About Teaspoons

The teaspoon is probably the most common piece of sterling flatware in use. If you're like me, you have extra teaspoons in your set. It's so common that we don't give it much thought. But, there are subtle touches to to the teaspoon family.

I assume that all sterling flatware patterns include at least one style of teaspoon, typically in the length range of 5 7/8 inches to 6 inches. This spoon is used mostly to stir hot tea or coffee but it also could be used as an ice cream spoon, a jelly serving spoon, a condiment spoon and other purposes. Notice that I said "hot tea"; here in the South when we say "tea", we most often mean "iced tea".

The picture below illustrates three types of spoons in the Prelude pattern by International. The longest spoon is the standard teaspoon (6 inches). The middle spoon is often called a "youth" spoon (5 3/8 inches). The smallest spoon is a demitasse spoon (4 1/8 inches) used to stir Turkish coffee or espresso.

The middle spoon could also be used as a "five o'clock" spoon. Many patterns include five o'clock spoons that are only about 1/4 inch shorter than standard teaspoons.



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