noun
tea served without sweets
Refers to the practice of serving tea without accompanying sweets, often implying a plain or austere hospitality.
今日はお客様に空茶を出してしまって、少し失礼だったかもしれない。
I ended up serving tea without sweets to the guest today, which might have been a bit rude.
茶菓 refers to tea and sweets served together, the opposite of 空茶.
Compound of 空 (から, 'empty') and 茶 (ちゃ, 'tea'), literally 'empty tea'.