Ahhhhh….I am drooling

<<First Name>>, I get pretty excited about High Tea, but I have to remain lady like…

And I am surprised to find out about the origin of High Tea!

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Is High Tea your thing, <<First Name>>?

The first time I had High Tea I was certainly excited. I was absorbing the ambience of the genteel culture, lovely light piano music and beautifully decorated room with warm sunlight passing through the ornate stained glass windows.

There was plenty of food too – 3 tiers full of food, that’s a lot of food, right?

I was accompanied by my hungry husband. Neither of us had High Tea before, and he certainly felt his tummy rumbling still after chowing down 2 tiers of food and this became more obvious when he started talking about burger during the meal!

He proclaimed towards the end of the meal,

            “High Tea is fantastic for “hungry eyes”.

Yep, looked big, but not so big for gentlemen’s highly active digestive system.

Then curiosity kicked in, and I was researching what was High Tea and found it most interesting how High Tea has changed so drastically over time.
Since the days of the British Empire, the British have engaged in the delightful pastime of drinking tea to satisfy their thirst between the long hours of lunch and dinner.

In the 19th century, Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford created afternoon tea when she decided to entertain other ladies of the nobility to bit of tea, sweet delights and gossip on a social setting.

It was often served on low coffee tables so it was called low tea.

Soon after this custom of enjoying tea took amongst the upper class. Unfortunately, the lower classes could not afford such luxuries.

The long journey from the Orient made tea prohibitively expensive. Milk, on the other hand, was cheap and became the condiment of choice among the lower classes.

The amount of milk added became a telltale sign of one’s social standing.

The wealthy took their tea undiluted. The middle class poured the expensive tea and then diluted it with milk.

The lower class filled the cup with cheap milk and then added a splash of the costly tea. And the original high tea was something for the lower classes – a hearty meal of meats and bread with tea.

So “low tea” is now elevated to new height with delicious delights – traditional scones and sandwiches, as well as fusion cuisine are all very popular in High Tea menus.

Enjoy beautiful High Tea in Shingle Inn Town hall Brisbane while learning more about Winter Warmers and Tea and Food Matching in July. More details here.