I wish I had time to go out for a proper tea every day. But instead I tend to make a nice big pot of tea half way through the afternoon, and I’m currently discovering Chinese White Tea – lovely delicate taste with just a little sweet spiciness. But I must admit to hankering after a scone with jam and cream…. darn it, I’m hungry!

I adored cream/high tea my visit to London! To an American, it was such a strange, wonderful and quite sensible thing to do. That’s about the time of day when most of us are swooning at our desks, grabbing a candybar and soda for a quick sugar-rush to get us through the rest of the day. Then, we wonder why we get home and collaspe. Instead, each day in London I’d stop at some small, inexpensive place about 4pm for a light yet substainal tea. It was the perfect boost for more sightseeing and would hold me over until dinner after the theater. I think my favorite spot to stop at was the National Cafe (National Gallery Museum).

Thanks for clearing up some of the tea mysteries!

Generally, this use of ‘tea’ is working class, northern, or East Anglian. Middle class people have ‘dinner’ or ’supper’.

It gets more confusing. If ‘tea’ is your evening meal, your midday meal is probably called ‘dinner’.

This may be why my Grandfather always referred to ‘breakfast’, ‘midday meal’ and ‘evening meal’. He was a clever old chap.