Tea etiquette

I am planning a tea party for a group of my friends, several of whom
are from England. As such, I want to make sure that I do everything
correctly to meet their high standards, so I'm hoping someone here can
offer some help.

I know that the overwhelming majority of English people add milk their
tea. What type of milk should I offer? I usually use skim milk. Is
that acceptable or would that be akin to offering only low-calorie,
fat-free foods (which most people don't like)? Should I use whole milk
or compromise by using 1% or 2%? I thought of offering more than one
kind, but that seems like it might be going overboard and getting too
complicated.

Second question: should I offer lemon slices as an alternative to
milk? I'm not sure if adding lemon is an American thing that would
make my efforts to do an English tea look unauthentic. Someone told me
that in England that adding milk to tea is a "working class" thing that
most people do, but if you really want to be posh, then you should use
lemon. I have no idea if this is true or not. Does anyone know? I
really want to get this right.

Thanks in advance.

Fran

English tea is more informal than formal. English tea is for
gossiping. I would suggest cream and unrefined sugar on the side.
Don't forget the finger food like scones or sandwiches. If possible
use a loose British tea blend made for morning or afternoon. You're
the host. They are the guests. You accomodate not capitulate.

Jim

Fran wrote:
> I am planning a tea party for a group of my friends, several of whom
> are from England. As such, I want to make sure that I do everything
> correctly to meet their high standards, so I'm hoping someone here can
> offer some help.

I've seen what the British call Russian tea -- tea with lemon -- offered
in England, so I suppose someone over there must drink it. Make it
available, and (as someone else has said) relax. You aren't having tea
with the queen, but with some friends.

dmh

Fran <claddagh1978@> wrote:
>I know that the overwhelming majority of English people add milk their
>tea. What type of milk should I offer? I usually use skim milk. Is
>that acceptable or would that be akin to offering only low-calorie,
>fat-free foods (which most people don't like)? Should I use whole milk
>or compromise by using 1% or 2%? I thought of offering more than one
>kind, but that seems like it might be going overboard and getting too
>complicated.

Why not use full-cream milk? It tastes better, and if you're only using
a tiny amount, it's not going to clog your arteries appreciably. I don't
really get the American fascination with taking all the good part of the
milk away and drinking the thin stuff that is left over.

>Second question: should I offer lemon slices as an alternative to
>milk? I'm not sure if adding lemon is an American thing that would
>make my efforts to do an English tea look unauthentic. Someone told me
>that in England that adding milk to tea is a "working class" thing that
>most people do, but if you really want to be posh, then you should use
>lemon. I have no idea if this is true or not. Does anyone know? I
>really want to get this right.

It will not hurt anyone to offer lemon. Nobody has to use it if they
do not want. The idea is that if you are drinking strong tea, the citric
acid in the lemon kills the tannins in the tea. Presumably with a higher
quality tea, this won't be needed, but some people use it anyway.

I always ask for weak tea with no milk and no lemon when I am in the UK,
and people always look at me funny but give me the first pour out of the
pot. Note, however, that I take tea with crazy engineering guys.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

>
> It will not hurt anyone to offer lemon. Nobody has to use it if they
> do not want.

Scott -

I agree with you but there is a slight detail that you may have overlooked -
Lemon has an interesting ability to induce the "imaginary acididty" in the
mouths of people who rarely use it.
It was always a nightmare of opera singers that someone in the audience with
start eating a raw lemon while they sing and they would actually see it .
Just imagining that makes some people cringe.
I noticed that lemon, even just sitting on the table, has similar effect on
some of my english friends - just a sight of it.
Me - I love to bite into a whole one, without even slicing.

Sasha.

Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Why not use full-cream milk? It tastes better, and if you're only using
> a tiny amount, it's not going to clog your arteries appreciably. I don't
> really get the American fascination with taking all the good part of the
> milk away and drinking the thin stuff that is left over.
>

I actually prefer skim milk. I have been using it for so long, it is
what I have become used to, but I realize that some of my guests might
not feel the same way. One mistake many Americans make when serving
tea is to offer half-and-half or cream, which totally overwhelm and
ruin the tea, IMO. And I have actually heard some people say the same
thing about whole milk, which is why I was unsure. The suggestion to
use something semi-skimmed (1% or 2%) is probably the way to go.

Thank you all for your help.

Fran