Afternoon Tea Week…brighten up your 4 o’clock, courtesy of the Duchess of Bedford
We are quite exciTEAd at Hot Elephant HQ as today marks the start of Afternoon Tea Week! 12th to 18th August is an entire week dedicated to the marvellous custom of enjoying tea…what could be more appealing!
How can you celebrate Afternoon Tea Week?
Whilst there will be a host of events near you, the simplest way is to take a pause and enjoy a great cup of tea with your favourite (savoury or sweet) treat as the clock strikes 4.00pm. Try it for a day and ideally the whole week!
But where did the tradition begin?
We go back to the 1840’s, when lunch was not really a thing (can you believe it!) and dinner was being served later and later. This often left one peckish in the late afternoon. The inspiration came from the Duchess of Bedford, who described a “sinking feeling” in the afternoons and asked for some refreshments and a pot of tea to keep hunger at bay. This soon became an everyday occurrence for her and we like to think that like us she thought that a pot of tea was better when shared! So, she started inviting friends to join her and afternoon tea was born!
They would enjoy tea (often a Darjeeling), some light food and have a good catch up (or a gossip to you and I!). This became a fashionable event, which grew in popularity, made it to royalty (the Duchess was a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria) and often became more elaborate. The mouth-watering morsels included crustless finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, pastries and sweets, all prettily presented to brighten the mood and revitalise the appetite.
Embedded in tradition and still enjoyed in so many ways, afternoon tea is something we look forward to every day. And our favourite way to enjoy it is with a cup of Tranquil Afternoon Tea infused with Safflower petals. This is a blend of beautifully malty Assam tea and a luxury black tea from Kericho in Kenya. It’s lovingly infused with bright orange strands of soothing Safflower petals that make a smooth tea, perfect to calm busy afternoons.
Or like the Duchess, you can enjoy a cup of our single origin Delicious Darjeeling, a delicate cup with a very special taste.
*To celebrate Afternoon Tea Week, we have 15% off our Tranquil Afternoon Tea and Delicious Darjeeling Tea until midnight on 18th August 2019. Discount will be automatically applied at check out.