How to Properly Serve & Eat Traditional Afternoon Tea

What order should you eat afternoon tea is a common question for those experiencing the tea service for the first time. If you have ever hosted an afternoon tea party, you may have also wondered what to cook/bake and how to serve the courses, too. Having proper etiquette at afternoon tea is very important, especially when in a traditional setting. One major aspect of afternoon tea etiquette concerns the menu and how to serve and eat the dainty food. Here is everything you need to know about traditional afternoon tea courses.

What is Afternoon Tea?

When you’re thinking of an elegant tea party with fine china, dainty foods and fascinators, you’re thinking of a traditional Afternoon Tea (not High Tea!).

Afternoon Tea began as a social gathering around the 1840s for the upper class in England. How the story goes is that the Duchess of Bedford was feeling hungry before dinner, so she enjoyed some snacks with her cup of tea. This became a routine as she started to invite guests over for tea and treats in the mid-afternoon, too.

When to Serve Traditional Afternoon Tea

Since Afternoon Tea was intended to fill that gap between lunch time and dinner time, it is traditionally served around 3pm or 4pm.

How to Serve Traditional Afternoon Tea

While there are three main afternoon tea courses, all is brought out together, not served separately. Afternoon tea is commonly served on a three-tier tea stand similar to the photo above. This tea stand is different from a cake stand.

The bottom tier holds the savouries. The middle tier holds the scones and the top tier is for the sweets.

The quantity depends on the number of guests but there should be about 4 tea sandwiches, 1 scone and 2 sweets per guest, minimum. There can be less tea sandwiches if there are additional savoury bites.

How to Eat Traditional Afternoon Tea

Believe it or not, there is a proper way to eat traditional afternoon tea. Bottom tier to top tier is the order in which you should eat the afternoon tea courses.

Also, everything served at a proper afternoon tea service is finger food. Thus, you can use your fingers to eat all three courses.

First Course: Savouries (bottom tier)

The savoury plate on an afternoon tea tier stand should be enjoyed first. Traditionally, this course will include a variety of tea sandwiches with no crust and often cut into little rectangles or triangles. Some popular afternoon tea sandwiches include Cucumber & Cream Cheese, Egg Salad, Smoked Salmon, Coronation Chicken.

The first course can sometimes also include other savoury bites that will compliment the tea sandwiches. Some examples are mini quiches, tartlets, deviled eggs and crostini.

Eat the lightest filling tea sandwiches and savouries (ie. cucumber sandwich and deviled eggs) before the heavier ones (ie. chicken sandwich and quiche).

Tea sandwiches and other savouries can be consumed within 2-3 bites.

Second Course: Scones (middle tier)

Next up is my favourite afternoon tea element…scones!

Scones should be fresh out of the oven and served with clotted cream and jam at the minimum. Sometimes lemon curd is alongside, too. Strawberry or raspberry jam is common but an array of jams may be out for your choosing.

Classic English style scones are most common for afternoon tea because they are plain and offer guests the opportunity to flavour and sweeten with the jam and cream.

However, scones with added ingredients like blueberries or cranberries can make an appearance. Savoury scones like cheddar and chive is an option as well.

Each guest should get 1 average-size scone. If the scones are smaller, 2 per guest is recommended.

To eat a scone properly, break it in half by hand and add your clotted cream and jam (order is debatable but based on preference). A knife is only used for the latter. Enjoy the scone bite by bite and do not make a scone sandwich.

Third Course: Sweets (top tier)

The final afternoon tea course consists of bite-sized pastries that are often homemade. This can be anything from tarts to cookies to cakes.

In more modern afternoon tea settings you might even find items like cupcakes or macarons.

Like the savoury course, the sweet course is entirely finger foods. Therefore, when something like cake is listed on a traditional afternoon tea menu, it will be a small slice.

If you have a lot of sweets it’s best to do a mix of rich and simple. It is also recommended to indulge in the simple sweets before the rich.

RELATED READ: The difference between Afternoon Tea, Cream Tea, Royal Tea & More!

What Teas to Serve at Afternoon Tea

Don’t forget about the tea! Of course it is an important part of this tea service. The food menu is there to compliment the beverage that started this social gathering.

A variety of tea offered is a good idea since guests will have different preferences and there is an array of food. Also, it gives guests the option if they want to pair a different tea with the savouries or sweets.

Black tea is definitely the most popular type of tea for afternoon tea but other tea types are nice to include, too. Both pure teas and tea blends work.

Here are some ideas:

• English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Assam: Bold, breakfast style black teas are the most common for afternoon tea. It’s a favourite with guests that may like to add milk or sweetener to their cup. They also go well with all 3 courses.
• Gunpowder Green & Jasmine green tea: Gunpowder green tea is a great pick to pair with both savoury and sweet items. Jasmine green tea is best with scones or fruit-based pastries.
• White Peony white tea, Milk Oolong: These teas are light and creamy and would pair lovely with the sweets course especially.
• Rooibos, Chamomile, Peppermint: Herbal teas are great to serve for those that want a naturally caffeine-free option.

How to Serve Tea at Afternoon Tea

Loose leaf tea is the best option as it will allow guests to experience more flavour from their teacup. If teabags are used for afternoon tea they should at least have full leaf tea inside.

Tea should be served in a teapot at the proper temperature based on the type of tea. If the tea is loose in the teapot, a tea strainer should be placed on top of the teacup before pouring so it catches any tea leaves.

If a teabag is inside the teapot a small plate should be provided for guests to place the teabag on when the tea is done steeping.

Afternoon tea may seem like a light meal when you take a look at the menu filled with finger foods, however, when paired with several cups of tea and great conversations it can actually be quite filling for the stomach and soul.

Do you want to learn more about afternoon tea? Check out The Afternoon Tea Guide: a digital guidebook to help you learn everything there is to know about Afternoon Tea including how to prepare and host this traditional tea service at home.

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What is your favourite part of a traditional afternoon tea menu? Share in the comments below!