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28 Afternoon Tea Varieties Ranked From the Best To the Worst

Last update: Thu Mar 27 2025
28 Afternoon Tea Varieties Ranked From the Best To the Worst
01
Devonshire cream tea
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Devonshire Cream tea is a traditional afternoon treat that originates from the county of Devon. It consists of freshly baked scones, which are typically served warm and split in half. The scones are generously topped with clotted cream, a rich, thick cream made by slowly heating unpasteurized cow's milk.


A dollop of strawberry jam is added on top of the clotted cream, creating a delightful contrast of flavors and textures. This indulgent snack is usually accompanied by a pot of hot tea, making it a quintessentially British experience enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.

02

Snack

DEVON, England and  one more region
4.3
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Cream tea is a traditional type of afternoon tea that’s associated with the West Country – Devon, Cornwall, as well as Dorset and Somerset. It consists of tea that’s usually served with a combination of clotted cream, scones, and jam.


Butter is also often added to the mix, as well as whipped cream instead of clotted cream, but the addition of whipped cream makes the tea less authentic. In Devonshire, the scones are split and first spread with clotted cream and then strawberry jam. 
03
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The dainty petticoat tails gained their peculiar name and distinctive shape by resembling the pieces of fabric used to create the elaborate 16th-century petticoats, including that of Mary Queen of Scots, who was reputed to have been particularly fond of these sweet, buttery shortbread biscuits.


However, another less romantic theory claims their name could've been derived from petits cotés, the old French term for little biscuits. Regardless of their real origins, petticoat tails remain a Scottish favorite until this day. 
04

Snack

CORNWALL, England
4.2
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Cornish cream tea is a beloved British afternoon tea tradition that hails from Cornwall. It features freshly baked scones, which are typically split in half and enjoyed while still warm. In the Cornish version, the scones are first spread with a layer of strawberry jam, followed by a generous dollop of clotted cream on top.


The clotted cream is a rich, thick cream made by slowly heating full-cream cow's milk, resulting in its unique texture and flavor. This delightful treat is typically accompanied by a pot of hot tea, providing a comforting and indulgent experience.

05
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Treacle tart is a traditional dessert consisting of a shortcrust pastry filled with sugar syrup, breadcrumbs, lemon juice, and spices such as ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Originally, treacle was the most inexpensive sweetener, so food historians believe that the dish was invented as a way for peasants to use up leftover bread.


This classic dish is traditionally served warm, with a dollop of clotted cream, whipped cream, or a few scoops of ice cream on the side. Local variations include Yorkshire's treacle tart with added dried fruit and grated apple, and Suffolk's, which has eggs beaten into it for a custard-like result.

MOST ICONIC Treacle tart

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06
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Griddle-baked Welsh cakes are a traditional delicacy made with a simple base of flour, lard or butter, sugar, and eggs. They come in different regional varieties that often include spices, lemon zest, raisins, currants, and various types of flour.


Depending on the type, they can be enjoyed on their own as a sweet snack or a dessert, preferably paired with afternoon tea and served with butter and jam on the side.

MOST ICONIC Welsh Cake

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07

Breakfast

UNITED KINGDOM
4.0
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A quintessential British teatime treat, crumpet is a small round bread or cake that is traditionally cooked in a special crumpet ring on a griddle. It is typically prepared with flour, milk or water, and yeast, though sugar, salt, and baking powder or baking soda are also often added to the combination.


Initially, the cakes resembled pancakes due to their thin and flat shape. Today’s crumpets have a soft, spongy, and slightly chewy texture that comes from the addition of yeast and baking powder to the cake’s batter, an ingenious twist on the cake that’s been attributed to Victorian-era bakers. 

MOST ICONIC Crumpet

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08
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Lemon drizzle cake is a traditional cake and a staple of afternoon tea. Although not much is known about its origin, it is believed that the first lemon drizzle was made by a Jewish woman named Evelyn Rose in 1967. This simple sponge cake is usually made with a combination of flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, baking powder, lemon zest, and lemon juice.


The ingredients are mixed in a bowl, then placed into a baking tray and baked in an oven. The lemon juice is mixed with icing sugar, and once the cake is done, the icing is drizzled over it in order to give the cake a refreshing, bright, lemony, and slightly sharp flavor. 

MOST ICONIC Lemon drizzle cake

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09
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Scone is a quick bread that is shaped into various forms such as squares, diamonds, and triangles, then baked in the oven. Although scones were griddle-baked and made with oats in the past, today they are traditionally made with wheat flour, baking powder or soda, butter, milk, sugar, and eggs.


They can be either savory or sweet, consumed for breakfast, or served with afternoon tea. The most popular theory about their origin says they originated in Scotland in the early 1500s, the name scones derived from the Stone of Destiny, where the Kings of Scotland used to be crowned. 

MOST ICONIC Scone

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10

Tart

BAKEWELL, England
3.9
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Bakewell tart is a traditional dessert consisting of shortcrust pastry filled with fruit jam and a combination of sugar, eggs, ground almonds, and butter. The tart is baked so that it remains light and moist, and it is usually served warm, with a dollop of cream or a scoop of ice cream on the side.


The name of the dish is a corruption of the words bad (bath) and kwell (source), referring to the numerous wells that used to flow in the Bakewell area of Derbyshire.

VARIATIONS OF Bakewell tart

MOST ICONIC Bakewell tart

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Tart
BAKEWELL, England
3.7
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Cake
YORKSHIRE, England
3.6
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Sweet Bread
LONDON, England
3.5
20
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23
Cake
DUNDEE, Scotland
3.3
24
25
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27
28
Tart
YORKSHIRE, England
n/a

TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “28 Afternoon Tea Varieties Ranked From the Best To the Worst” list until March 27, 2025, 627,384 ratings were recorded, of which 404,417 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.