How to Serve High Tea at Home The Proper Way

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Yes, it?s a British tradition, but it is being practiced all over the world. Especially in regions where Britain once established its presence, the practice of High Tea is a great way of entertaining guests without the aid of alcohol.

There are a few rules and rituals that have to be followed to a ?T? (pardon the pun), for a successful High Tea. First, the proper time for High Tea is 4 o?clock in the afternoon. Period. While technically Afternoon Tea may be taken at any time, High Tea is distinguished by serving more food and may serve as a supper replacement. The time for High Tea has been confused because many commercial establishments now offer it between 3 and 5 p.m., partly to accommodate crowds of Yanks and others for whom afternoon tea is a novel experience.

Since you will be entertaining guests, a hospitable atmosphere conducive to conversation should be attained. You can start by arranging your furniture a certain way. Surround a round table with comfy chairs. This round table will serve as the serving table where all the teapots, cups, saucers, and food will be placed. This way, your guests can reach out and serve themselves, getting rid of the need to ask someone for something and disrupting the conversation. Place fresh-cut flowers in a simple vase and use your best tablecloth and matching cloth napkins for best effect.

You have to spend a little for the proper teatime equipment. One of the best teapots you can have is a ?Brown Betty?. A short, stout, traditionally brown teapot, this classic will last you forever and is worthy to be passed on to your heirs. With a great teapot are good implements. Cups, saucers, teaspoons, a creamer, and various other accessories will turn a typical afternoon tea into a proper High Tea worthy of royalty. Although it is ideal to get everything in one go to have all of them match, with the right mindset, you can make mismatched pieces work just as well. For anything, curiously mismatched pieces add character.

Now comes the most important element: the tea. A gracious host or hostess offers guests as many varieties of tea as possible, from prosaic Orange Pekoe to more exotic Assam Black to zany herbal Rose Hips Tootie-Frootie Enlightenment. Tea has two forms: loose tea, which takes some real skill to brew using an infuser, and teabags, in which one cup?s worth of tea is encased in thin white paper. It?s no longer considered declasse? to offer teabags for afternoon tea; in fact, it?s much appreciated.

Your choice of food to serve your guests is only limited by their ability to eat them conveniently. Although you can serve anything, limiting the menu to finger foods is a sound idea. Tiny sandwiches, cupcakes, petit fours, yummy nut breads, fruit tarts, cream puffs, scones and jam, and crackers or cookies are all good ideas. The trick is to serve a variety of foods to have your guests looking forward to tasting everything.

The final element is the guests. Encourage guests to relax and enjoy one another?s company and High Tea will be a total success.

Michelle is an accomplished season article writer with regards to family home meals. The lady basically loves expressing her pointers and great tips on preparing slow cooker recipes or slow cooker chicken recipes.

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Source: http://www.nutritionarticles.com.au/food-drink/how-to-serve-high-tea-at-home-the-proper-way/

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