Afternoon Tea is a rather eccentric occasion.
When you look closely at a typical Afternoon Tea Table and think about what you see on the table, a long list of questions may spring to mind.
Perhaps:
- Where does the idea of this mid-afternoon ‘meal’ come from?
- Why is it always served in very grand and elegant rooms?
- Why are teacups always bowl-shaped?
- Why is there so much food in the middle of the afternoon?
- Why is there usually milk and sugar on the table?
- Why do the sandwiches have their crust removed?
- Where did the idea of the cake stand come from?
- Why are the knives and forks so small?
- Why are scones always served?
- Why do we eat scones with clotted cream and jam?
- What is clotted cream?
- What’s the correct way to eat scones?
- Is afternoon tea always served around a dining table like this?
- Why have the British traditionally drunk mostly black tea?
Over the course of the four modules, all these questions – and more – will be answered.
Webinar 1 – Tuesday 25th March 2025, 6pm – 7.30pm
To understand the story of Afternoon Tea, we need to trace the history of tea in Britain right back to its first appearance in London in the 1650s and understand how the beverage gradually became an essential part of British social life. This module discusses how wealthy upper class families became tea drinkers in the 17th century, copying the tea wares and the rituals of brewing, serving and drinking from the Chinese; how the working classes developed a taste for tea through the 18th century; and how the first British tea gardens in India made tea more affordable to everyone in Britain at the beginning of the 19th century.
Webinar 2 – Tuesday 1 April 2025, 6pm – 7.30pm
This second module details how changes in patterns of eating and drinking in British households led to the ritual of taking tea at 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon. Did the Duchess of Bedford really ‘invent’ Afternoon Tea’? Or was she just doing what many other people were beginning to do to fill the refreshment gap in the afternoon between a light lunch and a late dinner? We will explore the facts behind the development of Afternoon Tea, first as an upper class social occasion, then also a more modest middle class event, and finally how even the poorest families gathered for a refreshing cup of tea in the afternoon. We’ll discuss tea gowns, the first tearooms and their close connection with the temperance movement and women’s suffrage, and we will explain the difference between Afternoon Tea. High Tea and Cream Tea.
Webinar 3 – Tuesday 8th April 2025, 6pm – 7.30pm
This third module explores the way in which almost all the tea wares found on Afternoon Tea tables today can trace their heritage back to China. English teapots developed directly from small porcelain and earthenware pots used in China in the 17th century and still used today; bowl-shaped tea cups descend from Chinese porcelain tea bowls; valuable crystal, mother-of-pearl, ebony tea chests and caddies have their origin in porcelain tea jars that were used to store tea in China; tea tables were first imported from Asia before English cabinet makers started making them for their UK customers; and more recent additions to British tea wares (such as tea knives and pastry forks, muffin dishes and cake stands) developed because of the popularity of Afternoon tea – which you will have learned by this stage, developed directly from tea drinking rituals in China.
Webinar 4 – Tuesday 15th April 2025, 6pm – 7.30pm
Rules of etiquette that govern behaviour come into play at all social occasions, and Afternoon Tea is no exception. We discuss everything you need to know, both for occasions when you are invited to a tea party or when you are organising an Afternoon Tea yourself. We discuss how to arrange a tea party with guests seated traditionally in armchairs and sofas, or seated around a table; how to set the table with the correct tea wares; the tea or teas to offer; afternoon tea napkins and how to use them; what to add to the tea (milk, sugar, lemon, etc) and how to hold the cup and saucer; how to make and eat sandwiches; how to eat scones with jam and clotted cream; how to eat pastries and cakes, and the correct use of the tea knife and the pastry fork. There is so much to know, so join us to learn all the little rules and you will never make a mistake at Afternoon Tea.
