Britain responds after Expo 2025 afternoon tea brews outrage

A post deploring the quality of the tea set – including “a tea bag stuck in a paper cup” went viral on X. - Photo: LOVE_ILLUTION_/X

TOKYO: A US$35 afternoon tea set served at the British pavilion at the Osaka Expo has left Japanese social media aghast at its perfunctory paper cups, sending Britain's embassy into damage-control mode.

"We have improved our service after some feedback saying we have failed to live up to expectations", a British Embassy official in Tokyo said in a video posted on X Thursday.