Experience A Quintessential British Afternoon Tea | Condé Nast Traveler

this is all about the art of afternoon tea and what it means to us british as well as what to expect on the menu and a few hints and tips on how to get the very best out of this national obsession tea was discovered so the story goes back in china around 2737 bc the emperor shendong was resting in the shade of the camellia sinensis tree when a leaf fluttered down into his cup of hot water this small leaf went on to conquer the world afternoon tea is usually taken around four or five o'clock and here are a few essential components the first being of course tea although many people use tea bags it's always best to use fresh brewed loose leaf using an indian or chinese blend to get the best flavor there's a vast range of tea from single estate to blends but here are some of the many kinds served at fortnum's where we are today white peony king tea nan ping yellow bunty finest kukariti royal blendty then the cakes of course a bakewell tarp perhaps or a lemon drizzle cake scones are also a must light golden and fluffy slathered with clotted cream and jam and sandwiches the crust cut off filled with smoked salmon chicken cucumber ham and cheese or egg mayonnaise one of the things that defines this tradition and makes it so celebrated is his ascetic appeal a chance to bring out the good china the first teapot can be traced back to the 16th century in yixing china made of porous unglazed clay but the art of the teapot is as rich as it is varied and here's dr andrea tanner the archivist of fortnum mason to give you a bit more background whether you drank tea or whether you didn't the chief bridesmaid had to give you a tea set as a wedding present they're brought out now from time to time and used and it's fun if you have something beautiful isn't it lovely to use it but if you haven't got something beautiful it doesn't matter you start with the accoutrements i suppose a milk jug and a sugar bowl if you have loose tea a tea strainer and a holder for the tea strainer a china cup saucer and tea plate knives and forks perhaps a cake fork preserved spoons if you happen to have them otherwise teaspoons work perfectly well with the table laid the ceremony can begin and how to make the perfect cup of tea well the tea should brew in the pot for around three to five minutes for black tea which is the most popular form of tea and pour through a strainer into the cup to ensure no loose leaves are in the final drink add milk and sugar as you wish but it's best to avoid milk with green teas buddhist monks helped spread tea around asia while the british brought it to india now this part of tea's history is closely entwined with empire colonialism greed injustice and war with the east india company one of the first major tea traders both rapacious and entirely unregulated it began really just in the homes of the aristocracy you had to be rich in order to enjoy tea in the 18th to 19th centuries it was a huge employer across what became the british empire all tea when fortman mason opened was grown in china by 1837 it was grown in india from the late 19th century in africa it gave employment it has to be said a lot of that employment was indentured labour and it's something that tea growers tea drinkers tea blenders tea sellers have to acknowledge and it's something that we have to deal with and we have to deal with it in a very serious way but despite its murky history tea remains britain's most popular drink with an estimated 100 million cups being drunk every single day when you go to a grand hotel or restaurant presentation is every bit as essential as the actual tea from beautiful cake stands to pretty napkins and tablecloths i think our ancestors would have been horrified at that amount of indulgence in victorian and edwardian times you would have had something called seed cake which had caraway seeds in it you might have had a slice of madeira so rather a plain dry cake some fruit cake a great variety of tiny little cakes which are really influenced by french and austro-hungarian bakers don't really come in until the 1960s and 1970s you might have been a little bit disappointed with what you would have had in edwardian times a debate still rages in england as to which order you should put the jam and clotted cream on your scone and remember scone like gone not scone like home anyway in cornwall they believe the jam should go on first followed by the clotted cream in devon it's the other way around as to my view where i keep that very much to myself because i really do not want to get in the middle of a scone wall [Music] there's a lot of chat about tie etiquette but really it's all about observing basic good manners and nothing more when the tradition started it was a rather more formal affair sometime in the mid 19th century anna duchess of bedford a lifelong friend of queen victoria felt a sinking feeling in the mid-afternoon so asked her servant to bring a tea along with bread and butter and a slice of cake she then started to invite her friends and a british institution was born in a tea room in edwardian times it would have been quite a different affair the ladies would have worn tea gowns these were dresses that were specifically created for having often in tea and they were tea coloured i don't know if that's because they were complementing the tea or they were worried if they spilt any nowadays we don't wear specific clothes one tradition which still stands however is the hostess pouring the tea and be sure to take your time afternoon tea is about pleasure and stepping away from the daily grind taking a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life an escape a moment of peace a deeply civilized experience [Music]

Channel: Condé Nast Traveler

Views: 45,465

Keywords: afternoon tea, afternoon tea history, afternoon tea sandwiches, afternoon tea scones, british afternoon tea, british tradition, cnt, conde nast traveler, cup of tea, english tradition, finger sandwiches, fortnum & mason, fortnum & mason afternoon tea, fortnum & mason london, fortnum and mason, fortnum and mason afternoon tea, fortnum and mason london, high tea, real british afternoon tea, real british tea, scones, tea room, travel, what is afternoon tea

Id: y-TslXK7LYg

Length: 7min 10sec (430 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 28 2022