AFTERNOON TEA IS FOR LOVERS

College Summer School offerings came through, and there it was: a semester at Christ’s College, Cambridge University in England.

Now, think... If you knew you'd be accepted but could barely afford a summer program at Cambridge, would you go?

Of course you would.

So did I.

We "lucky few" got on a plane bound for England. Next thing we knew, all of us had fallen in love with the College, the British students, and Cambridge itself.

But a small number of us still needed to economize. So, in the dweeb fashion typical of my Alma Mater, William and Mary, we did some research on how best to save British pounds and soon targeted Afternoon Tea - the British staple with a delightful “all-you-can-eat” feature.

That summer we tried every form of Afternoon Tea we could find - from Cream Teas in the charming Cotswolds to High Tea at the Palm Court of London’s very ritzy Ritz Hotel.

A dinner's worth of tea in the Cotswolds

English Coalport Bone China: "Hazelton" (Author’s Collection)

​Ah, the Ritz… London was, of course, our most expensive adventure, so it was crucial that Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Palm Court cover our dinner that night.

So in standard American college student style, we walked right up to the host at the Tea Room and said in our rude American accents, "Tea is definitely 'All you can eat', right?" The gentleman gave us a nasty look and slowly nodded. When we asked for a table, he told us we could not be seated unless the young man with us had a jacket... and then slowly admitted they had jackets available for use.

After lending a proper coat to our friend, the Host then led us to a table... in the far, far room (away from all the decent customers).

​Of course, we inhaled the first tea tray brought to us (I'm sure it was delicious, but it's hard to say...). We immediately called for more, and after inhaling the second round, we looked about and realized the servers had disappeared from our room.

And they stayed gone.

As the old joke goes, "All you can eat? Yeah, THAT’S all you can eat".

While we learned a lesson in English manners that day, turns out I had a lot more to learn about English tea.
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Early 1800s English Transferware - unmarked (Author’s Collection)

When back at Cambridge a few days later, the adorable college student who was courting me at the time (hope you're doing well!) told me I had not truly experienced afternoon tea until I'd visited the Orchard Tea Garden at Grantchester. So, on the next beautiful English day, we walked five miles from Cambridge to Grantchester along the lazy Cam River to have a cup of tea.

As we walked, we shared sweet conversation, took in the warm sun, the scent of wildflowers, and the beauty of the geese swimming along beside us (at a safe and watchful distance), and at the end of our stroll, we sat down at a rickety table in the elegantly run-down Orchard Tea Garden.

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And that’s when I truly fell in love with tea.

Time stood still there. No plans had been made, there were no errands to run, no second courses would be ordered for an early dinner. No. Just gentle conversation over a pot of perfectly brewed tea, a tray of finger sandwiches, perfect scones and sweets. No wonder The Famous love to visit here. This is where you go to be refreshed and fall in love again.

Reproduction Early 19th c. Transferware Teapot

It’s said that in the 12th c. B.C., Emporer Shen-Nung of China was boiling water during a rite of purification when leaves from a nearby Camelia tree blew down into the pot. He smelled the sweet brew, decided to taste it, and deemed the drink worthy of a King. Thus was born "Cha". 

​Six-hundred years later, the abundant sea trade between the British Empire and China caused the British to adopt tea as their very own, renaming it after the genus of the evergreen Camelia shrub whose leaves were used to make it: thea sinensis or… tea.

Until that moment, coffee was the most popular drink in England (closely followed by beer and hot chocolate), and male-only Coffee Houses were all the rage.

Early 19th c. Hot Chocolate Cup (Author’s Collection)

​In the early 1700s, Richard Twinings ran one of those London coffee houses. One day he decided to change things up and serve Chinese tea. Soon his tea began to out-sell his coffee -- even though it was more expensive (In fact, Twinings Tea had to be kept locked in tea caddies, just as sugar did).

Beer Tankard and 1840 Tea Cup (Author’s Collection)

Word spread, and, as the tea business grew, tea prices came down. Soon tea was available at men's coffee shops everywhere.
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Yes, it’s true: what we often think of as ladies’ establishments - tea rooms and tea gardens - were actually created to support men’s lust for tea.

A proper English gentleman enjoys his tea (Christopher Saunders as Algernon Moncrieff in the Run Rabbit Run Theatre production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. Photo by Jim Poston, Middleburg).

And soon the most famous Tea Garden of all was Vauxhall, a place where Handel might perform one day, acrobats and jugglers the next, and on the third day, fireworks. Vauxhall is where fashionable men went to see and be seen, and one fixed price enabled the entrant to as much tea and goodies as they liked (sans nasty looks).

Oh, but I should note there were women at Vauxhall — just no ladies. Proper English ladies did not dine in public - a societal rule that held sway until the late 19th century.

And, at first, proper English ladies didn't know what to make of tea. One poor woman boiled a pound of leaves and served it to her guests with butter and salt!

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In any case, perhaps because of Vauxhall’s disreputable reputation, a movement soon arose ruling tea “unhealthy, sinful, and morally pernicious”.

The British crown cleverly responded by taxing tea as a luxury item.

​Americans - being English at the time - also loved tea. In fact, American ladies began visiting friends just to drink this expensive item together. And as a sign of social standing, they would bring their own porcelain cups and silver spoons in their very own satin-lined carrying cases.

​The richer the tea caddy, the richer your friend.

The Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax arrives for Afternoon Tea (Maddy Curtis in the Run Rabbit Run Theatre production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. Photo by Tom Johnson)

But in the grander scheme, American political parties began to fight England over the high tax on tea: they encouraged their fellow Americans to switch to coffee… and start a Revolution.

And in 1773, a group of Bostonians dressed as Indians, raided Boston Harbor, and in what they sarcastically called a “Tea Party", dumped 342 boxes of East India Company tea into the fetid waters. The Crown reacted by closing Boston Harbor and demanding Americans pay the East India Company for their losses. The America responded by creating the first Continental Congress.

We all know what happened next, so I’ll skip forward to when the Twinings Tea family reached out to the new people of America (After all, Twinings hadn’t had their tea dumped in the harbor), and in 1796, Thomas Twinings, son of Richard, traveled to America to pay a courtesy call on George Washington. Soon tea was back on track.

Meanwhile, back in England a certain Lady decided to stage a Revolution of her own.

By 1840, English lunch was still served at noon, but dinner was being held later and later in the evening.

Hand-painted 1850s Tea Cup - Unmarked (Author’s Collection)

When Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, became tired of waiting for her husband to return from hunting each night and holding dinner at 8 and then 9 p.m., she instructed her servants to set up a little something mid-afternoon. She arranged for a pot of tea, thin slices of bread spread with “good sweet butter,” macaroons, cheesecakes, tarts and biscuits (which we call cookies), small cakes and other goodies.

​Anna soon decided this way a fine way to spend every afternoon, and one day some friends dropped by unexpectedly.

And so was born Afternoon Tea.

Most of the English Tea Etiquette known today was created shortly thereafter – particularly during Queen Victoria’s reign. While the Queen did a lot of good in her lifetime, her favorite hobby was creating rules of behavior, and she often went to excess (Can we all agree covering piano legs because they looked suggestive was a bit much?).

Silver tea Service with proper 3-Tier Tea Stand for Finger Sandwiches, Scones and Sweets (Author’s Collection)

Many of those English Victorian Tea rules remain in place, but they vary from place to place:

- While visiting one neighborhood in England, I was told ladies did not have cream with their tea. In another, I was told ladies had cream but no sugar (And when the young American chose to have cream and sugar both times, they giggled).

- I also learned that, after an English hostess serves the first cup of tea to their guests, the guests are expected to fill their own cups.

​- But if you leave your teaspoon in the cup, the server will just keep filling it up.

- The universal sign for “I’ve had enough” is placing one’s spoon across your cup. Another option is to tap the side of the cup once or turn y0ur cup upside down. However none of this is true in Scotland, where they typically leave their spoons in the cup… even while they drink the tea — probably to spite the English.

To peruse modern British Tea Etiquette, I suggest you visit the Ever So British Guide to Afternoon Tea Etiquette.

​Speaking of etiquette, we mustn’t forget 19th century Tea Dress. By 1877, tea parties were such an established entity that proper dress was required. Called a tea gown, the outfit usually involved more lace than any other outfit she owned. And by the 1890s, outdoor teas also required a large hat flooded with ribbons, feathers, silk flowers, and a host of other furbelows.

Lady Bracknell shows everyone how it's done (Diane El-Shafey in Run Rabbit Run's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. Photo by Jim Poston)

In addition to various forms of etiquette, we can also thank Queen Victoria for all the many forms of Afternoon Tea:                                                      

• HIGH TEA is a filling meal. First designed for workers as they arrived home, the spread includes everything for an afternoon tea but adds pies, salads, fruit tarts with cream or custard, meat dishes and fruit.
  
  Some homes regularly replace supper with High Tea. In summer, this meal is often served cold.
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• HOME TEA usually involves musical entertainment - professional or otherwise – and the tea is served in the dining room rather than the drawing room.
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• WEEKLY HOME TEA is served by the hostess of the home on small tables. The tea set is placed on one table while another holds a cake stand decorated with doilies or serving plates laid out with thin bread with butter, cakes, petit fours and fresh fruit. Plates are not provided, as everything is created for arrangement on the tea saucer.
  

The author's wedding china, "Rutledge", ca. 1939

• ​​FAMILY TEA Includes cake, jam, sardines, potted meats, buttered toast, tea cakes and fruit and is generally served an hour or two before evening supper. 
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• BRIDGE TEA generally commences around 3:30 and is followed by heavy gaming.

 

• TENNIS TEA is held at homes in summer and served outdoors, presumably near your tennis courts. This includes iced tea, coffee, a claret cup, sandwiches, pastry, cakes, and other delights — all of which will provide you with energy for a competitive tennis match or render you free from concern.
  

 

• NURSERY TEA contains sandwiches and cakes suited to young taste buds.​
  

​And my personal favorite...
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• CREAM TEA is entirely made of sweets, and everything gets a dollop of whipped or clotted cream. For example, a scone is to be split, slathered with jam and buried in one of the 2 forms of cream. Cream Tea cannot be eaten with anything less than a fork.
  

Saint-Amand French Faience created in 1989 in honor of the French Centennial (Author’s Collection)

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​Perhaps you'd like to create your own event - an Anniversary, perhaps? There's something formally informal about Tea that makes it suited for a thousand occasions.

We once had a neighbor who used to hold a celebration in honor of St. Crispin's Day and, at a given moment, he would stand and recite the St. Crispin's Day Speech from Shakespeare's Henry V.
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So, does something in your life deserve the royal treatment? Be sure to add a little pitcher of rum, if the occasion warrants!

Another form of strainer: placed in the teapot first.

One form of tea strainer - with strainer to be held over the cup.

By the way, clotted cream (also known as Devonshire cream) is available at gourmet shops but is easily made at home with milk, heavy cream, a good liquid thermometer and a recipe (But it’s much easier to purchase). ​

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And every tea worth its leaves must begin with a good scone. This is my favorite recipe:
 
DEVON SCONES

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

• Sift 1 & 3/4” cup fresh self-rising flour into a bowl
• Cube 4 tablespoons of chilled butter (preferably unsalted) rub them into self-rising flour until mixture looks like find breadcrumbs
  
• Stir in 2 ½” tablespoons of sugar
• Break one egg into a measuring cup and fill cup with milk to the 2/3rds cup line
• Beat egg and milk lightly in cup and add to bowl
• Mix until soft dough
• Flour a surface and knead dough until smooth
• Flour a rolling pin using your hand to spread flour around pin
• Roll out dough until ½” thick

• Cut dough with 1 ½” wide pastry or scone cutter - one ridged around the circle (See at left).
• Place scones on lightly buttered baking sheet.
• For shiny tops, brush with a beaten egg white, and for brown tops, brush with milk.
• Bake for 10 minutes until risen and golden.

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​OFFER TEA SCONES WITH

• Strawberry jam​ or a choice of jams and lemon curd
  
• Unsalted butter
• Clotted or whipped cream (or both!)
  

By the way, traditionally tea fare is presented on a 2 or 3-tiered serving rack, with the 3-level rack the most popular. On this grand display you’ll generally find:
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- finger sandwiches on the lowest plate,
- scones on the middle tier, and
- sweets on top.

​Enjoy!

A hand-crotched English Tea Cozy keeps the teapot warm

And if I haven't made you fall head-over-heels in love with Afternoon Tea (and to show that we college students held no hard feelings) I will close by highly recommending The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea by Helen Simpson.  - Meredith