While traditional afternoon tea originates from English aristocracy, its evolving popularity has allowed people of all backgrounds to partake in the rituals in one form or another.

Spring is when the tea season really heats up, with afternoon tea an important part of English life.

For more than 150 years, afternoon tea has been a fashionable social event in England, and in that time has taken on many different incarnations.

While the original traditions of the day were born of the rules of a regimented English aristocracy, the afternoon tea genre has evolved, with the British capital now offering traditional as well as trendy haunts with the latter more likely to be frequented by supermodels and their friends, rather than any lords and ladies. Speciality teas, cucumber sandwiches, scones, sweet and savoury fancies, plus strawberries and clotted cream are all delicately served, with the finest china offering an additional elegant sense of occasion.

Ingratiating service and lavish settings, often accompanied by live music, make the pleasures of taking afternoon tea in London impossible to quantify, with the ritual a frequently sought-after indulgence for travellers and capital dwellers alike.

But be warned, for many of the most luxurious hotels on the afternoon tea circuit operate a basic dress code of a jacket and tie for men and an embargo on denim and trainers, though children are usually exempt, and some properties do stop short and accept smart casual.

One of the most traditional afternoon teas in London is served daily at Brown’s Hotel in Albemarle Street, just off Piccadilly. Established in 1837 by Mr Brown, the former valet of celebrated English romantic poet Lord George Byron, the city’s oldest hotel was the location from which Graham Bell made his first successful telephone call in 1876.

Adding to its fame, Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book in the hotel which was also regularly frequented by Agatha Christie who consequently based her book At Bertram’s Hotel on Browns. Available from 3 – 6pm, afternoon tea is served in the comforts of Brown’s Drawing Room on Wedgwood porcelain, with a fireplace and resident pianist providing additional attractions. Also noteworthy is the silver-service, Victorian cake stands, and Brown’s own afternoon tea blend. The Ritz Hotel – overlooking Green Park and synonymous with luxury since its opening in 1906 - is also among the fashionable places in London in which to have afternoon tea, providing another opportunity to lift the little finger (pinkie) while sipping a tastefully brewed cup of hot tea, perhaps with milk and sugar, or with a slice of lemon.

With service on Royal Worcester bone china at little tables in the opulence of the Palm Court with its Louis XV chandeliers, curlicues and cabriolet legs plus music by a pianist and a harpist, at least two weeks advance booking is necessary for weekdays and eight weeks are required to avoid disappointment at weekends.

The famed Dorchester in Park Lane, first opened in 1931 and noted for glamour has in recent decades played host to Brigitte Bardot, Pierce Brosnan, Naomi Campbell, Cher, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gianni Versace, as well as a plethora of Arab royalty and dignitaries.

Now owned by the Sultan of Brunei, the hotel serves afternoon tea from 2.30-6pm in its magnificent marble and gilded promenade, with booking essential. Smart casual is accepted here as a dress code.

As a pianist provides entertainment, silver-service afternoon tea served on Wedgwood porcelain includes a choice of more than 30 varieties of blends, with the most popular being the Dorchester’s own brand. All can afterwards be purchased, wrapped in the hotel’s distinctive livery.

For those who do not have a pied-a-terre in London, the inner Anglophile can indulge closer to home with afternoon tea served daily at The Ritz-Carlton Resort and Spa, Bahrain.

It is not unusual to see high-profile visitors and occasional celebrities - enjoying respite from their busy schedules - sipping exotic blends of tea and nibbling delicious savouries and sweets at the hotel’s Lobby Lounge, with the fine select experience only as The Ritz-Carlton could envision.

A wide variety of blends include a selection of the finest green teas, the perennial-favourite English Breakfast, plus black teas from China and Ceylon.

Smoked salmon and cucumber finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones with Devonshire clotted cream and jam, and a selection of pastries add to the sense of occasions, with live music by the resident pianist and a trio bathing the lounge in classical serenity.