On 21st April 2008, IBNLive reported kid star Daniel Radcliffe who rose to stardom with his on screen portrayal of Harry Potter has taken up the role of real life a tea-boy too. During the tea breaks, Radcliffe, worth 23 million at the age of 18 years, commenced carrying a notebook along with him on the movie sets to note down the orders of refreshment beverages from the production staff. Radcliffe devised his own eccentric means to get himself off the hook of smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
The eccentricity of “Daniel in Hollywood” boggles your mind and pushes you down the rabbit hole of “Alice in Wonderland”: mad hatter’s tea party. The habit of drinking tea and tea parties prop up in thousands of literally works ranging from silly romantic characters of Enid Blyton to the sophisticated refined characters of American novelist James Mason and over to the greatest ever fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes himself, whose methods of observation and reasoning were held up as examples worth emulating during intensive training sessions of street smart Egyptian policeman at Cairo, where the swindles, stings and schemes are the arts and crafts of the street life. Tea is a beverage of many splendors.
Afternoon Tea in United States and United Kingdom
Afternoon tea doesn’t simply mean the beverage of tea. Afternoon tea is rather a light meal, a snack traditionally taken during the late afternoon. The origin of the habit of drinking tea in England is credited to Portugal’s Catherine of Braganza (1638 –1705) who was given in marriage to England’s Charles the second by the Portuguese royalists in the year 1661. The Portuguese royalists and nobility had then acquired a custom of drinking tea brought from Portuguese colonies in Asia as well as from China and Japan.
Then again during the first half of the nineteenth century Anna Maria Russell, 7th Duchess of Bedford (1783 –1857) a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria of the Great Britain elevated the habit onto a tradition of Afternoon tea. She is said to have complained of “having a sinking feeling” during the afternoon. It was the period in which the day was anchored to the main meal at breakfast. The next port of call would be sighted only following sun down: dinner. A pot of tea with a light snack in her boudoir during the afternoon would breathe fresh wind reviving the Duchess.
The private habit of the Duchess spread onto her friends whom she invited to join in her chambers. In time she upgraded the unofficial verbal invitations to the invitation cards: tea and a walk in the fields. In no time the society ladies of England shifted the idea from inner chambers to the drawing rooms: nibbling sandwiches and sipping tea in the middle of the afternoon took root. When non other than her Majesty Queen Victoria embraced the practice and gave her endorsement, Afternoon tea became a world wide tradition.
Afternoon tea parties have always been a prominent feature during the Victorian age as well as the Edwardian age in the United Kingdom. These formal tea parties characterized by fine china, good manners, and polite conversation served more than just a cup of tea. Tea, coffee, sandwiches and pastries make up the traditional British light meal in the afternoon, popularly known by Afternoon tea. The low table called Coffee table set amidst arm chairs and sofas in the living room and parlors give credence to the alternative name Low tea.
Afternoon tea during the Second World War
Such was nature of established custom of drinking tea in England, it spread to the English communities living in foreign lands too. Such was the social significance of Afternoon tea during the run up to the Second World War, a semi-autobiographical tale from the early life of director Franco Zeffirelli set during pre-WWII Fascist Italy is woven around an occasion of Afternoon Tea with Mussolini. The community of Englishwomen called Scorpioni at Florence was at peace enjoying a sheltered life. And at the tea party, the British ladies were assured of safe residence by the Mussolini. Everything was fine for the ladies for a little while.
Then once again true to his duplicity, to his very boots-spit and shine-Mussolini made a bland face about with utter spite: the ladies were rounded up & interned. In May 1993, Mussolini signed Hitler’s Pact of Steel taking the side of Germany during the winds of war; in September 1939, Mussolini proclaimed Italian neutrality; in October 1939, then following German blitzkrieg into Poland & France, Mussolini made a face about and joined Hitler, labouring under the delusion that world could be torn apart and owned by the Axis powers. That was in the year 1940. The most formidable military power of the world hadn’t yet marched in: the Americans. To awaken the sleeping giant, it would take nothing less than Pearl Harbor. And an over ambitious Japan, in her fit of madness, would sail too far only to sink nuclear bombed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Afternoon tea today
Afternoon tea has lost favor since the Second World War. The haste in the modern life styles has sidelined the traditional everyday light meal to be amidst hustle and bustle of hotels, cafes and tea shops. The world crisis is still on, yet afternoon tea has been making a comeback of trend and passion in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom. Tea rooms have begun springing up all the time, in all the nooks and crannies as well as in the center of attractions. Fine hotels are once again on an overdrive in promoting their new tea services; and with the world turning for good food habits choosing healthier lifestyles, the use of tea, Black tea, Green tea and White tea, from Sri Lanka (Ceylon tea), from India (Darjeeling tea) and from China (Yunnan tea) have taken the pride of place. In England Hazelmere Café which serves Ceylon tea is voted the venue that serves ‘the best cuppa tea’ in UK this year. The famous Claridges Hotel in London won the best Afternoon Tea.
Afternoon tea today in Sri Lanka Holidays
Afternoon Tea during Sri Lanka Holidays at some of the Jetwing hotels around the island is preceded by tea tasting ceremony that enable the guests to taste tea produced in each of the main six tea growing regions of Sri Lanka. Jetwing Hunas Falls in the hills of Kandy and Jetwing St. Andrews Hotel situated opposite the famous Nuwara Eliya Golf Club offer opportunity to taste varieties of Ceylon tea, the finest tea in the world. The refreshing experience is complemented with the traditional Afternoon tea brewed of highest quality Ceylon tea at Sri Lanka hotels during your touring Sri Lanka Holidays.
