiches with fillings such as smoked salmon with cream cheese and coronation chicken, and perhaps tartlets; scones with cream and jam; and an array of delicate cakes and pastries. The sandwiches and savouries are eaten first and the scones second. Prepare the scones as above and eat them one half at a time. Cakes and pastries are eaten last. It’s perfectly acceptable to eat some of the afternoon tea and ask to take leftover food home with you - there is absolutely no need to cram it all down in a style that would have caused a Victorian to turn their head away in disgust!
