Afternoon tea， that most quintessential1） of English customs is， perhaps surprisingly， a relatively new tradition. While 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 Infant2） Catherine de Braganza， it was not until the mid 19th century that the concept of \"afternoon tea\" first appeared.

Afternoon tea was introduced to England by Anna， the seventh Duchess of Bedford， in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry and complain of \"having that sinking feeling\" around four o'clock in the afternoon. At the time it was usual for people to take only two main meals a day： breakfast and dinner at around 8 o'clock in the evening. The evening meal in her household was also 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 and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. Later friends were invited to join her in her country house at Woburn Abbey and this summer practice proved so popular that the Duchess continued it when she returned to London， sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for \"tea and a walking\".

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 room3） between four and five o'clock.

Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty4） sandwiches （including of course thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches）， scones5） served with clotted cream6） and preserves7）. Cakes and pastries8） are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups.

Nowadays however， in the average suburban home， afternoon tea is likely to be just a biscuit or small cake and a mug of tea， usually produced using a teabag.

To experience the best of the afternoon tea tradition， indulge yourself with a trip to one of London's finest hotels or visit a quaint9） tearoom in the West Country10）. The Devonshire Cream Tea11） is famous world wide and consists of scones， strawberry jam and the vital ingredient， Devon clotted cream， as well as cups of hot sweet tea served in china teacups. Many of the other counties in England's West Country also claim the best cream teas： Dorset， Cornwall and Somerset.

下午茶作為英國文化的精髓，是一種相對較新的傳統(tǒng)，這也許讓人驚訝。雖然喝茶的習(xí)俗最早應(yīng)追溯到公元前3000年的中國，并于17世紀(jì)60年代由國王查理二世和他的妻子葡萄牙布拉干薩王朝的凱瑟琳公主在英國推廣開來，但直到19世紀(jì)中期，“下午茶”這一概念才首次出現(xiàn)。

下午茶是在1840年由貝德福德公爵七世的夫人安娜引入英國的。公爵夫人經(jīng)常在下午四點(diǎn)左右感到很餓并抱怨自己“有一種心情低沉的感覺”。那時候，人們通常一天只吃兩頓正餐——早餐和晚上八點(diǎn)左右的晚餐。公爵夫人家也按照這一潮流，晚餐提供得很晚，都在八點(diǎn)。這樣一來，午餐和晚餐之間就隔了好長一段時間。于是，公爵夫人便讓人在下午晚些時候送一托盤的茶、面包、黃油和蛋糕到她房間。后來，她還邀請朋友們來她位于沃本修道院的鄉(xiāng)間邸宅共享下午茶。事實證明，這樣的夏日安排很受歡迎，于是公爵夫人在回到倫敦后便將之延續(xù)下去，給她的朋友寄卡片邀請她們一起“喝喝茶、散散步”。

后來，這種茶歇就成了一種時髦的社交活動。在19世紀(jì)80年代，上流社會的女士們會換上長裙，戴上手套和禮帽去喝下午茶——通常下午四五點(diǎn)之間在餐后休息室里進(jìn)行。

傳統(tǒng)的下午茶包括精選的美味三明治（其中當(dāng)然有夾薄黃瓜片的），配有濃縮奶油的司康餅以及果醬，還包括蛋糕和油酥點(diǎn)心。會有產(chǎn)自印度或錫蘭的茶從銀色的茶壺里被緩緩倒入精美的骨瓷茶杯里。

然而現(xiàn)在，普通郊區(qū)居民家中的下午茶可能只有一塊餅干或一個小蛋糕再加一大杯通常用茶包泡的茶。

想要體會最地道的英式下午茶，就得放縱一下自己，去探訪英國最好的酒店或是西南部那些傳統(tǒng)而雅致的茶室。德文郡下午茶世界聞名，包括司康餅、草莓醬，以及最重要的德文郡濃縮奶油，還有瓷質(zhì)茶杯中熱氣騰騰的甜茶。英國西南部許多其他郡也自稱有最好的下午茶，如多塞特、康沃爾和薩默塞特。

1.quintessential

[?kw?nt??sen?l] adj. 精華的，精髓的

2.infanta [?n?f?nt?] n. （西班牙、葡萄牙的）公主

3.drawing room： 客廳，起居室；婦女餐后的休息室

4.dainty [?de?nti] adj. （食物）美味的，可口的；精美的

5.scone [sk?n] n. 烤餅，司康（一種源于英國用大麥或燕麥加蘇打、糖、鹽等烤制而成的西式茶點(diǎn)）

6.clotted cream： <英> （把牛奶用文火加熱而成的）濃縮奶油。clotted [kl?t?d] adj. <英> 集中的，濃縮的

7.preserve [pr??z??v] n. （用腌制等方法）加工成的食品（如蜜餞、果醬、罐頭等）

8.pastry [?pe?stri] n. 油酥點(diǎn)心（如餡餅、果餡餅）

9.quaint [kwe?nt] adj. 老式而別致的；雅致的

10.West Country： 一種非正式的說法，指英國西南部地區(qū)

11.Devonshire Cream Tea： 德文郡下午茶，一種傳統(tǒng)英式下午茶套餐，包括面包、司康餅、濃縮奶油和果醬。