Afternoon tea and High tea

Are they the same, similar or different?

Well, nearly two hundred years ago Afternoon Tea became fashionable with the upper classes who would eat around 4 o’clock to stop the tummy rumbles between lunch and dinner; they’d nibble on dainty sandwiches and cakes with an abundance of tea. It would be a relaxed affair in the drawing room on comfy chairs.

The working classes had their Tea after a hard day’s work and so it was a more substantial family meal, and would normally include hot food and meat; basically it was their main meal of the day. It seems this became known as High Tea as it was eaten up at a table, literally sitting high, with Afternoon Tea taken at a low table.

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