> The actual tea as such is a minor part, and doesn't require as much
> attention as if you're serving someone familiar with Chinese tea.
> While the event of afternoon tea is something of an institution with
> which most people will have some familiarity, the actual leaf you use
> is a secondary concern. Remember that you're trying to appeal to a
> broad range of tastes, so don't pick something too far from the
> mainstream (such as lapsang souchong, Earl Grey, etc.). Darjeeling is
> a classic for afternoon tea; or pick a robust, unchallenging blend.
>
> Far more important is the attention that you pay to where you serve
> tea, how you serve tea, and in what you serve tea. If you're billing
> it as "afternoon tea", use your best china: a delicate, appealing pot,
> pleasant cups, matching saucers, and matching plates if you can. At
> the very least, don't use mugs / saucerless cups, or anything stained
> or chipped, if you can avoid it. It's time to break out your "Sunday
> best". There's no right answer, but the more effort you put in, the
> more honour you're paying your guests, and the more touched they'll be.
>
> Standard issue afternoon tea usually comes with some home-made (by
> you!) scones, halved, and placed on a central plate. A small selection
> of jams (not marmalade) in small pots (with small serving spoons). A
> few curls of butter (not margarine or sunflower spread) placed in
> another dish. Most people would rather have a crumbling,
> poorly-constructed scone made by you than something androgynous bought
> from a shop. It doesn't matter if you got it wrong, but at least you
> tried. Never, ever serve "store food" (i.e., bought pre-made from a
> store) at afternoon tea - it's a great way to get people to question
> your taste. Officially, store food is for convenient only, and
> something one eats when one must. Definitely not at afternoon tea. I
> have known people to never return to a hotel based solely on the fact
> that the cakes were obviously store-bought.
>
> Crustless small sandwiches (quarter-slice triangles) and small cream
> cakes are always good. We don't usually take muffins and those sorts
> of small baked goods for afternoon tea, but a Victoria Sponge or
> similar can be a classic. Delicate biscuits *perhaps*, but they're
> getting close to being categorised as "store food" unless they're
> particularly fine. Of course, home-made biscuits are great (but never
> cookies, which are anathema to afternoon tea).
>
> Offer a single jug of good milk (of any variety as long as it's not
> 100%% skimmed - semi-skimmed is least controversial these days), and
> have a bowl of brown and white rugged-cut sugar lumps (ideally with
> serving tongs). One little plate per place, butterknife, teaspoon,
> cup-and-saucer, napkin.
>
> Pick a pleasant place for tea, with some pleasant unintrusive music
> (fresh and gentle). Clear and clean the table, pick a decent
> tablecloth. Unless you're going for a rustic farmhouse-style event,
> don't pick the kitchen table (and only go for a rustic farmhouse-style
> event if you have access to something approximating a rustic
> farmhouse). Fresh flowers in a small, understated arrangement are just
> fine.
>
> The poster above said it best: accomodate, don't capitulate. You're
> the host, and what you pick is, by default, what they will have. They
> have no choice, you're the boss, and you shouldn't pander to their
> every anticipated whim. Believe in yourself and have the confidence to
> understand that they are obliged to enjoy what you serve, as long as
> it's carefully done with no obvious tat (shop cakes, rough mugs,
> unpleasant teapot, poor setting).
>
> Like Basho said, "learn the rules, then forget them". Afternoon tea is
> all about bringing a little gentility back to the busy world, so take
> it slowly. Prove to your guests that the art of conversation isn't
> dead, yet. :)
>
> Everyone loves afternoon tea. Whether for gossip or for that
> particularly type of profundity that usually only arises from the
> nether regions of a pub, the fact that it is still with us is one of
> the more encouraging aspects of modern life.
>
>
> Toodlepip,
>
> Hobbes
>