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 Planning to take your mother or aunt to
afternoon tea to celebrate Mother’s Day this May?
Great idea. Here’s what you can expect, followed by a few tips that will make the event an enjoyable experience for everyone:
Afternoon Tea is usually served between 2 and 4p.m. Full Tea is a four-course service of finger sandwiches, scones, sweets, and desserts, plus your choice of tea. Royal Tea is the same and includes a glass of Champagne or sherry.
High Tea, on the other hand, is no dainty affair where tea is served in a parlor setting. It’s a real meal. People return home from a hard day’s work and eat meat pies and other
heartier dishes. It is served family-style around a kitchen table. So even when you see an advertisement for High Tea, what they really mean is Afternoon Tea.
While teas have so many names, they all fall in three or four basic categories: black, oolong, and green. Herbal teas are becoming increasingly popular, although typically, they are not made from tea leaves at all.
No matter where tea is grown in the world, they all come from the same plant species, called Camellia Sinensis. What then determines its various names and flavors is how they are processed and from where they are grown.
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Strategic Do’s and Don’ts
Always… |
- Pour the tea into your cup first, before adding anything else. This way you can better judge the strength of the tea
- Use a tea strainer by holding the strainer in one hand, while pouring the tea with the other
- Fill your teacup ¾ full. This allows for milk and sugar and prevents spills. Add milk, sugar, or lemon, as desired.
- Stir your tea in a quiet and gentle back and forth motion
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- Place your teaspoon in the saucer, when resting or when finished
- Lift the teacup by the handle while seated
- Keep your teacup and saucer together in your hand while standing
- Leave soiled tableware in the saucer or on the plate
- Ask for a new saucer if you spill tea into it. In less formal settings, place a paper napkin in the saucer to soak up the spilled tea.
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Never… |
- Pour milk, add lemon or add sugar before pouring the tea
- Fill your teacup to the brim.
- Scrape the sides or bottom of the teacup in loud circular motions when stirring, or swirl the teacup like a glass of wine.
- Use lemon and cream together, as it will curdle the milk.
- Stick your pinkie finger in the air; or cradle the teacup in one or both hands
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- Leave your teaspoon in the teacup or place your soiled spoon on the table. Place it on the saucer.
- Pour spilled tea back into your teacup, or drink from the saucer
- Separate the teacup and saucer while standing. They always go hand-in-hand.
- Leave the strainer in the cup or on the table. Use the caddy provided.
- Place a soiled piece of flatware back onto the tablecloth or table.
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For additional information on tea and tea etiquette, you might like to add these books to your library:
- Tea & Etiquette, by Dorothea Johnson, Founder of The Protocol School of Washington
- Tea Lovers Treasury and the New Tea Lovers Treasury, by James Norwood Pratt, a leading authority on tea, who happens to live in San Francisco.
Happy Practicing!
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