How to Serve English Tea

Cultures around the world have their own special tea rituals. For most people, this involves brewing a favorite tea and slowing down to enjoy it with friends and family. My personal favorite is serving a black, English tea along with my favorite baked goods and treats.

#1: Select The Teas
Decide if you'd like to serve loose-leaf or bagged tea and choose what types of tea to serve. For a small gathering, you may only want to serve one type, but for a larger party you could offer your guests a variety. Some popular types of tea include:


 * Black teas: darjeeling, ceylon, assam
 * Green and herbal teas: jasmine, chamomile, mint
 * Flavored teas: Earl Grey, lemon ginger, chocolate rooibos

#2: Brew The Tea
Follow the manufacturer's brewing instructions for green or herbal teas. For most black teas, you'll need to bring fresh water to a boil in a kettle. Rinse the teapot out with hot water and place the tea leaves or bags into it. Fill the teapot with hot water and let the tea steep for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how strong you like it. Stir the tea and serve it.


 * If you used loose leaf tea, you'll need to strain it when pouring it into your guest's cup.
 * Avoid squeezing the tea bags with your spoon. This will make the tea bitter.

#3: Set Out Food For Afternoon Tea
Afternoon or low tea is usually served between 3 and 5 pm. You should serve the tea along with a variety of sweet and savory foods. These should be bite-sized so your guests can just nibble as they sip their tea. Offer your guests tiny sandwiches, scones, and pastries.


 * For finger sandwiches, consider serving cucumber and cream cheese, sliced tomato and watercress, or chicken salad sandwiches with the crusts trimmed.
 * Consider serving a variety of miniature sweet scones that you can serve with clotted cream, jam, or citrus curds.
 * You can buy or make small pastries and baked goods like shortbread, macarons, or tea cake.

#4: Arrange Food For High Tea
High tea is often confused with afternoon tea, but it refers to a basic meal served with tea around dinner time. Because this is an informal tea, you can set out cold meats, cooked eggs, fish, cakes, and sandwiches along with the brewed tea.


 * You can still set out cookies and fruit, but they don't need to be as elaborate as those for afternoon tea.

#5: Pour The Tea For Your Guests
Ask your guests how they take their tea. Pour the tea into their cup and then add the lemon, milk, or sugar they asked for. Give the cup to your guest and let them serve themselves food. You can drink your tea once you've served all of your guests.


 * Consider offering alternative milks or sugars for your guests. For example, offer soy milk or almond milk instead of cow's milk. You can also offer honey or stevia instead of granulated sugar.

#6: Make It A Special Event
In addition to traditional afternoon teas, you can make the event more of a party. For example, serve champagne or sherry to make it a royale tea. For a celebration tea, you can also serve a decadent cake. Or if you just want to make a mid-morning tea more special, make it a cream tea by serving scones with clotted cream and fruit curds.


 * If the weather is nice, consider serving the tea outside.
 * For a party, send your guests home with tea party favors. For example, you could send them home with tea strainers, cookies shaped like teapots, or sachets of tea.

Q: Should I always serve Earl Grey tea with lemon?
A: You don't have to, but lemon is always a good addition to an Earl Grey tea tray.

Q: What is Serbian tea?
A: Serbian tea is usually known as tea with a little rakija (brandy).

Q: Should teabags be removed from teacups before serving or should they remain in the cups?
A: You should remove them most of the time, depending on the tea. For fruit tea it doesn't matter but with black tea, for example, you should remove it because it will turn too bitter if it is in the water too long.

Things You'll Need

 * Teapot and Teacups
 * Serving Trays for Food
 * Timer
 * Strainer
 * Water Kettle