Tea drinking is a British institution…

The British have been drinking tea for more than 350 years, but tea in other countries predates this by more than four millennia.


Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford, is reputed to have originated the idea of afternoon tea in the early 1800s. She conceived the idea of having tea at around four or five in the afternoon to ward off the hunger pangs between lunch and dinner.

Sometime earlier, the Earl of Sandwich had the idea of putting a filling between two slices of bread. These habits soon became a good reason for social gatherings, and started a trend that is still very much a part of British life.

As the popularity of tea spread, it also became an essential part of people’s entertainment outside the home. By 1732 an evening spent dancing or watching fireworks in Vauxhall or Ranelagh Gardens would be rounded off by serving tea. Tea gardens then opened all over the country on Saturdays and Sundays, with tea being served as the high point of the afternoon.

Dancing was included as part of the day’s festivities, so from the tea gardens came the idea of the tea dance, which remained fashionable in Britain until World War II when they lost popularity. Tea dances are still held in Britain today.

The merchant Thomas Garway was among the first to trade tea in Britain. He offered it in dry and liquid form at his coffee house in Exchange Alley in the City of London, holding his first public sale in 1657.

In 1660, Garway issued a broadsheet selling tea for sale at £6 and £10 per pound. Garway claimed tea was “wholesome, preserving perfect health until extreme old age, good for clearing the sight,” able to cure “gripping of the guts, cold, dropsies, scurveys” and claiming that “it could make the body active and lusty.”

The first tea advertisement – announcing the sale of “China Tcha, Tay or Tee” – appeared on September 30, 1658, in the newspaper Mercurius Politicus, booked by the owner of The Sultaness Head Coffee House. Tea rapidly gained popularity in these establishments and by 1700, was on sale by more than 500 coffee houses in London. Tavern keepers were dismayed as the coffee house vogue swept into being, as was the Government by the decline in revenues from hard liquor sales. 

By the middle of the 18th century, however, tea had replaced ale and gin as the drink of the masses and had become Britain’s most popular beverage.

How to make the perfect cuppa…

Use freshly drawn water, freshly boiled.

Use the correct-sized teapot. To heat, pour some of the water, just before boiling, into the pot. Swirl and empty away.

Use orthodox, good-quality leaf tea not bags.

Use one spoonful per person and one for the pot.

Fill the pot and stir gently for a few moments. Infuse for five minutes. Use a timer to get this right.

Put room-temperature whole milk into the cup first. Use about one and a half tablespoonfuls.

To ensure that the leaves do not get into the cup, pour tea through a mesh strainer. Fill the cup to 1cm from the rim.

After the first pouring, add extra hot water to the teapot, so as to continue drawing further flavour and strength from the leaves.

Always discard cold tea at the bottom of the cup before a second pouring.

Even if the tea has been brewing for 10 minutes, orthodox leaf tea will not become too strong or bitter.

Use a tea cosy.

With thanks to the Tea Council for their facts and tips.