There’s no strict rules about serving tea at teatime. Enjoy these cheeky cocktail and posh nosh pairings on a day when the thought of leading a double life seems like perfectly respectable hijinks.

Jacket and Tie

Serve with scones, clotted cream and a wry wit.

• 2 oz. vodka
• 1 oz.  sherry
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Ice cubes

Stir ingredients with ice, strain into chilled glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Jack Rose

Pair with smoky bacon and cheddar on white bread.

• 2 oz. Laird's Applejack
• 3/4 oz. grenadine
• 3/4 ounces fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 dash bitters
• Lemon twist

Add the first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Squeeze lemon twist skin-side-out to release fragrant oils onto the surface of the drink, and rub the skin on the glass edge. Serve immediately.

Last Word

Serve with cucumber sandwich, crusts removed and an eyebrow’s raise worth of “I-told-you-so.”

• 3/4 oz. gin
• 3/4 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 3/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
• 3/4 oz. green Chartreuse

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, strain. Serve straight up.

Be sure to catch the all-female cast in Artists Repertory Theatre’s production of Oscar Wilde’s magnificent 19th Century comedy of manners and social status The Importance of Being Earnest.

Lovely Gwendolyn and adorable Cecily don’t care who they marry as long as his name is Earnest (so manly and respectable!). Jack and Algernon are utterly smitten and only too happy to ditch their given names to bamboozle their way into the ladies’ hearts. Imperious Lady Bracknell is aghast, agog and practically apoplectic, but her efforts to impose propriety prove useless against Cupid’s earnest truth. High jinx, bon mots and cucumber sandwiches are served.

Directed by Michael Mendelson. May 16- June 11. https://www.artistsrep.org/onstage/201617-season/the-importance-of-being-earnest/