Afternoon tea
Afternoon tea at Tea Time, what to expect
What is actually on the stand, how booking a time works, what we can swap for allergies, and the honest answer on how much food it is.
5 August 20263 min read
Afternoon tea · The basics
What is afternoon tea?
People book it, get given it as a present, and turn up not quite sure what is coming or how it works. Here is the plain version: what it is, how it differs from a cream tea and from high tea, when it is eaten, and the bits of etiquette worth knowing.
The short answer
Afternoon tea is a light meal served in the middle of the afternoon: finger sandwiches, then scones with jam and clotted cream, then small cakes, with a pot of tea alongside. It usually takes about an hour. It is not the same as a cream tea, which is scones only, and it is not high tea, which is an evening meal with hot food.
Told apart
Cream tea, afternoon tea, high tea
Three names, three different meals. The one that catches people out is high tea, because it sounds grander and is actually plainer.
| Which | What is on it | When | At Tea Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cream tea | A scone, clotted cream, jam and a pot of tea. Nothing else. | Any time the kitchen is open | On the everyday menu at 8.9, sweet or savoury, no booking needed |
| Afternoon tea | Finger sandwiches first, then a scone with jam and cream, then cakes, with tea alongside. | Traditionally mid to late afternoon | 24.9 per person, booked any half hour from 12 to 3, or 12 to 2 on Sundays |
| High tea | A cooked evening meal: hot savoury dishes, bread and butter, strong tea. Not a grander afternoon tea. | Late afternoon into early evening | Not something we serve. The closest thing here is lunch |
High tea got its name from the table, not the class of the food. Working households ate it at the high dining table at the end of the day, while afternoon tea was taken sitting in low chairs. Hotels overseas borrowed the phrase for their smartest version and the meaning drifted.
Where it came from
A duchess with a long afternoon
The custom is usually credited to Anna Maria Russell, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the 1840s. Dinner in her circle had drifted towards eight or nine in the evening, which left a long empty stretch after lunch. She started taking tea with bread and butter and a bit of cake in the middle of the afternoon.
Then she began inviting other people to join her, and the private habit became a social one. By the end of the century it had spread well beyond aristocratic drawing rooms and into tea rooms, department stores and ordinary houses.
The shape has barely changed since: something savoury, something with cream on it, something sweet, and enough time to sit.
Timing
What time is afternoon tea
The traditional window is roughly three to five in the afternoon, set by the gap between a light lunch and a late dinner. Most tea rooms now start earlier, because most people do not eat dinner at nine.
We take bookings any half hour from 12 to 3, or 12 to 2 on Sundays. Twelve works well if you want the afternoon afterwards; the last time of the day, three or two on a Sunday, lands closer to the traditional hour and rolls into the end of the day.
Length
How long it takes
About an hour for most tables. That is not a rule, it is what actually happens: the food comes in three waves, the pot gets refilled, and conversation slows the whole thing down if you let it.
If you are fitting it around a train or a booking elsewhere, say so when you arrive and we will bring it out faster.
The old argument
Jam first or cream first
This one is real, and it is regional. In Devon the clotted cream goes on the scone first, thick like butter, with jam spooned on top. In Cornwall the jam goes on first and the cream sits on it. Both counties will tell you the other is doing it wrong, and both have been at it long enough that neither is going to stop.
There is a practical case for each. Cream first spreads more evenly on a warm scone. Jam first stops the cream sliding and looks better on the plate. Neither changes the taste much once it is in your mouth.
We are in Yorkshire, several hundred miles from the fight. Both pots come to the table separately and you build it however you like.
On our stand
A sweet scone baked that morning, Fruity Kitchen strawberry jam made a few miles away, and clotted cream. Served with the pots on the side.
Etiquette
The bits worth knowing
Most afternoon tea etiquette is invented, and the invented parts are the ones people worry about. These six have a reason behind them. Ignore any of them in our cafe and nothing at all will happen.
Work from the bottom of the stand up
Sandwiches first, then the scone, then the cakes. Savoury before sweet, so the sugar does not flatten everything after it.
Break the scone, do not saw it
Split it in half by hand across the middle. A knife compresses a warm scone and you lose the crumb. The knife is for the jam and the cream.
Dress each half as you eat it
Load one half, eat it, then do the other. A scone assembled early goes soggy while you talk.
Stir gently, back and forth
The convention is a soft movement rather than a swirl, and no clinking round the sides of the cup. It is quieter, which is the actual reason.
The little finger stays down
Sticking it out is a cartoon of politeness, not a rule from anywhere. Hold the handle, keep the hand relaxed.
Milk in first or last is your business
The old habit of pouring milk first came from protecting thin porcelain from hot tea. Modern cups do not care, and neither do we.
Questions people ask
Afternoon tea, answered
- What is afternoon tea?
- A light meal of finger sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, and small cakes, served with a pot of tea in the middle of the afternoon. It sits between lunch and dinner, and it is a meal rather than a snack: most tables take about an hour over it.
- What is the difference between a cream tea and an afternoon tea?
- A cream tea is a scone with clotted cream and jam plus a drink, and that is the whole thing. Afternoon tea adds sandwiches before the scone and cakes after it. A cream tea is a pause; afternoon tea is a meal.
- What is the difference between afternoon tea and high tea?
- High tea is an evening meal, not a posh afternoon tea. It was eaten at the high dining table when people got in from work, and it means hot savoury food, bread and butter and strong tea. Afternoon tea is earlier, lighter and built on sandwiches, scones and cake. Hotels abroad often use high tea to mean the fancy version, which is where the confusion comes from.
- What time is afternoon tea served?
- Traditionally between about three and five in the afternoon, timed to bridge the gap to a late dinner. In practice most places serve it earlier. Ours is booked any half hour from 12 to 3, or 12 to 2 on Sundays, so you can have it early and keep the afternoon, or later and closer to the traditional hour.
- How long does afternoon tea take?
- Most people finish within an hour. There is a lot of food and nobody hurries you, so take longer if the conversation is going well.
- Do you eat the sandwiches or the scones first?
- Sandwiches first, then the scone, then the cakes, working up the stand from the bottom. Savoury before sweet. Nobody will stop you doing it backwards.
- Jam or cream first on a scone?
- It depends which county you ask. Devon puts clotted cream on first and jam on top; Cornwall spreads jam first and puts the cream on that. We are in Yorkshire, so both pots come to the table and you settle it yourself.
- Should you cut a scone with a knife?
- Split it by hand across the middle instead. Pressing a knife through a warm scone squashes the crumb. Use the knife for the jam and the cream.
- Is there a dress code for afternoon tea?
- Not here. Some hotels ask for smart casual and turn away sportswear, so it is worth checking if you are going somewhere grand. We are a cafe on a market square and you are fine as you are.
- Do you have to drink tea at afternoon tea?
- No. Coffee is just as welcome, and drinks are unlimited with ours either way: any hot drink on the menu, and iced tea and iced coffee if the weather says so. Tea is the tradition, not the entry requirement.
- Where did afternoon tea come from?
- It is usually credited to Anna Maria Russell, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the 1840s. Dinner had drifted late into the evening and she took tea with a little bread and cake in the afternoon to bridge the gap, then started inviting friends. The habit spread through Victorian society from there.
- Is the little finger really meant to stick out?
- No. It is a joke about politeness that got taken seriously. Hold the handle, keep your hand relaxed, and put the cup down between sips.
- Is afternoon tea enough for a meal?
- For most people it replaces a meal rather than sitting between two. Four rounds of sandwiches, a scone with cream and three cakes is a lot of food, which is why most people do not want dinner afterwards.
Now the practical bit
Ours is 24.9 a head for a minimum of 2, served on vintage crockery at 87 Market Place in Thirsk, booked any half hour from 12 to 3, or 12 to 2 on Sundays.
Eating with an allergy or a dietary requirement? Start with the dietary page. Marking an occasion? See celebrations.
From the journal