Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AFTERNOON TEA IN VICTORIA
The afternoon tea custom is one of the many ways in which Victoria's
British heritage fi nds expression today. While known to China for
5,000 years, tea was introduced to the English court in the 17th cen-
tury, but did not catch on for another two centuries or so.
The story goes that in the 1840s, Anna, the seventh Duchess of
Bedford, got too hungry by mid-afternoon to wait until dinner time,
commonly not much earlier than 9pm. So she ordered a snack of
cakes, tarts, cookies, bread and butter, and tea to be brought to her
boudoir. It wasn't long before the custom made its way into the draw-
ing rooms of London, becoming a popular Victorian social custom
among women of the privileged class.
By this time, the British East India Company was establishing tea plan-
tations in Assam and other parts of India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The
fi rst shipment of Indian tea reached London in 1838.
Tea rooms as we now know them did not appear before 1864, when
the enterprising manager of a bread shop near London Bridge began
serving tea and snacks to her favourite clients.
Although there are a number of lovely tea rooms in Victoria, none has
the cachet or genteel atmosphere of the Fairmont Empress Hotel's
afternoon tea, which includes, in addition to a pot of Empress blend
tea, delicate sandwiches, fresh scones with Jersey cream and straw-
berry jam, and light pastries.
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The Empress Hotel, Victoria's grand British-style hotel.
© iStockphoto.com / Eric Hood
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