High Tea or Low Tea?

In most cultures, tea is associated with hot, non-alcoholic drink but in England it has an additional meaning. The culture of tea drinking is a significant part of British cultural heritage. First it was reserved only for the elites but later it became almost a national drink and acquired different meanings. 

AFTERNOON TEA or LOW TEA is an expression used in reference to a small meal snack typically eaten between 4pm and 6pm. The custom originated amongst the wealthy classes in the 1840s. The person considered to be responsible for  transforming afternoon tea (or low tea) into a late-afternoon meal was Anna Maria Russell, the Duchess of Bedford. By the end of 19th century, the low tea had changed into its present form and was observed by both the upper and middle classes.

Traditionally, British tea was brewed in a teapot and served with milk and sugar. The sugar and caffeine provided fortification for the working class of 19th and early 20th century, who had physically demanding occupation. For labourers, the tea was sometimes accompanied by sandwich or scones. Those who were more privileged, drank their tea while eating sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, or cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg cake, fruit cake or Victoria sponge).

For much of the 20th century, methods of preparing and serving afternoon tea were the subject of much snobbery. The upper classes would pour their cups first with tea and then milk, while those inferior to them the other way round. Nowadays the 'milk in first or tea in first' methods do not carry the same resemblance and everyone has his or her preferred way of preparing the drink.

The afternoon tea could be further grouped into: the old-fashioned tea, the at-home tea, the family tea and the high tea. Nowadays, a formal afternoon tea is often taken as a treat in a hotel or tea shop. In everyday life, many Britons take a much simpler refreshment consisting of tea (and occasionally biscuits) as one of many short tea breaks throughout the day.

HIGH TEA ( sometimes refereed to as meat tea) is the evening meal or dinner of the working class, typically eaten between 5pm and 7pm. It usually consists of a hot dish, such as fish and chips, followed by pudding. Traditionally high tea was eaten by middle to upper class children, whose parents would have a more formal dinner later. It could be also eaten by labourers, miners who were coming home from work. The term was first used around 1825 and high was used in the sense of well-advanced meal. It was also a way of distinguishing it from afternoon tea. 

Although it is often stated that the words low and high refer to the height of the tables from which meals were eaten, the term for the later meal actually relates to the usage of high as in the phrase it's high time. Afternoon tea was served in the garden whenever it was possible; otherwise it was a living room, where coffe tables were placed near sofas. Hence the fallacy about it being low tea.