How to Serve High Tea at Home

We all know the game of choosing the right setting to meet someone to talk. Lunch is too rushed, dinner is too formal, and "drinks" is too loud and crowded. When you want to impress a guest (or a number of them), and pizza and beer just doesn't do it, don't forget that there's a reason high tea has remained the Queen of Alternative Events for centuries. And we aren't talking merely brewing up a pot--we mean the big ol' High Tea Experience.

You may be saying, "but I don't have nearly enough cats," or "And just when my bonnet and parasol are in the shop!" Come on. What is more stimulating than entertaining uniquely? Plus, you don't have to worry about giving $3.79 per cup to some beatnik wannabe in a smock. And if you think you are alone, heed this fact:

As you read this, 20 million cups of tea are being sipped in England (assuming it takes you a full day to read this).

So, get in touch with your inner Anglophile, and let's see how it's done.

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Instructions

Set a Time and Create the Atmosphere

1. When?
   
   An issue that is debated much more than seems necessary is, "What is the official time for tea?"
   
   It is 4 p.m.. That's it. End of discussion. Four. If you want to get saucy, High Tea may technically be taken at any afternoon time, and may be used as a replacement for supper. This is so because a bit more food is served at High Tea than at Afternoon Tea (if food's what you're after, we'll get to that in Step 4). High Tea Time is more malleable to allow for the best time for your guests to be free, so you'll have extra time for cricket, or Imperialism, or whatever it is you need to do that day.
   
   Aahhh...a pleasant atmosphere
   
   As important as time is atmosphere. Set aside an area of your house--or apartment, or box, or whatever--that will be roomy and private. Of course, comfy chairs are a must, and should be set around a centrally located table ... you know, for the tea and stuff. Splurge and get some seasonal flowers. Arrange them so that you and your company can see and be surrounded by them, but do not have to work around them. Use doilies under your plates, bowls, cups and so on. Got a particularly nice tablecloth you don't mind liberating? Some attractive napkins yearning to be seen? Use them. Also, choosing pleasant music fills the air in ways that smells and sights cannot. Lean toward (perhaps wordless) tunes that accentuate relaxed conversation, and steer away from the intrusive. Mozart? O.K., Busta Rhymes? Not so good.

Next: Obtain the Proper Equipment

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