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British Tea Culture – Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea, that most quintessential of English customs is, perhaps surprisingly, a relatively new tradition. Whilst the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China and was popularised in England during the 1660s by King Charles II, it was not until the mid 19th century that the concept of ‘afternoon tea’ first appeared.
Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o’clock, thus leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.
This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880’s upper-class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o’clock.
Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty sandwiches, scones served with clotted cream. Cakes and pastries are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups. -
Import from India and Ceylon was not mainstream until after 1890’s, when they were more successful in production. Chinese tea dominated the world market until very late in the 19th century. I have not read other reasons for it, but I guess it had to do more with trade balance then anything else. It was English business to English business when it was Indian tea. That was perhaps why Victoria supported East Indian Company to set up plantations, even with all the hardship.
BTW, silver teapot is really no good for making tea in.
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It was the policy of the Qing government in China, Which led many countries to trade with China. However, Britain was in great demand for tea, and China was a big tea-producing country. In order to break this state, War is unavoidable.The development of tea involves a lot of history.
There are many kinds of tea in China, and the taste is good, which has a certain relationship with the growth environment and processing skills of tea, I prefer to drink black tea with porcelain。
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As far as I know, Drinking tea has many benefits for the health. I only know that teas has the effect of relieving stress and refreshing. My favorite tea is Yunnan Dian Hong a kind of Chinese famous black tea, it taste delicate with long lasting rich aroma, the most importance is has affordable price.
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Well, in Hong Kong, some go to dimsum restaurants to drink tea in the morning with greasy dimsums or even a bowl of steamed rice with meat in it. In the afternoon, however, some others, or the same people, have sweetened milk tea or tea blended with coffee, the eat can be toast, soup noodle or a huge choice of baked goods.
Of course, there are people who do afternoon tea like the British too, and there are those who do it gongfu style in hideaway teahouses.
The majority, however, a mug of oolong or even lemon tea at their desks would already be a luxury, cause piled on the other side would be mountains of documents awaiting processing.
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