I spent several weeks this past July attending the Oxford Choral Institute at St. Stephen's House, Oxford. There were twelve hours each day of incredible classes and music making at the highest levels of the art. Every day at 4:00 everything came to a screeching halt for thirty minutes for tea time. There was also iced tea, coffee, and a pastry. This was an important time for the gathered academic community to just "be" together, and the learning certainly stretched into the tea time. It lasted 30 minutes, then it was back to class and practice. One of the most important things I returned home with, in addition to the "academic" ideas was a new appreciation for taking time out of the day to rest, refresh, and regroup. One of my resolutions for the coming school year is to keep a tea time myself. Does anyone else do this? Tell us about your experiences.
Does anyone keep a daily tea time?
- Thread starter bach_rocks
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Life is too busy for me to keep anything regulated to a certain time, other than when I start work. However, I usually have tea at night on days that I enjoy some. The idea of a regular break certainly has its merits. I find I can do better if I have a few minutes to clear my mind in the afternoon. It helps me to refocus and improves my concentration.
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It's civilized, but no.
Life requires a blastoff dose of the caffeine molecule ...
AA
Life requires a blastoff dose of the caffeine molecule ...
AA
Me, I am retired and have an all day tea time. I at this time I am enjoying a cup of a new tea that just arrived. Assam from Coffee Bean Direct. I think it may be my new best tea.
I tried. Life always got in the way. I guess this American could not get off the hamster wheel long enough to take a break.
In the US, a daily "tea time" is the prerogative of the wealthy, academic, and idle classes.
The rest of the proletariat must toil for their "daily tea" which leaves little "time" to enjoy it.
The rest of the proletariat must toil for their "daily tea" which leaves little "time" to enjoy it.
A tea break is a sane and civilized practice. It is a way of receiving the day, rather than seizing the day.
Working on it. My training time at the gym has changed to noon so now I'm getting home around 4:30 so it's a later tea time for me.
It's always four o'clock somewhere.
I'm a serious tea man. I tend to drink about 8 cups a day! So pretty much every 90 minutes is a regular tea time for me!
Nothing specific for me, but usually in the afternoon, somewhere between 2 and 3 I stop to have a tea. I normally work while drinking it though, so I am not sure if that counts as tea time!
That explains why it never took off here
I have a cup of tea every evening at 7:00. I will admit after 7:00 I am a member of the idle class. 
I was always under the impression that in the U.K. the term "tea" was referring to the mid day meal?
Wrong?
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Wrong?
.
Wouldn't say it's a daily routine, but at least three times a week at about 4pm, I stop, wander over to the local cafe for coffee or tea and a cake of some sort. Oh and most importantly I take time for a cigar. 45 minutes of me time[emoji57]
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It’s a regional thing, and a class thing, to some degree. Where I grew up, lunch was called dinner, and dinner was tea. However, posh families had lunch at lunch time, and dinner at dinner time. Tea was/is a mid-afternoon event, around four o’clock, with small sandwiches, savouries, cakes, and biscuits. Oh, and tea. Milk in the cup first, naturally.
My parents didn’t stop for tea, but they religiously observed elevenses. My dad closed up his optician’s shop at 11 o’clock, and he and my mum would have a pot of tea, pork pie, cake, and about five cigarettes each before returning to work.
Always loved this song. I was thinking about it just this afternoon, while wondering what time it was. Maybe around 16h00 here locally, or 14h00 GMT ?
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From interactions with a few friends I have seen this held around 4pm. Though with them it was never an exact time just something to mark when the afternoon/day was entering into the homestretch. They also took a late morning tea but the most ritualized one was around 4 o'clock.
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