{High Tea}

- lizdenfeld
\\ high tea \\
n. Chiefly British
A fairly substantial meal that includes tea and is served in the late afternoon or early evening.
——
High tea happens to be one of my favorite things about Europe. It’s a concept I know exists in the U.S., but nobody really practices. But in England it’s, like, a totally real thing. People really do drink that much tea and eat cute little sandwiches and a good helping of cake. Can you imagine a more wonderful way to spend an afternoon than by sipping tea out of perfect vintage china teacups, nibbling on tasty puff pastries and sandwiches, and devouring five pieces of cake? Well, that’s exactly what my good friend Jeanelle and I did on New Years Eve day. It was wonderfully girly and the perfect way to catch up after both of our Swiss Christmases. Ah, we live a charmed life (when we’re not getting stuck on Dutch trains and commuting 2-3 hours a day… but we’ll forget about that for a second!). My goal is to make it to the Orangery in London next time we’re there (who knows when that will be – but it’s only a 50 minute flight, so I’d say sooner than later! Plus, I need to meet these girls when they get here!). It looks right up my alley.

Have any of you experienced high tea? Do you love it? Clearly I do 😉

P.S. Jeanelle and I had high tea at this most adorable place in The Hague – Bloem. We highly recommend it!



{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

26 thoughts on “{High Tea}”

  3. I have never High Tea'd but I think it would be right up my alley. It certainly looks like the perfect way to catch up with girlfriends!

  4. So fun! In South Africa some people also do high tea religiously {since it used to be an English colony}. I've never done it, but it's on my list of “must-do's” for next time we're in Cape Town 🙂

    xxx
    Jenna

  6. My girl friends and I do High Tea every month! I live in Scotland and we go to this little hotel we love. They featured an all chocolate menu a few month's back that was amazing! It is a nice afternoon out–especially in the winter. I love it.

  7. I love the High Tea tradition. I also love tea in general. At home at 4pm we have tea daily since the kids are back from school and we normally eat supper after 8pm. I like how many cultures in Europe focus on the meal times with importance, Italy for example, and the US should def catch on.

    xx
    Bonnie Rose | The Compass Rose

  8. High Tea is the best… we had a high tea lunch + salty buffet at our wedding, that's how much we love it.
    What can be better than cake, and tea and little treats.
    BTW, Liz, if you ever want to meet let me know, it could be fun!
    And Dutch trains. Count on them for getting stuck, for the whole system collapsing with the first hing of snow, and for random delays all the time.

  10. Oh my gosh, you are kind of my favorite person right now! We stumbled upon Bloem when we were in The Hague in May, and absolutely loved it. The owner and her daughter were SO sweet, and we had the BEST banoffee pie…but I couldn't remember the name afterward. It was plaguing me for a few weeks after we left The Hague, because it was one of my favorite memories from our trip and I really wanted to, you know, write about it in my diary/blog/remember it forever! I even tried finding the storefront on Google street view because I remembered exactly where it was. You have no idea how big I smiled when I saw this blog post. Gorgeous photos, as usual!

  11. My sister and I are planning to do High Tea when we're in London this May! Orangery is actually at the top of our list so I'm glad you mentioned it as well! And seriously – nothing better than tea and pastries.
    eatwelltraveloftenblog.blogspot.com

  12. Oh, I love high tea so much. We have tea at an eighteenth century palazzo here in Malta, and it is the best. Although I've always wondered, do most people manage to eat breakfast, lunch, tea, AND dinner? I can never fit in dinner after cucumber sandwiches and cakes.

  14. After reading this post last night I immedietly searched for a place to enjoy high tea in Orvieto. Alas, it looks like it hasn't hit this small piece of Italy. I'll definitely have some high tea in Paris next month!

  15. I've been living in London for 5.5 years now and I STILL haven't experience 'high tea' – can you imagine?! But your post has given me this extra little nudge to go out there and book a table for myself and perhaps my mother-in-law. I definitely agree that this is a perfect way to catch up with your girlfriends or loved ones – and you get to get dressed up nicely, too!

  18. Tea is one of my favorite things about England, especially when accompanied by scones and clotted cream and cakes and the like. I've read that the Heathman in Portland does an afternoon tea – have you tried it?

  23. Oh gosh, we did this every afternoon when I was at university! At four o'clock on the dot, we gathered whoever was around, popped the kettle on, and sat down with a good piece of cake, or at the very least a few biscuits! But then, I suppose we are all British, so it does make perfect sense to me. x

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