27th February 2021
Have you ever wondered what beverage is the most popular in the whole world? There are so many kinds and types of beverages: a wide variety of coffee types to milk-based drinks, wines and beers. I will not even mention the massive amount of fizzy drinks because they are countless. But even though these products are so famous and have huge industries to support them, one wins the game. Tea is the number one consumed beverage worldwide, and it has been as such for many years. Of course, we can all understand that we are talking about every other liquid beverage except water because water is out of the competition for obvious reasons. In 2018 global consumption of tea was as high as 273 billion litres. So we can all understand that the tea industry is very big and that tea is a loved beverage around the whole world that has learned and adopted its ways and traditions. We will see a bit that traditions in tea and tea history are a huge part and have passed on through the generations and how they came to be. But first of all, let’s see how tea came into our lives.
Tea is a relatively latecomer to British shores. Although the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China, it was not until the mid 17th century that the beverage first appeared in England and was firstly used by royals.
Tea was first brought to Britain in the early-mid 17th century by the East India Company. Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II introduced tea to the English Royal Court, and the habit soon got adopted by the aristocracy. The first tea shop for ladies opened in 1717 by Thomas Twining, and slowly tea shops began to appear throughout England. This made drinking tea possible for everybody and tea started to become more and more famous.
English breakfast tea is a traditional blend of black teas originating from Assam, Kenya and Ceylon. Vendors have applied the term breakfast tea since at least the late 18th century.
It was not until the mid 19th century that the concept of afternoon tea first appeared. Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served late at eight o’clock, so the Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit, and she began inviting friends to join her. This pause for tea became a fashionable social event.
William H. Ukers, the author of “all about tea”, argues that the rise in popularity of tea in Great Britain was mainly due to tea’s reputation among men as a medicinal drink.
Tea, especially green tea, is often said to be good for your health. It contains substances linked to a lower risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. While some brews provide more health advantages than others, there’s plenty of evidence that regularly drinking tea can have a lasting impact on your wellness. However, other kinds of teas are also good for your health such as jasmine tea, Rooibos tea, Hibiscus tea etc.
The earliest use of tea sets dates back to the Han Dynasty in China (206-220 BC). Tea was not served in teapots but in multi-functional bowls. It was mostly used as a medicine and not so much as a drink to enjoy. It is also believed that the teapot first appeared during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).
In the Western tradition, a tea set represents a set of dishes used at formal parties or at the afternoon tea. A typical set would include up to 25 pieces. It is said that the first tea set came to Europe through a Portuguese missionary.
The classic tea set used to be smaller, but with time changes were made. In 1680 the Marquise de Sevigne proposed an addition of the creamer to the set. After that the sugar pots were added, and the tea set as we know it today came to be around the mid 18th century.
The earliest known silver teapot was made in 1627. Silver cups and saucers were made as early as 1648, and because of the Chinese influence, they did not use to have handles. Before the use of silver tea sets there were sets made from materials that were easy for an artisan to make, such as clay, porcelain, or marble. But when silver sets came in the picture, they changed the game, especially in royal families and royal circles. As we mentioned earlier, tea was always thought as something for the upper society and very high class and elegant.
Earl Grey is one of the most recognized flavoured teas in the world. This quintessentially British tea is typically a black tea base flavoured with bergamot orange rind oil. Citrus fruit with the appearance and flavour somewhere between an orange and a lemon with a little grapefruit and lime thrown in.
While the English popularized Earl Grey tea, it was not an English invention. Scented and flavoured teas are uniquely Chinese. Early Chinese tea masters constantly experimented with tea with jasmine flowers and wild rosebuds as well as bitter oranges and sweet lychee fruits. Chinese tea masters infused all kinds of fragrance and flavour into their teas during processing to create distinctive and highly drinkable beverages.