The Perfect Afternoon Tea

Sandwiches, scones and cakes on three tiers, a pot or two of good tea, and nowhere else to be until six.

How it began

In the 1840s dinner among the fashionable had crept towards eight o’clock, leaving a long hungry afternoon after a light luncheon. Anna, Duchess of Bedford, took to asking for tea, bread and butter and cake in her rooms at about four. She began inviting friends, and by the end of the decade the rest of society had followed.

The three tiers

Eaten from the bottom up: savoury first, sweet last, as a meal should go.

• The bottom: finger sandwiches, crusts off. Cucumber on buttered white, egg and cress, smoked salmon, ham and mustard.
• The middle: scones, warm, with clotted cream and strawberry jam (see the cream tea for the order).
• The top: small cakes. A slice of Victoria sponge, lemon drizzle, Battenberg, shortbread, an éclair or two.

How much for each guest

• Five or six finger sandwiches.
• One or two scones.
• Two or three small cakes.
• Two cups of tea at least, so a fresh pot for every three or four people.

The host’s timetable

1. The day before: bake the cakes and the jam if you make your own; most cakes are better for a night.
2. Two hours before: make the sandwich fillings and keep them cold.
3. An hour before: bake the scones, so they are still warm. Make and cut the sandwiches, and cover them with a damp tea towel.
4. Fifteen minutes before: warm the pots and fill the tiers.
5. As guests sit: brew the first pot, and the next as the first runs low.

Not to be confused with high tea

High tea is another meal entirely: a working family’s hot supper at the end of the day, with meat, pies or something on toast, and tea to drink. The name probably comes from the high table it was eaten at, as opposed to the low tables and armchairs of the drawing room. A hotel offering “high tea” with scones and sandwiches means afternoon tea.

The tea

A Darjeeling for the sandwiches, an Assam or breakfast blend for the scones, and Earl Grey for anyone who asks. A green, poured last, cuts through the cake.

Taking tea in London

When someone else should do the washing up.

• Fortnum & MasonThe Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, PiccadillyOpened by the Queen in 2012, above the shop that has sold tea since 1707: Eau de Nil china, a silver stand and a tea list to get lost in.
• The GoringThe Lounge, BelgraviaA family-owned hotel round the corner from Buckingham Palace, and very much the Royal Family’s local. Ask for a table looking on to the garden.
• The RitzThe Palm Court, PiccadillyTea under the gilded mirrors and chandeliers since 1906, with a pianist. Jacket and tie for gentlemen.
• Claridge’sThe Foyer, MayfairArt Deco, a sweeping staircase and a harpist or pianist, with tea served in the hotel’s own green and white china.
• Brown’s HotelThe English Tea Room, MayfairOak panelling and an open fire in London’s oldest hotel, opened in 1837.
• The SavoyThe Thames Foyer, the StrandUnder a glass cupola, with a pianist playing beside a winter garden gazebo.