I love, love, love tea. I would choose tea over coffee any day, unless of course I was in Italy, where I’d have an espresso simply because it’s the thing to do. OK, back to tea…my mind wanders when I think if Italy! I love tea of all kinds – black tea, green tea, roiboos tea, loose-leaf tea, herbal tea, tea with milk or without. I drink it morning, noon and night.
One of my favourite ways to enjoy tea is amongst friends during Afternoon Tea at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto’s tony Yorkville neighbourhood.
The most quintessential of British customs, afternoon tea is a relatively new tradition. While the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China and made popular in England during the 1660s, it wasn’t until the mid-17th century that the concept of ‘afternoon tea’ was actually born.
Historians say it was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in 1840. The Duchess would be hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon and couldn’t wait until dinner, which was served at eight o’clock. She asked for a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake to be brought to her room each late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her. This break for tea became a fashionable event where society women would wear long gowns, gloves and hats to enjoy their tea.
