The British tradition of Afternoon tea – pt 2 etiquette

The British tradition of Afternoon tea – pt 2 etiquette

In the first part of this article about the fine British tradition of Afternoon tea we poked about the history and the origins about the tradition. In this part we are going to have a look at what a modern tea-party looks like and how you should behave when attending one. Lets dive in!

I have now learned that this is NOT the right way to hold a tea cup

Difference between Afternoon tea, High tea and Cream tea

Today the Afternoon tea is still popular and is being served in many fine establishments in the United Kingdom, but did you know that there actually are different kinds of Afternoon teas!
The main difference between them seems to be the Items that are served in addition with the tea.

• For the classic Afternoon tea you may expect both savory and sweet food items, such as small sandwiches or mini quiches, tarts and cakes. This is almost a meal, but much lighter than the items you are served at High tea.
• For High tea one may expect more foody-foods like sandwiches, cold meats, tea cakes and pork pies. Not so many sweet food items are included, if any.
• Cream tea is a simpler version of it all. It is served with scones, clotted cream / Devonshire cream and jam.

A visual representation of the different teas. Picture by Hummingbird tearoom.

How should you enjoy your afternoon tea?

Traditionally afternoon tea was enjoyed between 15.30 and 17.00 but now a days you can find establishments serving afternoon tea as early as 12.30. What ever time you prefer be sure to book your tea in advance! If you are going for tea in London – be sure to book at least a couple weeks ahead. I didn´t and many of the places I wanted to visit were fully booked.

What will you wear? People started dressing up for tea during the Victorian era and many of todays tea venues still have a dress code. So you can leave your old sneakers and shorts at home, because something more sophisticated is expected. Some establishments accept the smart casual look, while others have a more stern approach requiring gentlemen to wear a jacket and a tie.

Manners around the tea table

So what about manners? How should you behave around the tea-table?

There is a certain etiquette to drinking tea. The Ritz, which been serving afternoon tea since 1906, has even written a blog post about it to guide us ordinary mortals in the art of drinking tea.

Many other hotels and blogs have of course also written about the topic and sometimes the articles express different opinions on things such as, should the cream be put on the scone before the jam? Or should the jam be put on before the cream?
I´ve tried to combine the information I´ve found and came up with this very rudimentary list of dos and don´ts.

SITTING DOWN AROUND THE TABLE

• Put the napkin on your lap. Fold closest to your body.
• Maintain a good posture through out the tea.
• Don´t put used cutlery back on the table cloth.

THE TEA

• Let your tea steep. Then take your strainer and pour your tea through the strainer. This way no leaves will enter your tea cup. If you use milk, pour the milk in AFTER the tea.
• Stir your tea back and forth with the spoon to cool it down, without hitting the sides of the cup. Do not swirl around in the cup and make sure your spoon doesn´t make any clinking sound.
• Hold the cup with your thumb and index finger. No pointing pinkies.

Town and Country magazine has made this guiding picture of how to hold your tea cup

THE FOOD

• Eating order: Always start with the sandwiches, then follow up with the scones and lastly dug in to the sweets.
• Always eat sandwiches with your fingers. Some sweets can also be eaten with your fingers while others do require a fork.
• Gently break the scone, don´t cut it. Put on jam and cream. Jam or cream first, no-one knows. Do Not put the two halves together, they are eaten separately.
• Try all the food, everything else is considered rude.

EXITING THE TABLE

• Leave your used napkin on the left of the plate with the open edge to the right.

Conclusion

So to summon it all up.

British Afternoon tea is usually served later than the Swedish fika and there is usually a selection of different kinds of teas you can chose from. If you don´t know what goes with what, your waiter can help you pick the right tea for you.

The Swedish fika traditionally comes with coffee while the Afternoon tea of course comes with a tea. The tea is usually served in a cup of fine china, while the Swedish fika is often served in a mug. Porcelain or paper depending on the circumstances.

The Swedish fika is a very relaxed occasion, sometimes just spontaneously occurring around the coffee machine at any office, while the Afternoon tea has been planned and the guests are expected to dress accordingly and to follow etiquette or at least have some manners.

And lastly The British Afternoon tea is often beautifully displayed with floral decorations and cake-stands, whilest the Swedish fika could look any old way as long as the coffee is black and strong.

So now we´ve learned a lot about the British tea traditions and their do´s and don´ts. And most importantly – we now know that there will be cake!

xoxo/Salla V
originally posted:

Links:
www.britishmuseum.org/blog/tea-rific-history-victorian-afternoon-tea
www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Afternoon-Tea/
vinepair.com/articles/the-bizarre-history-behind-fika/
www.afar.com/magazine/the-history-etiquette-of-afternoon-tea-in-england
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_in_the_United_Kingdom
www.bbc.com/travel/article/20170823-the-true-story-behind-englands-tea-obsession
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_afternoon_tea
recollections.biz/blog/a-brief-history-of-victorian-afternoon-tea/
tearrifictea.com/blogs/news/afternoon-tea-high-tea-cream-tea-whats-the-difference
hummingbirdtearoom.com/what-is-cream-tea-afternoon-tea-and-high-tea/
www.londonperfect.com/blog/2019/12/afternoon-tea-in-london/
www.theritzlondon.com/2022/09/01/guide-to-afternoon-tea-etiquette/
www.aladyinlondon.com/2019/08/afternoon-tea-etiquette.html
www.notquitenigella.com/2018/04/02/afternoon-tea-etiquette/
theteacupoflife.com/2019/07/afternoon-tea-etiquette.html
www.townandcountrymag.com/society/news/g3147/kate-middleton-hosting-etiquette/