How did a beverage made from the leaves of a non-indigenous plant come to define so much about a nation?
In the 1600s, England was largely a coffee nation. Tea, on the other hand, was strictly a novelty, an exotic product the rich were able to procure from China. When getting it from the source became too expensive, they came up with a workaround by planting it in India, which was largely under the direct rule of England. It transpired that tea loved growing in India, so the mass production of tea for the British market began. This made it significantly cheaper, and almost everyone started to be able to afford tea.
Combine the sudden mass-market availability of the product and the natural desire of the working class to mimic the habits of the wealthy, and the table was set for a national obsession. Tea clipper races were in vogue, as was betting on which company or ship would arrive first with this year’s shipment of tea. One such ship was the Cutty Sark - now an award-winning visitor attraction in Greenwich, London.
Great Britain still loves its tea. UK Tea & Infusions puts the number at 36 billion cups per year, and the fact the country has a Tea & Infusions association probably tells you everything you need to know about the national love affair.
36 billion cups per year equates to about 100 million cups each day. It was probably a lot more than that thirty years ago, before the coffee revolution started. Coffee consumption today is estimated at 70 million cups per day - so tea is still the nation's favourite beverage.