Although tea has a rich and diverse global history, there is no doubt that the British have proudly popularized certain ways to drink it. From low tea, to high tea, the English routinely enjoy their afternoon cup with tasty treats and long standing traditions. To honour the British tea culture, Herbal Republic is introducing the Devonshire Cream Tea, served each afternoon at the Teaz store on Granville Street.
You may be wondering -- what is so special about Devonshire Cream Tea? Traditionally, a cream tea is tea taken with a combination of plain or currant scones, clotted cream, and jam. Clotted cream has a consistency similar to soft butter, and was originally only produced in the Western part of Britain where cattled produced milk with a high enough cream content. Before the days of pasteurisation, the milk from the cows was left to stand for several hours so that the cream would rise to the top. This was skimmed, scalded, and then became thicker. Today, machinery is used for the process. It is certainly a special kind of spread!
The tea is often strong bodied and taken without sugar in order to balance the sweetness of the scones, jam, and cream. Fastidious cream tea consumers are also particular about the quality of the scone, as well as the purity of it being plan or currant-flavoured as opposed to some of the more bold flavours such as blueberry, cheese, or chocolate.
The patented desciptor 'Devonshire' comes from the county of Devon in England, where cream tea is a local specialty. There, the proper method of enjoying cream tea is to split (an ideally warm) scone in two, spread a half inch of clotted cream in the centre, and then a teaspoon of fruit jam on top. Regional variations exist on how a cream tea should be taken, and Brits often debate whether the jam ought to be placed on the scone first, or whether butter ought to be spread on the scone first.
So now that your mouth is watering, check out the pictures below and make a plan to visit the Teaz store with a friend -- the cream tea will be as good as the conversation, we guarantee it!
A fun fact: clotted cream has become part of traditional English folklore, including tales of love and royalty!