High Tea

High Tea although often considered tea in the afternoon, is historically based on tea that was served for dinner. It was also called “meat tea” at its inception, i.e., dinner. Historically, as a British custm High Tea was a heavy meal served late in the day. In America, however, hotels, restaurants and tearooms serve small finger sandwiches and fancy sweets on fine china and call it “high tea.” Actually this form of tea based on its true history is “low tea” often served in the parlor on low tables such as coffee tables. Tea served in the afternoon in parlors, living rooms, and sitting rooms were usually served near sofas or coffee tables. Amongst the afternoon teas hostesses would serve either

Originally, British tea was served at four or five p.m. and ended around seven p.m. Today, however, tea is usually served from three to five in the afternoon.

The original menu for tea was bread, butter and an assortment of cakes but over time has changed to include three specific courses served in a specific order, particularly if in a three-tiered tray:

Savories on the bottom - Tiny finger sandwiches and appetizers
Scones in the middle- Served with jam and clotted cream
Pastries on the top - Cakes, shortbread, cookies, and sweets

History: Before tea was introduced to the British, people typically had two meals a day – breakfast and dinner and dinner was usually served late in the day. Breakfast consisted of bread, beef and usually ale. In the eighteenth century dinner for the upper and middle class gradually shifted from a meal eaten around noon to a meal eaten at a fashionably late hour. Dinner became a very large meal that lasted a long time at the end of the day.

Teatime was created by Anna Maria, the seventh Duchess of Bedford (1783-1857). Now that the customs had changed and the noon meal was getting smaller and smaller, the Duchess suffered from hunger and a lack of energy around four in the afternoon. Although in the beginning the Duchess would have her servants sneak her a pot of tea and some breadstuffs, she eventually invited friends to join her for an additional afternoon meal at five o'clock in her rooms at Belvoir Castle. The menu centered around simple foods including small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and tea. This practice became so popular that the Duchess continued the practice by sending her friends cards asking them to join her for "tea and a walk in the fields." From there the practice of inviting friends to afternoon tea became a popular practice by hostesses as a social gathering.

During the Industrial Revolution, exhausted working families returning home from work would set the table with meats, bread, butter, cheese, pickles, and tea. There were no dainty finger sandwiches, pastries or scones of afternoon tea. Because this tea was taken at a dinning table (high table) rather than a coffee or low tea table, it began to be called "high" tea.

Today: Today the taking of tea as a social function encompasses all of the elements of its history and is practiced today in many different cultures, including the African American culture. High Tea is taken at “high” and low tables and the menu varies in as many ways as possible. One thing that usually remains constant is that small crustless sandwiches, including cucumber sandwiches and scones are served. Otherwise, the possibilities are endless.

The first thing you will need to do is invite your guests. The invitations will set the tones. Following are some of the invitations I sent to my guests -- a couple are hand embellished, with the last one being the invitation I used for the garden party with a hat and cup competition.

(Your Name) requests

the pleasure of your company

for tea.

Date

Time

Address

[Here you can add any interesting note

or activity you would like

to share with your guests]

R.S.V.P: __[Phone Number]______

or instead of RSVP you may use

(Regrets Only [Phone Number] )

And, although the themes are endless, popular teas are held in gardens, parlors (living rooms) and can be either high or low teas.

As a social gathering in the early days it was common for ladies to wear their “tea gowns.” Today, however, few women have a tea gown, yet it is not uncommon for guests to wear their prettiest dresses and hats to an afternoon tea. In some circles ladies also wear gloves for the ultimate experience.

Some hostesses provide teacups for their guests while others invite their guests to bring their own cups. It’s always good to have a few cups available for guests who come without one. In the 18^th century it was not unusual for guests to arrive with their prettiest teacup in a beautiful velvet bag. I’ve actually taken my teacup with me tied in a pretty lace handkerchief.

This is a time to bring out your prettiest linen and tea service. Teatime is an opportunity for women to be frou-frou, and there's nothing quite like the ultimate feminine experience of hosting or attending a tea.

Although there are many types of sandwiches and savories to serve at a tea, most teas out of tradition serve crustless cucumber sandwiches. In addition to cucumber sandwiches I have served an assortment of crustless sandwiches made chicken salad, salmon salad, egg salad, ham salad, shrimp and crab salad and tuna salad. These cute little finger sandwiches can be closed or open-faced sandwiches cut in an assortment of shapes and arranged with garnishes on trays and plates lined with doilies.

Benedictine Sandwich Filling

1 cucumber
1 (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream
cheese
1 small onion

Mince cucumber and onion together in blender or food processor. Put in strainer or cheesecloth and press out juice. Soften cream cheese. Add juice, a little salt if you like. Add enough mayonnaise to make a soft spread. Add a small amount green food coloring to make a pale green color. Use on regular or tiny party sandwiches.

I've also served strawberries dipped in chocolate and a vegetable tray with a dipping sauce or a fruit cascade -- where you mound fruit in a pretty tray or basket in abundance.

Scones: You can make your own scones from scratch or from scone mixes readily available at your local market, purchase them from your local bakery or use a biscuit mix and make small biscuits that do quite well. Rather than clotted cream I use either homemade whipped cream or Cool Whip. With the scones you can serve fresh or frozen strawberries (thawed with sugar added), strawberry jam or an assortment of jams and marmalades.

As a special treat I have baked the scones with a mixture of creamed cheese, chicken and chopped onion in the middle and served them as warm appetizers. There were a big hit.

Sandwich Cake: As a little girl my grandmother would take me to teas and they would serve a green sherbet punch and sandwich cakes. Made from the same filling as the finger sandwiches a sandwich cake is made from a round loaf of bread that has the crust removed and is then sliced horizontally into two or three layers. Using the fillings of your choice the layers are filled and layered like a birthday cake. When finished the round cake is iced with an icing made from cream cheese and sour cream or mayonnaise and tinted with a little food coloring, if desired. The bell of the ball this delight can be displayed on a fancy cake plate, garnished with parsley, radishes or cherry tomatoes.

The Table: Dressing your tables is the highlight of a tea. Use your prettiest linen. Many people rent linen, if they don't own their own. However, renting linen can be rather pricey. An alternative that has worked for me is to purchase pretty fabric in the color that carries my theme and cut the fabric into squares large enough to drape the tables. The more fabric the better. I've found pretty fabric I liked priced as low as $2 per yard and purchased 10-15 yards. Then I've draped the fabric over the tables, tied bows made from the fabric and dressed the tables for the ultimate feminine experience at a mere fraction of the cost to rent or purchase linen. Although cotton linen is always beautiful on a table, other fabrics work just as well. For a more dramatic affect you can drape multiple colors on a table with the top layer smaller than the bottom layer in order to reveal the multiple colors.

Napkins are very important and should also be linen, if possible. If not, there are some very pretty linen textured paper napkins that work just as well.

Tea parties center around the teapots and teacups whether your party is for two or 20 guests. Although the history of "high tea" is based on the British custom, the taking of tea has its root in many cultures around the globe. Consequently, there are many types of teakettles and urns. Silver and other types of metal add an element of elegance to teas and ceramic and china teapots are just as beautiful. A dear friend of mine has roots in the Persian culture and introduced me to the samovar. The samovar is a Russian or Middle Eastern tea urn that is absolutely beautiful. Some of the Russian samovars are absolutely breath taking, certainly just as attractive as the traditional British urn. So, if you are serving a large number of guests, you may want to consider using a samovar as an alternative to a British silver urn. Below is an image of the main table for one of my teas that has a samovar as the main focus.

One of the unique qualities of a samovar is that a stronger "house" brew of tea is steeped and kept warm on the top and can be diluted with water from the larger lower section of the urn. Guests have the option of selecting a tea from the various bags you offer or brewing their tea from the house blend and diluting it their preferred strength.

In addition to offering my guests an assortment of tea cups to choose from, I also made small Brown Sugar Paper Dolls© as place holders. Each doll carried a nametag with the guest's name on it. At the time the guest selected her teacup, she would take her doll and place it on the table of her choice to hold her place and help others at the table identify her. Whatever creative touch you add to your tea is guaranteed to add to the excitement and fun your guests will have.

To add another special touch to my tea, I wanted to serve my guests on three-tiered trays. So, this would be an excellent time to pull out your three tiered trays. The b.collins Tier is made from wood and trimmed with cowry shells and designed to hold small dessert plates. Once again, these can be rented or purchased if you don't already have some. The b.collins Tier is a reasonable and versatile alternative to the three-tiered tray that worked quite nicely for my teas. I put doilies on each of the tiers and garnish to add that special touch to each tiered tray and had one tray for each table of four. If you are one to follow tradition the savories are served on the bottom tray, the scones are served on the middle tray and the sweets are served on the top tray.