The Delicious World of English High Tea

When you think of English high tea, you may think of fancy places to have tea, wealthy people dressed up and tiny finger sandwiches.

Perhaps you may think of the Victorian era. In fact, this is really considered low tea which is held at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

One of the things that represents a fancy afternoon tea to me is the three tiered serving platter that the cakes and scones are served on.

Anna, The Duchess of Bedford is said to have started the tradition of afternoon tea in 1840.

The aristocracy of her time would eat dinner after 7:00 p.m.
The Duchess was simply hungry and decided to have a light snack around 4:00 p.m. to ease her hunger and tide her over until dinner later that night.

Eventually she started to invite friends over for afternoon tea and a tradition was born.

Generations later, the family of the Duchess' was at risk of losing their family home. They managed to keep their family estate, Woburn in Bedforshire, England from being sold to pay taxes.

To do this the family opened parts of the estate to the public and offered it as a venue for weddings and corporate events. It also has a golf course and safari adventure.

Yes, they do serve high tea.

Here are some idea for your own tea party.

Possible Tea to Serve

• Ceylon Teas
• Earl Grey
• Darjeeling
• Dragonwell

Possible Food to Serve

• Small finger sandwiches consisting of cucumbers (or whatever you like)
• Cakes
• Scones served with jam
• Clotted cream
• Cookies

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