How the Tradition of Taking Afternoon Tea Began

By Donna Wichelman

In my Gilded Age Historical Romance, A Song of Deliverance, my Irish-born protagonist, Anna Sullivan, hosts the Victorian tradition of Afternoon Tea for several prominent ladies of Georgetown to garner their support for a community fundraiser. But how did this tradition of taking Afternoon Tea start?

Victorian Woman Taking Tea: iStock Photo Stock photo ID:455164257

It's no surprise the Chinese drank tea for millennia before the English discovered the pleasure of its taste. Only in the sixteenth century, when Portugal established a trade route with China through Macao, did Europe see its first shipment. But England did not acquire tea until the seventeenth century, during the Cromwell years, 1653 - 1658.

Drinking tea didn't become a popular pastime in England until King Charles II brought it into fashion in the 1660s with his marriage to Portugal's Princess Catherine of Braganza. It had to be green without milk or sugar and drunk with blue and white handleless porcelain from China. The proper way to make it was in the traditional Chinese method of pouring hot water over the leaves from a red-brown stoneware pot.

Taking Tea was primarily a practice of the wealthier class due to its expense and the need to acquire all the accompanying paraphernalia, including a tea service. The most proper way to serve tea required Chinese porcelain, because the Europeans hadn’t yet discovered how to make porcelain. Less expensive options were pewter, Dutch Delftware, or faïence, a fine tin-glazed pottery.

Blue and White Porcelain Tea Cups Compliments of Pixabay

In addition, tea had to be stored in a tea caddy with compartments for different varieties of tea, a crystal blending bowl, and a lock. When serving tea, the mistress would use the paraphernalia to perform a ritual of blending the tea at a table and would often add liqueurs, such as orange brandy, to accompany the offering.

Victorian Tea Caddy, Ebay

This ceremony became so popular that the female character in The Lady’s Last Stake, by Colley Cibber (1708), practically swooned. “Tea! Though soft, though sober, sage, and venerable liquid, though a female tongue-running, smile-smoothing, heart-opening, wink-tipping cordial, to whose glorious insipidity I owe the happiest moment of my life, let me fall prostrate.”

The tradition of the English Afternoon Tea that we know today didn’t emerge until 1840, when Anna Russell, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, a Lady in Waiting of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, introduced the concept. The Duchess often felt hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon and couldn’t wait for the evening meal at eight o’clock, so she would ask for a tray of tea, bread, butter, and cake.

But soon, Anna’s habit became a regular ritual, and she invited friends to join her in her room, adding finger sandwiches and various sweets. By the late nineteenth century, the concept caught on among the upper classes of both England and America, and society women adopted the trend, wearing their most fashionable gowns, gloves, and hats in the drawing rooms of their social circles.

Eventually, the tradition became so popular by the late 1800s that upscale inns, hotels and tea rooms offered afternoon tea. One such hotel is the Ritz in London, where they would stage their afternoon tea at the Palm Court with its soft lighting and luxurious chairs.

By the turn of the century, tea became more affordable, and the middle class joined in the tradition. Music became a part of afternoon tea events in the 1920s, and one could be seen enjoying a late afternoon of dance and merriment along with their tea.

 

Many political movements have been discussed over tea. The Revolutionary War started, in part, because of the high taxes imposed on tea. Many conversations about women’s suffrage in England and the United States took place over Afternoon Tea. And Americans wanting to socialize during Prohibition did so over a cup of tea.

 

All over the world, historic hotels, resorts, and inns still serve Afternoon Tea. In the United States, a resurgence of traditional afternoon tea has taken place since the 1990s. Traditional fare includes but is not limited to cucumber sandwiches, egg sandwiches, watercress sandwiches, smoked salmon sandwiches, scones with lemon curd or strawberry jam and clotted cream, Madeira cake, marble cake, and brandy snaps. Americans have also added items like little quiches, chicken, walnut, and cranberry sandwiches, scones with dried fruits, truffles, and brownie bites.

Traditional Scones: Compliments of Pixabay Image by GX6 from Pixabay

Donna and Jim Having a Twentieth Anniversary Tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia: Donna's Gallery 2004

In September 2024, the Historic Hotels of America® announced their list of the 2024 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Afternoon Tea Experiences where people can “immerse themselves in a Victorian tradition being preserved and revived across the United States …” Two of the historic hotels on their list exist in my home state of Colorado—The Boulderado in Boulder and the Brown Palace in Denver. View the entire list at Historic Hotels of America®.

Donna and Friends at the Brown Palace Taking Afternoon Tea in Denver: Donna's Gallery 2008

However, if you are a Gen Zer and you’re rolling your eyes at the stuffy traditions of your ancestors, never fear. According to a recent article by Kristy Alpert, published on October 8, 2024 in Food and Wine Magazine, Gen Zers have rediscovered the art of taking afternoon tea. But they've added their own unique flair, reimagining the types of food and varieties of tea offered in a more casual atmosphere than their predecessors. Gen Zers have opted for this more inclusive way of enjoying tea, considering it a more suitable alternative to the traditional ways of the past.

If you'd like to host your own Afternoon Tea in your drawing room, as they did in the Victorian Era, I direct you to my Book Clubs page on my website at https://donnawichelman.com/book-clubs/. You don’t have to belong to a book club to use these suggestions for hosting your own Afternoon Tea, though it may be a great time to start a book club of your own.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released on December 3, 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.