back“If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; if you are depressed, it will cheer you; if you are excited, it will calm you.” 
William Gladstone, the Victorian Prime Minister, eloquently summarised both the magical quality and the British appreciation of “a nice cup of tea”, as far back as 1865.
According to legend, Shen Nung, the Chinese Emperor, drank the first cup of tea 5000 years ago, when tea leaves blew into his cup of hot water. Tea gradually became part of daily life in China, with the first tea pots being made in Shanghai around 1500AD. When cultivation began in Japan, tea became central to the Buddhist faith and the Tea Ceremony was born.
As with coffee, the Dutch were responsible for bringing tea to Europe. It was first sold in England in 1657, by Thomas Garway at his London coffee house. Tea remained a rare upper class luxury due to the exorbitant taxes, which also led to the American protests, most notably the Boston Tea Party of 1773. The demand for tea from people who couldn’t afford it made tea smuggling rife and it was only when Prime Minister William Pitt reduced the taxes in 1784, that tea drinking became widespread and the English reputation as a tea loving nation developed. By 1790, England was the hub of the world tea trade and The East India Tea Company monopolized imports.
At the start of the eighteenth century, tea drinking was thriving in British coffee houses and in 1840, Anna Maria, Duchess Of Bedford, introduced the lasting English ritual of afternoon tea. Tea drinking was firmly established as a British way of life as the twentieth century commenced and the government ensured it was available during both World Wars to boost morale!
It wasn’t until 1908 that the tea bag was inadvertently invented by tea merchant Thomas Sullivan. He sent tea to clients in small silk bags and they mistakenly brewed the tea in the bags! Sales of tea bags in England only took off in the 1970’s however.
Tea and the etiquette surrounding it has been a focal point of religious ceremonies, cultural events and daily social gatherings through the ages. The English have been drinking tea for 350 years and today we are the fourth largest consumers behind India, China and Russia. After the Irish, the British are the leading consumers per head of population though, drinking 165 million cups per day!
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