The perfect afternoon tea

It is not certain exactly when the afternoon tea ritual was introduced. The most popular story tells us that the Duchess of Bedford invented it around 1840 to fight a sinking feeling in the afternoon. Since people in the 18th century had to wait until eight in the evening for dinner, you can imagine that they had the munchies in the afternoon. The duchess is said to have had a tray with tea, bread and butter in her room in the afternoon. Soon she started inviting friends to participate in this ritual. By 1880, it became a social event and soon the etiquette of afternoon tea was born.