1. Does one drink tea or take tea? One drinks tea. During the Victorian era, the term to take tea was used by the lower classes and considered a vulgar expression by the upper classes.
2. Why is the shape of a teapot different from a coffee or chocolate pot? The teapot is designed with a lower rounded body to insure the tea leaves have the proper room for expansion during the infusion process. The lower placement of the spout on the vessel allows for the tea to be poured without interfering with the leaves. A coffee pot is shaped to allow the oils of the beans to descend to the bottom of the pot. A chocolate pot is shaped to allow the cocoa to be stirred to mix the fats and solids before pouring.
3. What is the correct placement of the teapot on the table? The spout of the teapot and the teakettle faces the hostess or pourer. Traditionally, the teapot is placed on the right side of the table with the spout facing to the left.
4. Are tea urns used for brewing or infusing tea? One does not infuse tea in an urn. Tea urns were designed to heat and hold hot water for larger quantities of water. Their function was the same as a teakettle. Ideally, one would dispense the hot water from the urn into the teapot. “Bring the pot to the kettle, not the kettle to the pot.”
5. How does a teacup differ from a coffee or chocolate cup? Traditionally a cup equals four ounces. However, the time of day and the beverage served will dictate the proper size of the service piece. Except for demitasse cups, which are served half full, all other cups are served three quarters full. A teacup is 3 1/4” to 3 3/4” in diameter and 2” to 2 1/2” in height. The companion saucer ranges from 5 1/4” to 5 5/8” across. A teacup is shallow and wider than a coffee or chocolate cup, giving the beverage a chance to temper before drinking.
6. What is a moustache cup? A moustache cup is a nineteenth century variation of the teacup created in England by Harvey Adams. It is designed with a slit ledge projecting from the front side of the rim, allowing the tea to flow through while a gentleman’s moustache remains dry resting on the top lip.
7. Why in older pictures of tea settings are spoons placed across the top of a teacup? Tea was very expensive during the early years of its popularity. As such, the actual tea wares were small in size. There was no room for a teaspoon to rest on the saucer.  A guest rested their teaspoon on top of their teacup as an indication they had had sufficient tea. This was a signal to the hostess to stop pouring tea. Today, to indicate the same signal, due to the larger size of the teacup and saucer, the proper placement of the spoon would be across the top of your saucer, not the cup.

8. When drinking tea does one lift the teacup and saucer or just the teacup? If one is seated at a table, the proper manner to drink tea is to raise the teacup only, placing it back into the saucer in between sips. The saucer remains on the table.If you are at a buffet tea, hold the tea saucer in your lap with your left hand and hold the teacup in your right hand. When not in use, place the teacup back in the tea saucer and hold in your lap. In either event, never wave or hold your teacup in the air.

9. What is a tea plate? Native to England and Europe, tea plates were customized to hold a teacup without a saucer. The plate was embedded with a shallow well to secure the teacup. The foods and tea were served together on one plate. When one is using separate tea service pieces the customary size today is either a salad/dessert plate of seven to eight inches or a bread-and-butter plate of six to seven inches.

10. Where does the expression ”not my cup of tea” come from? To refer to one as “not my cup of tea” derives from the fifteenth century Japanese Teaism. “No tea to him.” As one “insusceptible to the seriocomic interests of the personal drama.” It is used to describe those one does not care for.

11. How is a traditional English trifle made? Ruth Darley’s advice, whether made from scratch or not, for an easy and quick English trifle recipe. Preferably set in a large footed bowl, alternate layers of the following ingredients: sponge or pound cake moistened with Sherry, egg custard or pudding, sliced strawberries, whipped cream and slivered almonds, repeat layers until bowl is filled. Fruit juice may be substituted for Sherry. Custard and pudding flavors may be changed to taste as well as seasonal berries. 

13.  Is it improper to turn over the China or tea wears to see where they were manufactured? While ones desire to learn about the origins of the China wares set on the tea table can be of great curiosity, it is improper to turn these objects over for inspection, especially in view of one’s host or hostess.
14. Is it OK to set a table with the teacup turned upside down inside the saucer? Contrary to the recent advise of some of the etiquette and protocol classes, never does one set a tea table, or any table, with the teacup upside down in the saucer. To set a table in this manner is not only incorrect it is gauche behavior.

14. Who pours the first cup of tea? It is customary for the hostess to pour the first cup of tea. If in a public setting, it is customary for the wait staff to pour the first cup of tea. Prior to pouring the tea, one is asked if they prefer their tea weak or strong, with or without milk, sugar, honey or lemon.

15. What do I do with my tea bag once the tea is brewed? Remove the tea bag from the cup and place it on a side saucer or in a slop bowl. Do not use the string to wrap around or squeeze the tea bag. 

16. What is the difference between Clotted Cream and Devon Cream? Clotted Cream contains a minimum of 55% milk fat, while Devon Cream’s fat content is lower at 48% milk fat. Devon Cream comes from the cows of Devon, England.

17.  What do I do with my iced teaspoon if no saucer has been placed under the glass? Either place the iced teaspoon on the side of another plate or ask the server or hostess to remove the spoon from the table. Never leave the spoon in the glass especially when actually drinking your tea. Despite what one may have read or heard otherwise, even when practiced with aplomb, there is never a correct time or good excuse for bad manners.

18.  What are finger bowls and how are they used? Finger bowls are used for formal service only.  The table would be served by staff. After the entree has been removed from the table, finger bowls, set on top of a doily, are brought out and placed in the center of the empty dessert plate.  One begins using the finger bowl on presentation, as the water would still be warm. One dips only one’s fingertips into the bowl, one hand at a time and pats dry on one’s napkin.  When both hands are dry, move the bowl and doily to the top, left of center, of the dessert plate.  Dessert is then served. The finger bowls are removed after the dessert is finished.

19. What is a knife rest? If one’s knife has not been cleared from the table, the knife rest is a small ornament designed for one to place one’s soiled knife when not in use in-between courses.

20. What is a tea- for -one? A tea-for-one is usually a three-piece set nestled on top of each other~ consisting of a saucer, teacup and a small teapot to accommodate one cup of tea.

1)Sugar Bowl with Sugar Tongs 

2)Trifle 

3)Iced Tea with Spoon

                        4)Tea Plate 

5)Three Tier Stand, Tea Urn

   6)Tea Cozy

              7)Finger Bowl with Underplate 

8)Knife Rests 

9)Mustache Teacup

21. What is decanted tea and what does it mean if listed on a menu? Because the patron never sees the actual leaves in the teapot one should never feel that the quality of the tea is lacking or that the establishment may list one type of tea and then serve another. First and foremost, you can be rest assured that a reputable venue would never list one type of tea and then serve another brand or one of lesser quality.

The reason the teas are steeped and decanted in the kitchen pantry is to insure that the actual tea is served at the correct brewing time for each blend. The strainer is used at tableside to insure that no tea leaves escaped into the pot. The teapots each accommodate at least one cup, but as many as three cups of tea. The quality of the third cup is the same as the first when served decanted.

All blends do not have the same steeping time, yet all teapots need to be brought to the table at the same time. If the tealeaves were placed into the teapot with hot water poured over the leaves and then served to the guest, by the time the tea was strained at the table many of the blends would be ruined. The tea leaves would be stewing in the pot past the correct brewing times.

Adding hot water to a teapot filled with already brewed leaves is, in fact, incorrect.  An establishment that is too lazy to serve properly brewed tea and thinks that hot water poured over brewed leaves is good enough for a guest, doesn’t think very much of the guest. One should regard their guests so highly, that a second pot of freshly brewed tea is served instead of hot water poured over stewed leaves.

It is my understanding that from the earliest ancient Chinese customs, all tea was decanted before serving. To this day Asian food establishments serve all tea decanted.

Originally, in the 1840s, when the genre of afternoon was created by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, tea was served with loose leaf teas in a pot, the teapot was brought over to a kettle to be filled with the hot water.  The tea steeped and then, if served correctly, the entire pot of tea was decanted, through a strainer, into a second pot, leaf-free.  The decanted pot of tea could then accommodate a tea cozy to keep the tea warm. Again, if a tea cozy is placed over a pot containing leaves, the leaves will stew.  Tea leaves left in a teapot past the correct brewing time releases tannins that cause the tea to become bitter.

Due to the physical logistics of most public spaces, it is not possible to use two individual teapots tableside to decant tea from one pot into another. Therefore, an industry approved, eco -bio friendly product called the T-sac can be used to contain the lose leaf tea while brewing. When the tea is brewed, the T-sac is removed, leaving properly brewed tea in the teapot. Again, as sometimes a leaf or two can escape into the pot, a strainer is used tableside.

Yes, many five-star hotels, in past times, served teapots with the leaves left in the pots. It is not the correct way to serve good tea. In fact, with past complaints so plentiful and comments so negative about the stewed leaves, it is to the credit of any venue, now dedicated to the art of tea and its proper service, if they have taken the steps to correct past service mistakes.

22. What is a tea cozy and how is one used at a tea table? A tea cozy is made from a material thick enough to thermalize and hold the temperature, usually dome shaped, to fit over and cover a teapot. The cozy’s function is to keep the decanted tea warm.  If placed over a teapot filled with leaves the tea will stew and turn bitter.  A tea cozy may also be placed over a teapot filled with hot water.

 23. How can a venue insure the service of warm scones? The second course can be passed, Russian style. This is to insure that the scones are served warm. The scones would be cold if left sitting on the top tier of a tray. In the 1800s, due to the kitchen being far away from where afternoon tea was served, the scones were placed on the top of a three- tier tray with a covered, heated silver, warming dome. The scones were consumed after the sandwiches and savories. Today, although the tops of the trays are dome shape, as you will notice, the three tier trays no longer have the warming domes.

24. What are the proper protocols for wearing gloves at an afternoon tea? The protocols for wearing gloves are the same, whether one is attending an afternoon tea or any other event where foods and beverages are served. While gloves are often highly designed with decorations and adornments, their sole purpose is to cover and protect ones hands from the elements. When greeting another, remove the glove from the right hand; place the removed glove in your left hand and shake hands skin to skin. It is improper to dine with ones gloves on. Remove your gloves before sitting down to dine. The exception is for long, formal gloves with buttons at the wrist. It is acceptable to unbutton, remove ones fingers and hands and fold back, to the wrist, the lower portion of the glove without removing the upper portion from your arm. If the gloves have no wrist buttons, the gloves should be removed in their entirety before dining.

     1) Shaking Hands 

             2) Wrist Length Gloves

                  3) Three Button Gloves   

      4) Opera Gloves

“Rules, rules and more rules…the best etiquette of all is to relax and have a good time without noticing the Faux Pas of others!”

~Ellen Easton

© 2004 -2024 Ellen Easton

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Ellen Easton, author of Afternoon Tea~Tips, Terms and Traditions(RED WAGON PRESS), an afternoon tea authority, lifestyle and etiquette industry leader, keynote speaker and product spokesperson, is a hospitality, design, and retail consultant whose clients have included the Waldorf=Astoria, the Plaza and Bergdorf Goodman. Easton’s family traces their tea roots to the early 1800s, when ancestors first introduced tea plants from India and China to the Colony of Ceylon, thus building one of the largest and best cultivated teas estates on the island.