The Origins of “High Tea”
We associate the custom of afternoon tea or “high tea” with the British. Their fondness for tea is well known. But just what is high tea? When and where did this custom start? For an amusing side story about Brits and tea see Those People and Their Tea.
While “high tea” sounds quite posh, a more accurate term is “afternoon tea.” High tea referred to the high (dining room) table at which an evening meal of meats, breads, cheese and whatever might be served. “Low tea” was, ironically, the more posh tea being served to upper classes in their drawing rooms at lower tables. Low tea may also have been distinguished by less substantial fare.
What we now call high tea or afternoon tea most likely originated in the 1700s or 1800s in England. Many have speculated on its origins. My favorite is that a “queen consort” of King Charles II of England, the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, brought her own tea chest to England. Unlike Portugal, England was still a country where ale was the drink of choice. It was safer than water, and more plentiful. The king’s consort introduced the afternoon tea custom to the English.
