High Time for Tea Time in America

The famed English East India Company formally introduced tea to Great Britain in the 1600s. In due course, tea’s popularity and increased consumption swept across England, and by 1700 tea was available in over 500 London tea houses.

The development of Afternoon Tea or High Tea didn’t develop until roughly the mid 19^th Century, and has been a much-loved tradition in England for over 150 years. In the USA, Tea Time is the fastest growing segment of a robust tea market that has tripled in the last 16 years to over six billion dollars annually.

It’s always Tea Time at Bigelow Tea!

”High Tea” is often a misnomer. Some people may refer to “afternoon tea” as “high tea” as it sounds so regal!  But in Great Britain high tea (also: “meat tea”) is dinner. American hotels and tea rooms have developed a hybrid of the High Tea tradition, calling it…

• Afternoon Tea
• Light Tea
• Low Tea
• Full Tea
• High Tea

Warming and flavorful tea is the constant, regardless of the name. Some of the finest Tea Rooms serve afternoon tea 365 days a year, and offer excellent menu options too. Afternoon Tea is as popular as ever and you can find many versions with special themes, like “A Victorian Christmas”, or “A Jane Austen Tea”, or “A Nutcracker Suite Tea” featuring varying levels of service and participation. And not to forget Presidential Teas and Celebrity Teas!

To help with your tea time search there are several Tea Societies — such as the Victorian Tea Society — that regularly propagates the tradition of tea time. However you finally enjoy your tea time – in full regalia with formal setting and time honored ritual, or casually on the back deck with a mug, it’s always high time for tea time.