Friday TeaDay 6/18/10 High Tea?

[Chip]

Greetings my fellow tea fanatics. Please do drop in and share what is in your cup throughout this TeaDay.

Yesterday's topic was TeaWare needed? You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's teaPoll and discussion topic. Have you ever experienced "high tea?"If so, please share the experience, if not, why not?

I am looking forward to sharing high tea with everyone on TeaDay today. Cheerio ...

[Seeker]

Yes, I have.
Been quite some time tho.
The primo memory was a trip to England with my mom about 30 years ago. We had high tea a few times, once at the Ritz in London. Cucumber sandwiches, scones, Devonshire cream, etc, etc. Yummy!

[chittychat]

I can't tell since I do not know what is "high tea".

Is it tea that makes you high?

Is it tea grown at high mountains?

Is is tea drunk at high altitudes?

Is it tea drunk by higher-up people?
or
Is it tea one has to get from high up in the cabinet?

At this moment I am enjoying a Long Jing tea and feel quite elevated by its aroma and flavor.

Now a google search tells what is "High Tea". Nope never had that.

[Skippyandjif]

I went to high tea at the Morgan Library in NYC two or three times with my mother and little brother when I was much younger. It was a really neat experience, complete with little finger sandwiches and ornate, tiny cakes. I really enjoyed most of the little cakes, but I did order gingerbread with whipped cream once, and found out that although I love the fat-free stuff in a can, I cannot stand real whipped cream. The tea was really good, too-- the first time I ever had looseleaf tea (I was like sx or seven years old).

Keemun in my cup this morning.

[JBaymore]

Chip, I thought you were deleting threads about smoking tea?


Nope...... no real high tea....unless you count Chanoyu in that category.

But I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

best,

.......................john

[CynTEAa]

Hi Teafolks!

Been busy with tea expos and stuff. Hope everyone is well!

Yes, I've had high tea and love the variety of goodies but felt like there was not enough emphasis on the actual TEA.

I'd do it again!

Happy Friday!

[Victoria]

I have. But I missed the opportunity to have it at one of the most famous locations; The Empress Hotel in Victoria, Canada. I opted out, not being that into tea at the time. Funny though, while in Canada I bought my first loose leaf teabags, which were in part a contributing factor to me getting me here.

In my cup this morning - Adagio Spring Darjeeling

Have a nice day everyone!

[brad4419]

nope, tea is for drinking not smoking. "You silly goose"

[Rithmomachy]

Uh oh. I'm surprised no one has jumped on this yet.

Americans typically refer to the English tradition of an early afternoon snack of cucumber sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, etc. (often accompanied by actual tea) as "high tea," but this is incorrect. That erstwile tradition, now mostly reserved for tourists, is actually "low tea" (or "afternoon tea").

High tea, more commonly called just "tea," is the evening meal served when the work day is finished: what Americans call dinner or supper (though traditionally served slightly earlier, around five). I would imagine everyone has experienced this! (ETA: The "high" refers to the type of table it is served at - a propper dinner table, not a low "coffee" table.)

The American confusion stems from the fact that low tea is associated with the upper classes (who formerly had nothing better to do in the afternoon when everyone else was working, but nowadays mostly have real jobs like everyone else), while high tea is associated with the working classes, who would eat as soon as they got home from a long day's labor, (unlike the upper classes, who would have a formal dinner at seven or eight).

Nowadays, of course, people eat whenever they feel like it, the class distinctions of 100 years ago have mostly vanished, and low tea is reserved for fancy hotels and the like.

[brad4419]

Thanks Rithmoma, In that case I have had "high tea" meaning I come home from work and drink tea with or right around eating time in the evening. I have never eaten cucumbers or scones with tea.

long jing in my cup today

[debunix]

As a graduate student I was part of our weekly 'High Tea' group. There were probably 30 people who participated, taking turns bringing in desserts for everyone to sample in the middle of the afternoon. Some people would also make pots of tea, and I used to prepare some of my staple Ti Kuan Yin and Jasmine teas when it was my turn. But mostly the emphasis was on the desserts, and few people really drank the tea. And this was in San Francisco, where we didn't know the difference between 'high tea' and 'low tea'.

[JBaymore]

Rithmoma,

Thanks for the great information. I love TeaChat!

best,

................john

[artmom]

Being born in Scotland, I have "high" tea all the time! Basically, supper in our house is high tea. Dinner, as we are in the South, is at noon, now that we're retired.

"Cream" tea is what my mama always called a tea around 4:00 in the afternoon, taken at a hotel, tearoom, etc., which consisted of what most Americans think of as "high" tea, as Rithmoma has already explained.

I have had some wonderful "cream" teas; at the Windsor Arms in Toronto, on board the ms Noordam of the Holland America Line; at Fortnum and Mason in London, and a English tearoom in Italy. One delightful home-made version was served in a wee Bed & Breakfast in Ardelve, Scotland -- across from Eilean Donan Castle on Loch Alsh, near the Isle of Skye. Fiona and Bruce were the names of the owners, and they had a snow white dog and a snow white cat. We were there on Midsummer's Eve. Beautiful!

Besides a choice of teas, scones, strawberries, clotted cream, and petit fours are just a few of my fav things about a cream tea.

[Rithmomachy]

Wow, that's awesome, artmom. I was born in Scotland as well. We moved when I was less than a year old, first to Canada, but I grew up in Arkansas. I get to visit my family there about once every year or two.

Now that I think about it, I probably have had an actual cream tea (scones with Devonshire cream, light sandwiches, tea) with my grandmother, although it was nothing formal. I think I may have been to a "proper" afternoon tea at a restaurant when I was visiting her, but I honestly don't remember. If I did, I was probably too young to appreciate it.

As others have mentioned, it doesn't really have much to do with actual tea.

[Dresden]

I've never experienced high tea, but if all goes well I will be experiencing it quite frequently in about a year or so!