It was Dick and Helen Adorjan’s first time abroad: a trip to London to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. But for the Adorjans it also became a journey of discovery – a discovery of the delights of tea.
Not just tea as a beverage, although drinking properly brewed tea made with top quality leaves was a revelation. There was also the experience of tea as an event.
“Helen had always wanted to go to an afternoon tea,” says Dick. “So we chose the Savoy.”
The Adorjans loved everything about it – the pots with different brews of tea, the tiered stands of cakes and scones, and savory sandwiches.
Different customs, ceremonies and cuisines based around tea span the globe: from Japan’s ritual tea ceremony, to Russian samovars, to British builder’s tea – so named because builders would refuse to work on sites when provisions weren’t available for their tea breaks. Builder’s tea is exceptionally strong – as black as the strongest coffee – and drunk with milk and sugar, sometimes lots of sugar. It’s a far cry from a refined cup of tea. But when weather is cold and damp, I sometimes make builder’s tea – it can be as comforting and warming as a cup of cocoa. In Britain and many of its Commonwealth countries, tea is a beverage, but also a synonym for supper, especially in farm country and working class neighborhoods. When students at New Zealand’s Lincoln University, where my daughter, Ashley, studied, asked “What’s for tea?” the answer was found on the dining hall’s posted dinner menu. Tea-as-supper is also called high tea in Britain, a term that in America is often confused with afternoon tea.
European afternoon tea is where the most elaborate, most profuse foodstuffs make an appearance. During the classical age of European diplomacy, it played a significant role in maintaining one of the longest peaceful periods in history. According to UIS professor Steven Schwark, after the fall of Napoleon, wealthy well-bred diplomats from all European countries met regularly for what was called the Concert of Europe (a sort of 19th century precursor to the United Nations) to solve problems arising between their countries and prevent the rise of another Napoleon. They found le té de cinq heures (five o’clock tea) an ideal forum to nurture the cordial atmosphere necessary to conduct their negotiations.
Though the custom of afternoon tea has faded in much of the Continent, it remains popular in the U.K. The Adorjans enjoyed their afternoon tea at the Savoy so much, they wanted to recreate the experience back home in Springfield.
Almost two decades later, they and a group of tea-loving friends are still getting together every other month for afternoon tea. They decided to add book reading to their teas, naming their group Read and Feed; although, as member Judy Everson says, “Sometimes I think we should’ve named it Feed and Read.”
“We’re lucky to have wonderful cooks and bakers in the group,” says Dick Adorjan. Though they most often have traditional tea foods, such as scones, trifles and tea sandwiches, Read and Feed members branch out into other areas, too, such as a Chinese woman who has made dim sum, delectable Chinese “small plates.”
Read and Feed teas always include at least three pots of different types of tea, always including one that’s become the group’s favorite: Blue Lady, a black tea with fruity elements. Like tea aficionados everywhere, they use only loose teas. Most tea in tea bags is of poor quality, but tea made with even good tea in bags can’t compare with loose tea, because the leaves are crushed when put into bags. Unfortunately, members say they can’t find really good loose teas locally; they order theirs (including the Blue Lady) online.
No matter what they’re reading, Read and Feed’s get-togethers have the three elements crucial to classic afternoon teas:
Properly made tea, delicious food and an air of warm conviviality.
Contact Julianne Glatz @[email protected].
