Afternoon Tea, Anyone?

Afternoon tea is undoubtedly an iconic ( and, I'm sad to say, archaic) British tradition. I seriously believe it will go to meet its maker within the next 25 years.
However, I have fond memories of taking foreign EFL students to Harrod's ( and Brown's hotel) for afternoon tea back in the 70s.Brown's was far better because they made tea with proper loose leaf tea, instead of Harrod's wildly overpriced ratbags.
I can't see GenZ or the next generation (generation Iphone) following the strictures of 4pm tea, dainty sandwiches and tea cakes. They'd probably prefer a sushi pizza slice.
 
Afternoon tea is undoubtedly an iconic ( and, I'm sad to say, archaic) British tradition. I seriously believe it will go to meet its maker within the next 25 years.
However, I have fond memories of taking foreign EFL students to Harrod's ( and Brown's hotel) for afternoon tea back in the 70s.Brown's was far better because they made tea with proper loose leaf tea, instead of Harrod's wildly overpriced ratbags.
I can't see GenZ or the next generation (generation Iphone) following the strictures of 4pm tea, dainty sandwiches and tea cakes. They'd probably prefer a sushi pizza slice.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to hear gen z love afternoon tea.
They don't like alcohol as much as previous gen's so have found other ways to spend time together without spending an arm and a leg so afternoon tea is popular.

To my surprise both of my sons who are distinctly gen z really love the tea set.

Here's what googles top result says about afternoon tea and gen z

IMG_7401.png


There's more but you get the drift, it's afternoon tea but being done slightly differently.
I find it quite heartening 😊
 
An afternoon tea we enjoyed for our anniversary at Coombe Abbey a couple of years ago. There were two choices, the traditional sandwich based, or a pastry based version which we had.

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Sausage roll
Pork pie
Bao
Mini fish and chips
Mini quiche
Mustard and pickled onions
Scone and butter
Coffee cake
Mouse in a chocolate plant pot.
 
An afternoon tea we enjoyed for our anniversary at Coombe Abbey a couple of years ago. There were two choices, the traditional sandwich based, or a pastry based version which we had.

View attachment 134768View attachment 134769

Sausage roll
Pork pie
Bao
Mini fish and chips
Mini quiche
Mustard and pickled onions
Scone and butter
Coffee cake
Mouse in a chocolate plant pot.
That I could do :)
But sandwiches without crust.....
And white bread...
No thanks, that's not for me
 
An afternoon tea we enjoyed for our anniversary at Coombe Abbey a couple of years ago. There were two choices, the traditional sandwich based, or a pastry based version which we had.

View attachment 134768View attachment 134769

Sausage roll
Pork pie
Bao
Mini fish and chips
Mini quiche
Mustard and pickled onions
Scone and butter
Coffee cake
Mouse in a chocolate plant pot.
Loving the little park benches.
 
I have to say as an oldun I don’t really want to make a new and exciting afternoon tea.
I want little the little sandwiches and pile of scones I had on a Sunday afternoon when my mum was feeling kindly towards us.
And if it’s on a Sunday I also don’t want a big palaver after the effort of cooking a Sunday Roast so I imagine my first afternoon tea with the new crockery and my gen z’ers will be cheaty affair involving shop bought macarons 😂
 
If based on our most recent visits to the UK (2017, 2018, 2022), I have to say, I don’t see afternoon tea going anywhere anytime soon. It’s everywhere!

Those visits were around The Costwolds, Suffolk, and London, respectively, and in every location, we had no issue finding a place for our afternoon tea habit; most hotels offered it daily, and there were plenty of other places provided it as well.

When we were staying Cheltenham, we had afternoon tea at our hotel nearly every single day. One day, however, we were out-and-about and started to get hungry - without even thinking about it, we wandered into a tea cafe and…oh look! They’ve just started their afternoon tea service! 😎

As to those little picnic tables…yes, they’re darling, but I must admit that when it comes to afternoon tea, I prefer it on a three-tiered cake stand, and like SSOAP, I want it fairly traditional.

The last afternoon tea we had in London was at the Tower hotel, right down there on the river, with spectacular views of Tower Bridge. Of course, their afternoon tea (available every day) was presented on on a two-tiered cake stand made to look like a sleek version of the bridge - I dare say…it dampened my enjoyment a bit!

Oh…now that I think of it, our most recent afternoon teas were on the 2023 Mediterranean cruise we took. We had one in one of the dining rooms, and we had another specially ordered for our balcony in our room. That one was nice, but no cake stand at all, everything was delivered on plates under polished stainless steel covers and dramatically revealed as the two servers set everything up.
 
If based on our most recent visits to the UK (2017, 2018, 2022), I have to say, I don’t see afternoon tea going anywhere anytime soon. It’s everywhere!

Those visits were around The Costwolds, Suffolk, and London, respectively, and in every location, we had no issue finding a place for our afternoon tea habit; most hotels offered it daily, and there were plenty of other places provided it as well and a while collection for antique cups and saucers.

When we were staying Cheltenham, we had afternoon tea at our hotel nearly every single day. One day, however, we were out-and-about and started to get hungry - without even thinking about it, we wandered into a tea cafe and…oh look! They’ve just started their afternoon tea service! 😎

As to those little picnic tables…yes, they’re darling, but I must admit that when it comes to afternoon tea, I prefer it on a three-tiered cake stand, and like SSOAP, I want it fairly traditional.

The last afternoon tea we had in London was at the Tower hotel, right down there on the river, with spectacular views of Tower Bridge. Of course, their afternoon tea (available every day) was presented on on a two-tiered cake stand made to look like a sleek version of the bridge - I dare say…it dampened my enjoyment a bit!

Oh…now that I think of it, our most recent afternoon teas were on the 2023 Mediterranean cruise we took. We had one in one of the dining rooms, and we had another specially ordered for our balcony in our room. That one was nice, but no cake stand at all, everything was delivered on plates under polished stainless steel covers and dramatically revealed as the two servers set everything up.

When I had to stop eating gluten afternoon tea it was a loss I felt most acutely.
I had a comprehensive collection of serving dishes, a beautiful art nouveau lady holding up a pretty dish, a solid silver thing with opaque turquoise glass shelves, a very pretty three tiered cake stand to name but three.

Unfortunately 30 years ago gluten free bread products were abysmal, they were torture to eat and neither the knowledge or decent GF flour was out there to make your own to any satisfactory level.

After my tenth attempt at making a scone with the final poorly milled gritty GF flour brand I gave up. Packed the beauties in a box and took them to a charity shop.

Now things have changed and the right brand of GF flour handled the right way can give results a normie wouldn’t know was gluten free.
Sadly too late for my afternoon tea collection.

Heyho on the bright side I now have a new set 👏 and when I get back from Spain will be able to have my first proper afternoon tea in over 30 years!

Also this thread and the lovely chat on it made have a quick look at what’s available for cheaty days and these were the first result -

Gluten Free Cream Tea by Post

Pricey but a treats a treat! 😊
 
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