The Difference Between Afternoon Tea and High Tea

​​About the Author: Elizabeth Soos

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​Yes, everyone, there is a difference between the two.  To explain, let me take you back a century or so.  Afternoon Tea is associated with Anna Stanhope, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, of the British Royal Family.  In those days when lunch was served at midday and dinner around 8pm, the Duchess of Bedford felt a "sinking feeling" around 4pm.  To assuage it, she would invite her friends for a cup of tea served with bread, butter and sweet treats.  This small custom soon became a favoured pastime for ladies.  There were actually special dresses designed to accommodate this new meal, which included the letting out of waist bands.  Those partaking of an Afternoon Tea would instead be seated in plush low chairs found in drawing rooms of British estates.

​High Tea, in contrast, concerned the workers who returned home after a long day to a spread of foods such as pies, fish, bread and butter, left-over meats and sausages and potatoes served with pots of tea and glasses of ale.   Left over foods were preserved by keeping them as cool as possible and brought out at 6pm for High Tea during the new industrialised Great Britain.  It has been said that the "high" in the name relates to the use of the chairs that the middle and lower classes used at home while dining, such as stools, or even to the fact that some would stand whilst eating.  

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