What is the importance of orthodox English afternoon tea?

The standard English afternoon tea reflects the traditional life of British aristocrats living in rural estates. Breakfast is rich and lunch is relatively simple, but the formal dinner will not start until 8 pm. Duchess Annamaria, the inventor of afternoon tea, was often hungry from 3 pm to 5 pm, so she arranged for the maid to prepare bread, butter and tea in the afternoon.

Afternoon tea must be black tea. Although it is important to drink Pu 'er tea in winter and Longjing tea in summer in China, afternoon tea in Britain can only be black tea. Maybe it has something to do with the weather in England. Cold and rainy seasons are like autumn and winter. There are many kinds of black tea, such as Darjeeling black tea, Zhengshan black tea and Ceylon black tea. Of course, if you really don't know what tea to choose, just order the classic Grey earl grey, which is the queen's favorite. Black tea with milk or lemon depends entirely on personal taste.

Authentic English afternoon tea, the amount of tea remains unchanged for hundreds of years, with salty finger sandwiches on the bottom and classic English muffin Si Kang on the second floor. The third floor is dessert cake, such as fruit tower and sponge cake. The taste is from bottom to top, from salty to sweet. As for fashionable almond cakes and lightning muffins, these seemingly young and fresh things can't really blend into the "classic tradition".

As a finger sandwich of standard English afternoon tea, you must not bring bread. The shape can be triangular or rectangular, and there is no strict requirement. But if this sandwich is for the British royal family, it must be a small cube. Finger sandwiches are placed at the bottom of the three-tier tray in afternoon tea, and they are eaten first in order.

Butter must come from Devon, and condensed cream is a specialty of Devon, England. This thick cream is neither sweet nor greasy, and it has a strong milk flavor. If it is thickly coated on hot scones, it can be called a great blessing in life.