I often look back at 2012 as the best year of my childhood. Caught up in the whirlwind of the London Olympics, the Diamond Jubilee and Andy Murry’s Wimbledon successes, for an eight-year-old, the idea of Britain and ‘the British’ seemed to have a lot to do with trifle and something called Pimm’s. In all fairness, my enthusiasm, was in part, decided by the selection of food that was on offer and luckily enough, growing up in the suburbs of Norwich, it felt as if the summer of street parties would never end. Cucumber sandwiches, homemade Victoria sponges, cheese scones, piles upon piles of profiteroles, quiche Lorraine- I could go on. However, it was a small 50th birthday party in a rural Norfolk hamlet that really came to capture my attention. ‘We’re going to Angela’s’ my mum told me, ‘for ‘afternoon tea’’. 

And so for many years my idea of what afternoon tea was petered on as some kind of reflection of that warm August day. Easy, relaxed, unpretentious, there is no doubt that it sits many miles away from what can be found on social media currently.

This popularity of ‘the afternoon tea’ has been at record heights on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, with the boom in short-form videos capturing establishments such as The Ritz, Claridge’s and The Savoy. Such fascination with etiquette and visually beautiful cuisine has been in development for a few years, with Pinterest’s 2022 annual trend report stating that “drinking tea pose” and “tea party aesthetic” were some of their most popular searches. Due to their report this year claiming that searches for “afternoon tea party ideas” are up 165%, it is no surprise that the rise in social media has also taken effect on the afternoon tea business itself, with many businesses seeking to cater for photography by launching a selection of themed afternoon teas, such as Norwich Assembly House’s recent Peter Pan rendition. 

Interestingly enough, this understanding of afternoon tea as a statement of order, luxury and wealth is far from a contemporary idea, in fact, it really does translate as the modern embodiment of what the event has always been. Popularised in the 1840s, many claim that afternoon tea was brought into being by one of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting, the Duchess of Bedford. Concerned by the growing distance between lunch and supper she established a time in the day to eat ‘bread and cakes’. Although many food historians now argue the Duchess’s chef d’oeuvre to be a myth, the connection to the aristocracy certainly didn’t hinder the event’s indulgent feel both at the time and up until the present day. 

Although it is easy to look at afternoon tea’s position on social media as yet another capricious trend, beneath a sugar-coated surface, hides the same want for achievable luxury that has been in play for hundreds of years. Despite my own wistful memories of what felt like a less superficial time, I have to admit that as far as afternoon teas go, it couldn’t be further from the performative nature of its own tradition.

Picture credit: Image by Ji-yeon Yun from Pixabay