The English Tea Table

English Afternoon Tea Classes

The English Tea Table offers classes for you to learn about different aspects of the English Afternoon Tea ritual. Caroline Hope has created a learning resource imparting information through practical workshops and Study Courses.

The Afternoon Tea ritual

There are various components that make up the English afternoon tea ritual. From the early 18th Century, the practice of consuming the tea with bread and butter created the focal point in the home. Around this, a performance of polite etiquette began to take place. This involved having the right objects and knowing how to use them correctly.

Today the focus has shifted to the visual feast of the food and drink, embodied in the public hotel offering. This proudly holds up its symbol, the three-tier cake stand.

Caroline Hope, of The English Tea Table, can satisfy your curiosity about the complex ritual. This might be as simple as learning the technique of baking light and fluffy scones. Today these are frequently present on the afternoon tea table. Alternatively, you may wish to study the steps that take us from tea’s arrival in Europe in the 17th Century to the present-day manifestions.

Caroline Hope enjoys discourse on the intersecting histories of the English Tea Table. Please do contact her to discuss any aspects of this cultural phenomenon.