Afternoon Tea

by Jane Pettigrew

One of the most civilized, sociable, and relaxing of customs is gathering around a beautifully laid table to take afternoon tea. Packed with gorgeous images, this informative guide contains details on every aspect of the formal tea, including how to make and serve it at its very best, the etiquette of tea-drinking, the correct china and silverware to use, how to host a tea party, and even how the tea gown evolved. Recipes for delicious teatime treats round out this must-have guide.

Genres: Tea, Cookbooks

80 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Jane Pettigrew is a tea specialist, historian, writer and consultant. Since 1983, she has been working in the UK and around the world to explain and share the fascinating world of tea.

She has written 15 books on the many and varied aspects of tea, its production, history and culture, and she writes for tea related magazines and journals.

She also gives regular tea masterclasses and tea tastings, speaks on radio and TV and acts as consultant to tea companies, new tea businesses, table ware and tea ware companies.

Reviews

[Leslie Goddard]

A fun little book. Quick read with lots of pretty photos. To me, Pettigrew is the leading historian of tea today but her long Social History of Tea might be too much for someone just mildly interested in learning the history of tea. This book is the one I’d recommend for them — trivia, great images of historic paintings of people drinking tea, photos of beautiful tea cups, recipes, instructions on brewing tea, etc. Short and sweet and pretty.

[Lindsey]

A lovely, brief look at the tradition of afternoon tea. If you know nothing about afternoon tea, this would be a wonderful place to start. I found the book a bit simple for my level of tea knowledge and also felt that the inclusion of tea leaf reading was out of place in a book that was otherwise mostly about social history. The recipes were well chosen and not overwhelming.

Pettigrew concisely traces tea from discovery to the rituals surrounding Britain's famous afternoon tea culture with historical images from advertisements, paintings, and photographs. One of the best choices available for a beginning tea lover to delve into a quick history of afternoon tea.