An article will introduce you to the British "Tea Time" culture.

The British have never planted a piece of tea but created a unique and gorgeous afternoon tea. It is a fact known all over the world that the British love afternoon tea. A British playwright once said, "While there is tea,there is hope." Where there is tea, there is hope. There are so many "Tea time" in Britain every day that people feel that they spend 1/3 of their lives drinking tea. Enjoy a cup of "bedside tea" in the morning as soon as you wake up in the morning; have another cup of breakfast tea at breakfast; no matter how busy your business is, you have to pause for 20 minutes in the morning to take a break from work; there is even more thunderous afternoon tea before leaving work, which is a legal time not to be disturbed; when you get home, you come back to "High Tea" before dinner; and you have a farewell tea "After Dinner Tea" before going to bed at night.

If you go to the UK, you will certainly be called upon by your friends in the UK to experience all kinds of English tea culture. You must have heard of other "xx tea" such as "High tea", "Afternoon Tea", "Cream Tea" and so on. Many people are still confused by these small differences. What's the difference between them? First of all, let's warm up with the picture above to get a general idea of the differences between these Tea, and then slowly savor their differences.

First of all, first of all, according to the order

Good morning tea Early Tea, that is, the tea time before getting out of bed, is mainly for the purpose of warming the body and awakening the stomach. In order to replenish the moisture lost overnight, the mouth of the teacup used in Morning Tea is also larger than that of other drinking times.

Breakfast tea Breakfast Tea is the time to drink tea with breakfast. As the main purpose is to serve a rich and greasy English breakfast, most of the black tea is milk tea that helps digestion.

Morning tea Morning Tea, the informal tea time between breakfast and lunch is only about 10-15 minutes, also known as "Tea Break".

Cream Tea is the more civilian family afternoon tea. Cream tea is a specialty of devonshire, where seaside vacations and retired military officers buy a farm for retirement in English novels. A traditional Cream tea usually consists of an English Scone with jam (usually strawberry jam), whipped cream, and a cup of English black tea, Earl Grey Tea (Earl grey).

To sum up, the more authentic way to eat Cream Tea is to pour tea first, and you can also add milk according to taste. (according to Daneestone tips, you must add cold milk first and then tea), then break the scone (preferably hot from the oven) into two halves, pick up half and coat it with half an inch of clotted cream in the middle, then cover it with a teaspoon of jam. Another way to eat Cornish is to butter the Scone, let the butter seep in, then spread a layer of jam, and then apply clotted cream. In short, Cream Tea is a very casual afternoon tea, almost every corner of the UK city, as long as you go to the UK, do not worry, basically any English coffee shop, teahouse will provide Cream Tea. The freshly baked scones are eaten in one bite and served with a cup of Earl grey, and the happiness soars instantly.

Afternoon Tea is of the highest quality, dating back to England in the 18th century, when traditional dinners were arranged after 8pm. Why? it is said that because men want to go out to socialize, women have to wait for their husbands to get home at eight or nine before they can have dinner. From lunch to dinner, with an empty stomach for seven or eight hours, everyone is starving to death. So a duchess named Anna came up with an idea. At about four o'clock in the afternoon, she asked the kitchen to make some snacks for her, such as cakes and biscuits to fill her stomach. Gradually she began to invite her best friend to have tea and snacks with her. Over time, it evolved into today's popular "Afternoon tea". Therefore, the founder of "Afternoon tea" is an aristocrat, and it was only popular in the British upper class at first.

Generally speaking, the traditional English afternoon tea is more popular with Earl Grey Tea (Earl grey), as well as Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiri, Ceylon and Dimbula are also the choices for making herbal tea.

Usually the first floor of the three-story tower is a variety of salty sandwiches, such as ham, cheese and other flavors, the second and third layers are desserts, generally speaking, the second floor is more Scone introduced in Cream Tea with strawberry cream, the other is also like puffs, biscuits or chocolate, it is arranged by the chef at will, and the dessert on the third floor is not fixed, but the chef chooses the right dessert, usually cake and fruit tower.

According to the traditional eating method of the three-story tower, it is from sweet to salty, and then back to the sweet taste. Now the way to eat afternoon tea is relatively casual, regardless of the order, you can taste it according to your own preferences. The afternoon tea time for aristocrats is usually held from three to four on weekends. Because most of the refreshments served with tea are on the Low Table, it is also known as "Low Tea". If it is a noble formal tea gathering, it is called "tea banquet" (Tea Party).

Slowly, during the industrial revolution in the 19th century, British blue-collar workers advanced their "meal" to five or six o'clock in the evening. In fact, in order to save money for afternoon tea, they simply put afternoon tea and dinner together. But after a whole day's work, the delicate snacks that women love are not enough to clog their teeth. How about the strength of the working class, they added sandwiches, pies (cornish pasty) and other full food, but also with the equivalent of strong strong tea to free themselves from the malaise after a tired day's work. The reason why it is called "High tea" is because compared to the comfortable tea drinking environment of "Afternoon tea", "High tea" needs to be eaten at the dinner table at that time, and the chair is not so comfortable "high" back chair, so it is named "high" tea. Therefore, the founder of this "High tea" is a great working people and a product of the wisdom of the working class! Although they come from different backgrounds, Afternoon tea and High tea no longer have any class color today. For me, this senior foodie is all "delicious" and should be treated equally. (this paragraph is from Red Scarf)

Of course, the British also have dinner tea (After Dinner Tea), which is a tea time to have a close conversation with the family to promote emotional communication. In order to refresh and moisturize the throat, the types of black tea chosen are mostly black tea without milk and black tea with brandy or jam.

What to eat: black tea without milk; Spotted Dick (traditional English dessert with raisins or currants, the name "Spotted" refers to dried fruit in the pudding); Sticky Toffee Pudding (an English wet sponge cake topped with thick toffee sauce) Fruit cream jelly (Trifle, a beautiful-looking traditional English dessert with sponge cake and fruit on the bottom, custard on the top, and sometimes wine instead of fruit juices)

Victorian bedtime tea (Night Tea) was an upper-class tea habit and was suitable for the aristocracy who did not have to get up early to work the next day. In order to calm the mind and lubricate the taste, some cream or wine is usually added to the black tea. Of course, there will be a small number of snacks, such as cookies, chocolates and so on.

Of course, perfect afternoon tea is absolutely inseparable from good "tea". In addition to choosing the right taste, different teas also need to master different temperatures and times. WHY?

1. Time is too long, the temperature is too high, the tea will be too bitter, if the time is not enough, the temperature is not enough, then the taste of tea will not play its best taste.

two。 In general, Loose leaf tea can be repeatedly brewed, but Bagged tea is only recommended for one-time use.