Dining Etiquette: Tea and Coffee

Formal Dining: Tea and Coffee - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Tea and coffee have arrived, and I have chosen tea today. And I want to add some things to sweeten my tea. I am going to reach for some sugar. And what we so frequently see is a lot of this, or this. None of those things would be as appropriate as a very gentle movement, quiet, adding this to your tea or coffee, no scrunching it up like this but keeping it very clean around your plate. Then you are going to add some milk, and of course tea is served with milk, where coffee is often served with cream. I am going to bring the milk pitcher towards me, always holding the lid, and then pouring. Setting this off to the side. Now prior to even finishing this, I may wish to pass this to someone else. I must turn the milk around so that they can actually pick it up by the handle and then I am going to hand it to them like this, while I look at them, nod and smile slightly. Then I am going to pick up my spoon and very quietly stir my tea or coffee. I am not going to hit the edge like this, and I am definitely not going to lick the spoon. And I am going to set that down. Now, you can bring your cup closer to you, and then you are going to bring the cup right up to your lips this way, rather than you going down. And of course you cannot blow on your beverage to cool it either. So it is a sip. If you are having some thing in an Asian surrounding, you would want to put your other hand onto the bottom of the cup so the bottom is never seen. Interesting. So: a nice cup of tea.