Making Your Day With Afternoon Tea
From the King of England to a gambling-addicted Earl and a hungry Duchess, Afternoon Tea has a serious pedigree. So where did this delicious custom originate, and why is it even more special now?
A friend recently said: we need to find ways to make our days more exotic this winter. She’s quite right, and Afternoon Tea is a wonderful way to start. Just as Second Breakfast makes a morning special, nothing tells you you’re making good time like Afternoon Tea.
Afternoon Tea creates space to sit down and catch up, to take the weight off your feet, and the world off your mind. It marks a moment, no matter how serious life is and what else is going on. Maybe it’s a special celebration, maybe you’re giving a gift, or maybe it’s simply because your suitcases are acquiring a strangely neglected look… After all, what else says This is a Treat like frivolous sandwiches, tiny cakes and pretty cups of delicate tea? Add champagne and you’re making delicious memories.
The Merrion Hotel’s Art Afternoon Tea is legendary, with the talented pastry chefs confecting witty creations, inspired by the hotel’s famous art collection. Meanwhile, the customs of Afternoon Tea are rooted in the history of nobility, but it took almost three hundred years for all the ingredients to fall into place.
Charles II popularised the drinking of tea in the 1600s, but the real story starts in the 1700s, when John Montagu sat down to a game of cards. An inveterate gambler, it is said that Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was so engrossed in the play, that he called for meat (some report it was ham, some beef) between two slices of bread, so that he could eat it with his hands. His friends soon saw the value of this novel approach and would demand “the same as Sandwich”.
A more sober account suggests Sandwich actually called for his bread-and-meat so that he didn’t have to leave his work papers – which also means he established the habit of dining al desco… The Earl didn’t confine his legacy to tasty bread snacks either, he also greatly supported the maritime adventures of Captain James Cook, who named the Sandwich Islands in the Southern Atlantic in his honour.
So, with the sandwiches accounted for, surely Afternoon Tea wasn’t far behind? In fact, it was almost a century later, in 1840, when Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford began to get peckish in the afternoons. Fashions had been changing, and the evening meal in stylish houses had crept later – to the astonishingly decadent hour of 8pm!
Anna solved this by calling for tea, bread and butter and cake on a tray. So tasty was the interlude, she soon invited friends to join, and before long, it was all the rage in polite society. Traditionally served between 4pm and 5pm, ladies began to dress for the occasion, congregating in elegant drawing rooms, in their long gowns, gloves and hats.
The secrets of the perfect Afternoon Tea are daintiness and surprise. Tiny sandwiches have their crusts cut off. Scones, cakes and macaroons are morsels of deliciousness. Intriguing flavours can make their debut – after all this is one of the day’s prettiest tasting platters. The tea itself is usually more delicate than a breakfast tea, either India or Ceylon. So why not transport yourself? It’s a beautiful tradition.
To treat yourself, or a loved one to Festive Afternoon Tea from The Merrion, it is available to order and collect from the hotel itself, or The Merrion can arrange for delivery within the Greater Dublin Area for €45 per person. Add a bottle of champagne for €30.
To order, please feel free to call The Merrion on 01 603 0600, where 24 hours prior notice will be needed to complete your order.