Tea for two – a deconstruction of English tea rituals
I remember once when I was travelling in France being asked whether we still had ‘le five o’clock tea’. Every Frenchman naturally identifies the English with cricket, a stiff upper lip, and afternoon tea – though somehow, cucumber sandwiches have never made it across the Channel.
But “tea” mean several things in English and it’s important to distinguish them. There are many hidden meanings in English tea culture – class connotations, ‘in’ and ‘out’ teas, and words that don’t mean what they seem to mean (‘high tea’ is a meal, not a beverage).
First of all, what I’d call “builder’s tea” …read more
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