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The Tradition of Afternoon Tea

The special celebration of afternoon tea is often mistakenly considered by many to be the same as high tea, however these two occasions are very different ceremonies and derived from very different origins, and this should be recognized by everyone.

High tea and afternoon tea ceremonies are most definitely not the same thing and in fact originate from completely different beginnings. In this article, the differences between the afternoon tea ceremony and the high tea ceremony will be discussed relevant to each one’s origin, traditions, times of occasion and original purpose.

The Occasion of Afternoon Tea

The whole tradition of the afternoon tea ceremony itself started back in nineteenth century England and was created by the Duchess of Bedford; these events were the first traditional afternoon tea ceremonies that began as an in-between occasion when lunch had passed but dinner was yet to come for at least three more hours.

The tea was then served with an array of breads and butter in order to tide one over until dinner was served. This afternoon meal eased the Duchess and her high society lady friends through the next hours until well after dark when their next meal would be served. This miniature meal filled the time in between when they were getting hungry but would still have to wait for the final meal of the day, which was obviously thus quite beneficial.

Eventually, the afternoon tea occurrence grew to include many more foods such as pastries, scones and finger foods, but the afternoon timing of the ceremony has, to this day, remained at least relatively the same.

Time for High Tea

High tea is often referred to as the same event as the afternoon tea ceremony, however they are in fact not the same at all. Perhaps some deemed high tea as sounding more proper, but this ceremony is actually the one that was practiced and was originated by the more common folk in nineteenth century England rather than the elite-like afternoon tea ceremonies.

Afternoon tea was an already commonly practiced tradition, and so the poorer people picked up this tradition as their own standard tea time. Instead of an earlier scheduled tea time, however, their tea time was rather scheduled to occur closer to dinner or even in place of dinner altogether.

Such was the origin of the ceremony itself, in fact, and this tradition was partially established in order to take the place of the usual meal with the more joyous and celebratory event of tea time. Unlike the afternoon tea of the rich, this tea time took place near dinner time and included much more dinner-like foods such as meat, eggs, cheese and the like. Also, both sexes were included in this meal, unlike the afternoon tea ceremony.