The Creative Edge | The Art of Tea Time

What: Afternoon Tea in Newport

Where: Stoneacre Brasserie at 28 Washington Square | Newport, RI 

When: Recurring weekly on Sunday, Friday, and Saturday | 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Pricing: Starts at $28

“Afternoon Tea, available Friday – Sunday from 2-4 p.m. starting at $28 per person. The special weekend experience includes options for the whole family with two menus possibilities, one just for the kiddos. The regular menu comes with a three-tiered display of sweet and savory bites including buttermilk biscuits with seasonal jam, honey butter and Devonshire cream, housemade cauliflower and cashew-stuffed peppadew peppers, salmon belly BLTs, macarons and sea salt and Heath bar brownies, among others. For the little ones, the Brasserie serves up almond butter and grape jelly “Uncrustables,” cucumber and cream cheese roll-ups, Vermont cheddar grilled cheese, applewood smoked ham baguette with gruyere and honey mustard, as well as hand-cut French fries with ketchup and aioli. Specialty add-ons are available on Friday afternoons as well, for anyone looking to upgrade the experience.”

Taken from Visit Rhode Island.

The History of Afternoon Tea

“Afternoon tea, that most quintessential of English customs is, perhaps surprisingly, a relatively new tradition. Whilst the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China and was popularised in England during the 1660s by King Charles II and his wife the Portuguese Infanta Catherine de Braganza, it was not until the mid 19th century that the concept of ‘afternoon tea’ first appeared.

Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o’clock, thus leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter (some time earlier, the Earl of Sandwich had had the idea of putting a filling between two slices of bread) and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.

This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880’s upper-class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o’clock.”

Taken from Historic UK.