My First Foray into Making Paleo High Tea

Well, I have now succesfully made a Paleo High Tea for a friend. I didn't know if I would be able to do it justice, but it was a rousing success. This is the story of how I pulled it off! Here is some background on what High Tea is, and how I modified it for the Paleo diet. High Tea is a very traditional British meal. It is traditionally served on a 3-tiered tray with each higher tray becoming progressively smaller.

Traditionally, the bottom tray holds crustless miniature sandwiches, often filled with chicken, tuna, or egg salad. The middle tray holds scones, and the top tray holds very small slices of fancy cake. They sell 3-tiered trays at IKEA for a very good price.

I also needed glass snack plates with matching tea cups. I found a set of eight plates with matching cups at an antique store for $17.00. I don't think they even make them anymore, but they are plentiful and usually at a good price in flea markets or antique stores. I also needed a large glass teapot with a tea warmer that uses tea light candles. I had those already because my family uses those every morning for tea.

I then used a Paleo hummus recipe that uses cauliflower instead of chickpeas, and a Paleo chicken salad recipe. I will have both recipes in my next blog post. I put the chicken salad and hummus onto cucumber slices with a very small self-clearing ice cream scoop. Often, these come as a set of different sizes at a kitchen supply store. They are a very good multi-purpose tool.

These little open-faced "sandwiches" were on the bottom tray. I then put dates on the middle tray. The top tray I bought a Paleo lemon tart at Alfalfa's, sliced it into quarters, and called it good. The tarts I prefer to get are the Hail Merry brand, and they are called Miracle Tarts. They taste amazing, and are certified Vegan, Raw, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Non-GMO, and Paleo Friendly. They are very expensive, but since I only needed one, it was worth it. They are about $4.50 each.

I used a top shelf Taiwanese Jinxuan oolong tea, sometimes called a Milk Oolong. A true Jinxuan has no additives to give it a buttery, creamy flavor, and is grown in Taiwan at high elevation. The buttery or creamy flavor is a result of the tea cultivar combined with the high altitude it is grown at. Many "Milk Oolongs" are merely a lightly oxidized oolong tea steamed with milk during the processing. These are not true Jinxuan teas, and are not appropriate teas for someone with dairy allergies or sensitivities to drink.

I picked this tea because it is a light tea suited to summer temperatures. If I had done this High Tea during the winter, I would have chosen a Shou Puerh, because Shou Puerhs are among the most energetically warming teas.

I am now thinking of adding a Peleo High Tea to my selection of Tea Classes. If you think I should add Paleo High Tea to my Tea Class repertoire, drop me an email letting me know if y'all would be interested in it on my Contact page. That is all for now, folks! Next up, the recipes I used to create this High Tea. Until next time!

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