LondonPerspectives.com

Tea Time: Understanding Britain's love affair

by Miranda Hurst

My first gulp in the morning is often a cup of tea with milk, no sugar. This is not unusual. Even when it is sunny outside, the average person in Britain drinks three cups of tea a day.

Why are we known throughout the world as a nation of tea addicts? Where I live, tea is a national institution. The figures stand at 165 million cups of tea a day, which corresponds to 40% of the British public’s fluid intake. It is more than a caffeine addiction.

A history of tea begins far from a building site or ladies’ tea party; China, 2737 BC to be more precise. Apparently a few leaves fell into the cup of an emperor, accidentally brewing the first tea. It is a long story that is largely extraneous to Europeans until 1606 when the first ships arrived with it in Holland. The Portuguese bride of Charles II, the King of England 1630-1685, then brought the fashion to Britain where it remained a drink amongst the wealthy. By the end of the 18th century, smuggling tea had a bigger industry than its legal counterpart. Some cheaper infusions were made from old leaves, producing a pale colour. Sheep dung or copper carbonate was often added. Later, with the expansion of the East India Company, a colonialist time Dutch trading company, and speedy ‘tea clipper’ ships, the price dropped. We were hooked!

Tea was rationed during the Second World War. All of London’s reserve stock was moved from the city to countryside warehouses for safe-keeping. It was sent overseas in Red Cross parcels to prisoners of war as a morale boost. Today’s common means for making tea finally arrived at our shores. The great American invention of convenience, the tea-bag, smothered the market in the 1960s and is now a staple in most kitchens.

For the uninitiated, the pomp and circumstance of tea culture needs further explanation. The subject of tea pervades many aspects of our society. In a nursery rhyme, the action of pouring tea is rehearsed, it is found in the novels of celebrated authors and for the comedian Billy Connolly, a man who does not try on a tea cosy, cloth or wool cover for insulating tea-pots, when left alone with one should not be trusted. There are even manuals for hosting the perfect tea party. In truth, this drama is not so preposterous. All societies develop complex language and ritual behaviour for the things they cherish the most. The British attention to tea is no different.

Afternoon tea, the quintessential custom, is officially served from two until five p.m. One can expect a tiered cake stand and dainty, triangular cucumber and tuna sandwiches. There is a range of brewing equipment and techniques that may be used for different teas. Devon, South West England, boasts the authentic “cream tea”. This involves scones and lashings of double cream and strawberry jam. There is also “low tea”, served on low tables, and “high tea” eaten in the dining room. This is a heavier selection of foods that substitutes “afternoon tea” and an evening meal. Served between five and six p.m, it was for a long time popular with the working class, particularly as a cheaper alternative when entertaining. Its origins are in “afternoon tea”, which developed in the bedroom of a certain Duchess of Bedford, who often felt peckish before suppertime. “Elevenses”, (Winnie the Pooh’s favourite) is more commonplace. Not confined to eleven o’clock, it acts as a stop-gap before lunch and is a light-ish snack and cup of tea or juice.

In the aforementioned settings, tea accompanies food. It is something to sip slowly, clearing the palette for another bite of Victoria sponge cake or smoked salmon sandwich. However, tea serves us in countless everyday situations in its rudimentary state: as an ice-breaker, with a neighbour or office colleague. A humble biscuit on the side, perhaps a digestive or ginger, is in fact a more likely companion to the average British cup of tea, “cuppa” or “brew”.

With this in mind, it is surprising that elegant “afternoon teas” are presently so fashionable and are seen as being quirky. A summertime reservation at a smart London address may require a wait of six to eight weeks. But more than just the etiquette of tea, there is something undeniably comforting about a good cup. The Victorian Prime Minister, Gladstone put it well:
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.