The Different Types of Tea Parties

The art of having tea, and it is an art if done properly, is something that is common and understood in places like Great Britain, but here in America we have lost the knowledge of what that means.  One of the things that is completely misunderstood, is the different types of Tea "Parties" that one can have.  Many hotels are now offering what they call "Afternoon Tea" at lunch time, and they offer a full course luncheon menu replete with soup, entrees, etc.  This is not an Afternoon Tea.  It is what I term a "Luncheon Tea", for lack of a better title, as it is really luncheon with tea as the beverage.  Some call what is really an "Afternoon Tea" by the name of "High Tea", which is really a full meal, not a light repast.  To alleviate these common misnomers, I am going to list some commonly known Teas (meaning parties as opposed to the beverage) and what they encompass in the way of food. Naturally tea is the preferred beverage of choice, however a good hostess always offers an alternative beverage such as coffee or hot chocolate, or with iced tea the companion beverage tends to be lemonade. To the established Teas, I have included some new Teas which are making their way into American Tea Rooms or people's homes. These new Teas have no established name, therefore I am giving them my own name for ease of communication.  I will designate the Teas that I have named with asterisks to differentiate them from the well-known types.


Teas generally run between the hours of 2-6 depending on the type of Tea.  Special Teas such as a *Morning Tea or *Luncheon Tea would be anywhere from 10-2, and a *Firefly Tea would be from 8-10 at night. Just as a special note (in case this is not known), Black and Oolong teas are offered with sugar, milk (not cream), or lemon (some people may want honey). White and Green teas are taken plain (although if a guest wants the sugar, milk, lemon, or honey, it would be rude to refuse them their choice).  Rooibos and Herbal teas are technically not teas, but tisanes, and should also be taken plain (although again that is your guest's choice).  In the menus below, other than the Cream Tea where only scones should be offered (thus the name Cream Tea for the cream scone), the Scone course can consist of not only scones, but crumpets, small fruit pastries, tea biscuits, minature muffins, quick breads, and the like. The savory course consists of finger foods such as tea sandwiches, small meat tarts, miniture quiches, and similar items. The sweets course consists of small bite-sized sweet desserts, such as miniature fruit tarts, cookies, mini cupcakes, petite fours, mini cream puffs, etc.  A Dessert is usually some larger sweet such as a cake, pie, or individual bowls of things such as trifle, pudding parfaits, etc. The courses within each tea are offered in the order listed below.

*Morning Tea - This could be a Cream Tea (see below), or you could have crumpets, coffee cake, doughnuts, or any other breakfast type pastry with tea.

Cream Tea - This Tea can be offered any time of day and consists of scones with jam, curd, and clotted cream.

Light Tea - This  Tea is a two course meal consisting of scones (with condiments) and a sweet.

Afternoon Tea - This is the most commonly known Tea name.  It consists of savories, scones, and sweets.

Full Tea - This consists of savories, scones, sweets, and a dessert.

Royal Tea - This is a Full Tea with the added beverage of champagne, sherry, or a non-alcoholic sparkling beverage along with the tea.

*Dessert Tea - Sweets or a dessert.

High Tea - A complete sit down meal at 6 o'clock with tea.  (The name High Tea does not have to do with being more formal, but with the height of the table. Other teas are generally taken at tea tables which tend to be lower in the manner of a coffee table. High Tea is taken at a kitchen or dining room table which is high, thus the name High Tea.)

Fireside Tea - An informal home tea where guests toast their own bread, crumpets, etc. over an open hearth while sipping tea.

Garden Tea - a summer Afternoon Tea in the setting of a garden, often serving iced tea and lemonade in place of hot tea.

*Luncheon Tea - known in most hotels as an Afternoon Tea, this is a true luncheon, possibly with soup and entree, served with tea.

Children's Tea - This is a tea designed for children. It generally consists of children friendly sandwiches, possibly scones, but more preferably a muffin, and a sweet along with specially flavored teas or hot chocolate.

*Evening Tea or as I heard someone else call it, a Firefly Tea (because you see all the fireflies at that time of night) - An outside evening tea (possibly a High Tea or Dessert Tea).

*Themed Teas - These teas can consist of any of the above teas with a theme that permeates the entire event from food to decorations. This can be Shower (wedding or baby) Teas, Birthday Teas, Holiday Teas, Seasonal Teas, Spa Teas, Book of the Month Teas, Red Hat Society Teas, etc.

*Tea for One Ceremony - This is a Tea that you do for yourself to just stop and take a break.  A whole ceremony can be created around this.  There is a sample ceremony listed with my Tea Party suggestions.

The Teas listed here tend to be of English extraction. There are also Japanese Tea Ceremonies, which are complicated three hour delights that require training to learn.  There is also a Russian version of Tea which is slightly different from the English versions. These will be addressed in another post.

These are types of Teas available for entertaining.  More information can be found in other articles on this site.