MikeG

Nope .. not British, just love tea and have quite a few friends and co-workers from England. I made the same mistake years ago and resolved myself to learning about it correctly :)

Actually its not a High Tea, its a Low Tea

High Tea is a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and Ireland to describe an early evening meal, typically around 5-6 pm, eaten as a substitute for both afternoon tea and the evening meal. The term comes from the meal being eaten at the "high" (main) table, rather than the smaller table common in living rooms. It is now largely replaced the later meal tea (see below). It would usually consist of cold meats, eggs and/or fish, cakes, and sandwiches, all served at the same time. The cakes may either be full sized and cut into slices, or smaller individual cakes, or muffins, toast or other sweet breads.

In a family, it tends to be less formal and often it is essentially either a regularised snack, usually featuring sandwiches, cookies, pastry, fruit, and the like (in Spain, this is called a merienda), or else it is supper.

"Afternoon Tea" (or Low Tea) is a light meal from Britain (but forms of it exist around the world, mostly in places formerly part of the British Empire) taken at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Many parts of this meal come from the fascination of wealthy Britons with China and Japan in the 18th century - the Orientalist craze.

Formal afternoon tea is served in three stages. The chosen tea is served in a teapot with optional milk and sugar; it is also customary to have a glass of Rosé or White Champagne. A triple-tier cakestand is brought with a variety of finger sandwiches, customarily: cucumber with cream cheese, watercress with mayonnaise, ham with mustard, and smoked salmon. These are served on the lowermost tier. On the middle tier are scones, enough for two per person, usually one plain and one flavoured (with apple and cinnamon for example); these are served with butter, strawberry or raspberry jam, and clotted cream. On the uppermost tier is a selection of handcrafted miniature cakes and pastries, usually consisting of fruit and chocolate. After this is an optional slice of a cake, such as Battenburg. While afternoon tea used to be an everyday event, nowadays it is more likely to be taken as a treat in a hotel, café, or tea house, although many Britons will still have a cup of tea and a slice of cake at "teatime". In modern days, however, it has turned into another meal taken at about 4-6 o'clock.