On a hot summer’s day an al fresco afternoon tea, served under a shady tree in the garden or under a parasol on a balcony is a truly civilised way of hosting friends (the surreal Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, when “it’s always tea-time, and we’ve no time to wash the things between whiles,” is perhaps not the best example to follow).

You will not be required to serve alcohol, and you can either choose to do your own baking or buy in various essential items, such as scones, and concentrate instead on preparing delicious sandwiches. It is a useful intermediate social event, which does not carry the culinary burden of a lunch or a dinner. It is also circumscribed – only the most obdurate guests will stay on indefinitely once the tea is cold in the pot and the last scones have been eaten.

Tea Traditions

It is well known that the tradition of afternoon tea, when tea was served at 4pm with cakes, savouries and sweets, was started by the Duchess of Bedford in 1840 and has remained popular ever since. 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 would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon and as 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.

The pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880s, upper-class and society women would change into long tea gowns (intended to be worn without corsets and therefore manageable without the assistance of a maid), designed for at-home wear in the presence of family and close friends.

In Irene Davidson’s Etiquette for Women, published in 1928, the afternoon tea ceremony still played an important role in the social round, and detailed advice was offered to aspiring hostesses.

Invitation was by an “informal little note” or could be given personally or by telephone. The tea was laid out, ready in the drawing room, but hostesses were advised not to make the tea until all the guests had been seated – “the ideal plan is to have a small spirit lamp on the tea-table, so that you can make the tea yourself”.

Davidson was reassuring about the complexity of the catering: “Don’t feel that you must have an elaborate display of cakes, or very rich ones. It is much more important to have excellent and very hot tea, and nicely cut bread -and-butter, scones, or small sandwiches. Besides these, a few petit fours or simple small cakes and a plate of cut cake will be ample. Jammy or stickily iced things are undesirable, however attractive they may look.”

This excellent advice can still be followed to some extent today. In an era when we have electric kettles to hand, nobody needs be too fussy about spirit lamps, but we should at least ensure that pots of fresh tea are made at regular intervals, and we never allow the tea to become stewed.

Tea Essentials

The best way to brew tea is to use loose leaves and put them directly into your teapot. Pour the boiling water into the pot and let the leaves steep for a few minutes. Then pour the tea through a strainer into the cup. Any addition of honey, milk, sugar, or lemon is entirely up to the tea drinker.

Sandwiches are savoury and are therefore eaten first, before the scones, and lastly the cakes. There are several recommended sandwich filling options for afternoon tea: thinly-sliced cucumber, smoked ham, finely sliced ham (mustard optional), egg mayonnaise, served with chopped chives. Crusts should be removed; sandwiches should be cut into small triangles and never over-stuffed. Overflowing filling, which squeezes out of a sandwich on first bite, is very hard to handle when you are trying to eat from a small side plate held on your lap.

Scones (fruit or plain) are served with clotted cream and preserves, which are presented in bowls with small serving spoons. Smaller cakes will look impressive arranged on a decorative cake stand and will be easier for guests to eat when perched on a chair, juggling a teacup and side plate. Pile the cake stand high with butterfly cakes, cupcakes, chocolate mini muffins and jam tarts.

Serve tea in china teacups, with saucers and teaspoons. Teacups did not always have handles. In the early days of English tea-drinking, which date to the mid-17th century, porcelain tea bowls, which did not have handles, were imported from China.  It was not until the mid-18th century that a handle was added to prevent the ladies from burning their fingers. In Victorian days, tea drinkers poured their tea into saucers to cool before sipping, this was perfectly acceptable – this is referred to as a “dish of tea”.

European manufacturers could not initially reproduce the fine porcelain used in Chinese tea ware, and the method was a closely guarded secret. The formula was eventually discovered in Meissen in Germany in 1710, though fine porcelain was not manufactured in Britain until the mid-18th century. Smooth, nonporous cups such as glass, bone china, and porcelain will remain inert, which means they do not react to the tea or change the tea’s aroma. For this reason, they are considered the best material in which to serve fine tea. Fine china also encourages the consumer to sip delicately, rather than to gulp or slurp…

Afternoon Tea Etiquette

Tea is handed out one cup at a time after being poured, rather than pouring a few and handing them out in one go. The milk jug and sugar is passed around and each person adds their own. Use the teaspoon to stir the tea (without clinking) and then place it back in the saucer.

When you are served tea in a teacup and saucer at a low table, for example in a drawing room, you should pick up the teacup and saucer. At a dining table (or maybe a garden table), you leave the saucer on the table and raise the cup to your lips. Hold delicate teacups by pinching the handle between your forefinger and thumb – don’t extend your little finger!

Sandwiches are eaten with the fingers, never with a knife and fork. If you are served an elaborate cake, replete with layers of cream and gooey fruit filling, it is a good idea to use the cake fork provided, rather than struggling with your fingers. You can use your fingers for smaller bite-sized cakes.

When you are served scones, you should also not use your knife to cut them in half, horizontally. Instead, break the scone in half with your hand. Take a dollop of jam and cream, using the serving spoon, and put it on the side of the plate. Break off small bite-sized pieces with your fingers, spread with jam and cream and consume in one mouthful.

Which should go first? In Cornwall it is said to be traditional to spread the jam and then add the cream, whereas in Devon cream comes first and jam second is favoured. Either method is completely acceptable, and you should opt for an arrangement that causes the least mess when it comes to conveying the delicious morsel to your mouth.