Afternoon tea refers to a way of eating pastries and drinking tea at the same time, originated in England.

The British habit of drinking tea began in 1661. At that time, a Portuguese princess and King Charles II married, the princess brought the Portuguese tea drinking habits to England.

In the 17th century, the British high society breakfast is very rich, lunch is more simple, and social dinner until about eight o'clock in the evening before the start, people are accustomed to eat some snacks in the afternoon around four o'clock, drink a cup of tea.

There is a very know how to enjoy the life of the countess named Anna Maria, every afternoon she will send the maid for her to prepare a pot of black tea and snacks, she felt this feeling is really good, they invited friends **** enjoy. Soon, afternoon tea became popular in the British high society.

British Victorian afternoon tea basic etiquette:

(a) the most orthodox time to drink afternoon tea is four o'clock in the afternoon (is commonly known as Low Tea).

(ii) In the Victorian era, men wore tuxedos and women wore robes. For the annual formal afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace, male guests still wear tuxedos, hats and umbrellas; women wear day dresses and always wear hats.

(3) The hostess is usually the one who serves the guests in formal attire. A maid will be called upon to assist as a sign of respect for the guest.

Generally speaking, the special tea for afternoon tea is China's Keemun black tea, India Darjeeling black tea, Sri Lanka black tea, gunpowder green tea, traditional flavors of pure flavored tea, if you are drinking milk tea, it is the first to add milk and then add tea.

In the early days, their afternoon tea are based on Keemun black tea from China, because China transport tea to Europe is a long way and expensive, and then slowly planted black tea in India and Sri Lanka, and began to import black tea from India and Sri Lanka. But Chinese black tea, as a far east, is still their favorite.

(d) the orthodox British afternoon tea snacks are three layers of snacks porcelain plate, the first layer of sandwiches, the second layer of traditional British snacks Scone, the third layer of the cake and fruit tower; from the bottom to the top of the beginning to eat. As for the Scone, the way to eat it is to spread the jam first, then the cream, and then the next bite after the first bite.