The custom of serving tea was brought to Canada by the many immigrants from Great Britain, where the tea-time ritual began and was refined and, thankfully, continues to this day. Tea was often served after mid-afternoon, whether it was a snack, a light supper, or substantial dinner. When it was formal occasion, tea-time was treated with great seriousness My favorite tea times are of the special-occasion variety that consist of treats such as sandwiches, fresh or preserved fruits, cheese, breads, cookies, cakes, pies, tarts, and other desserts.. Tea always tastes better when it's shared so come on in and have a perfectly scrumptious time...

Making the perfect old fashioned cup or tea...

First, there are three main types of tea--black, oolong (semi-black) and green. Black tea is fermented before it is dried; and oolong is fermented only briefly before it is dried; and green teas is steamed but not fermented before it is dried. Black Tea, such as today's English Breakfast, was served at any time of the day, while the more exotic oolong and green teas were reserved for the afternoon or evening. Tea is a delicate beverage, and to coax the subtleties of taste and aroma from the leaves, you must observe a few simple but basic rules.

1. Run enough fresh, cold water into a tea kettle to fill the tea pot, plus and extra cup or two. Bring it just to a rolling boil.

2. While the water is heating, fill the tea pot with hot water; this will enable the port to keep the tea hot much longer. Just before the boiling water is ready, pour the hot water out of the tea pot.

3. To the tea pot, add 1 tsp tea leaves for each tea cup--3/4 cup of water. The average tea pot will hold four to six tea cupfuls, so you will need 4-6 tsp tea.

4. Pour boiling water over the tea leaves in the pot, stir gently and place the lid on the pot. Allow the tea to "steep" or stand for 3-5 minutes, stir again and serve immediately, pouring the tea through a strainer into the tea cups

5. Serve the tea with sugar and thinly sliced lemon or milk.

*While the tea bag, invented in 1896, is a convenient method of brewing tea, the tea leaves do not open enough to brew properly when they are confined to such cramped quarters, and the material of the tea bag itself can impart its own flavour to the tea.