How to take afternoon tea like a Brit - BBC REEL
29 Video Views·Jan 10, 2023
When faced with cake, tea and a fine selection of pastries, you may ask yourself, 'how do I make the ensuing binge look graceful?' British etiquette expert William Hanson guides us through the dos and don'ts of afternoon tea.
What could be more British than a classic afternoon tea? Here's my quick guide to the
etiquette so we can make sure you're eating elegantly. Now the first thing is the tea.
Loose leaf tea, if you know what's good for you, which means you'll need a strainer to catch the
And when we stir our tea, we go back and forth in a delicate, gentle 6-12-6-12 motion rather than
round and round because it will prevent splashing, looks a lot more elegant,
and it dissolves any sugar we may have added a lot quicker.
Now on to the food and we start with the sandwiches. Crusts cut off, of course,
and as small as possible. In a private house, these will be small squares. In a hotel,
they'll be rectangular. Now the best part of an afternoon tea, the scones. And yes, we do say
scone, not scone. Now, never use a knife to cut into your scone to open it. Instead, we break it
in half. When it comes to layering your scones, it really doesn't matter which way round the jam
and the cream go, unless you are in the southwest of England. The Cornish insist that the cream
goes last. The Devonians insist the cream goes first. The final course, if you have any room
left, is the cakes and pastries. You'll actually only get one of these in a private house. In the
summer, it'll be a Victoria sponge or in the winter, it'll be a fruitcake. You can either
use your fingers or, if you want to spare sticky fingers, a small fork.
Hopefully, my quick guide means that you're now able to enjoy afternoon tea the correct way.