United Kingdom History of tea

tea plantation in cameron highlands, malaysia

the first record of tea in english came letter written richard wickham, ran east india company office in japan, writing merchant in macao requesting best sort of chaw in 1615. peter mundy, traveller , merchant came across tea in fujian in 1637, wrote, chaa—only water kind of herb boiled in . in 1657, thomas garway, tobacconist , coffee-man first sell tea in london @ house in exchange alley, charging between 16 , 50 shillings per pound. same year, tea listed item in price list in london coffee house, , first advertisement tea appeared in 1658. on 25 september 1660 samuel pepys recorded in diary: did send cup of tee (a china drink) of never had drank before. probable imports smuggled via amsterdam or through sailors arriving on eastern boats. marriage of king charles ii in 1662 portuguese princess catherine of braganza brought tea drinking habit court. official trade of tea began in 1664 import of 2 pound 2 ounces presentation king, grew 24 million pounds year 1801.

regular trade began in canton (now guangzhou), controlled 2 monopolies: chinese cohong (trading companies) , british east india company. cohong acquired tea tea men had elaborate supply chain mountains , provinces tea grew.

the east india company brought many products, of tea one, proved 1 of successful. promoted medicinal beverage or tonic end of seventeenth century taken all-purpose drink, albeit elite, still expensive. tea not traded in significant amounts until 18th century. 1700 tea being sold grocers , tea shops in london, latter frequented women men. 1720s black tea overtook green tea in popularity price dropped, , on british drinkers began adding sugar , milk tea, practice not done in china. 1720s european maritime trade china dominated exchange of silver tea. prices continued drop, tea became increasingly popular, , 1750 had become british national drink.

the origin of large trade in tea need return cargo east indies. merchant ships delivered fabrics manufactured in britain india , china return empty or partially full. solve problem east india company began vigorous public relations campaign in england popularize tea among common people in britain , develop viable return cargo. fungus reduced ceylon s coffee production 95% in 19th century, cementing tea s popularity.

the escalation of tea importation , sales on period 1690 1750 mirrored closely increase in importation , sales of cane sugar: british not drinking tea sweet tea. thus, 2 of britain s trading triangles converged: sugar sourced britain s trading triangle encompassing britain, africa , west indies , tea triangle encompassing britain, india , china.

in china, qing dynasty qianlong emperor wrote king george iii in response macartney mission s request trade in 1793: our celestial empire possesses things in prolific abundance , lacks no product within borders. there therefore no need import manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange our own produce. tea had paid in silver bullion, , critics of tea trade @ time point damage caused britain s wealth loss of bullion. way generate silver needed payment tea, britain began exporting opium traditional growing regions of british india (in present-day pakistan , afghanistan) china. although opium use in china had long history, british importation of opium, began in late 18th century, increased fivefold between 1821 , 1837, , usage of drug became more widespread across chinese society. qing government attitude towards opium, ambivalent, hardened due social problems created drug use, , took serious measures curtail importation of opium in 1838–39. tea had become important source of tax revenue british empire , banning of opium trade , creation of funding issues tea importers 1 of main causes of first opium war.

while waging war on china 1 of britain s tactics, began explore, executed, plan use india growing tea. after tea plants smuggled out of china, plantations established in areas such darjeeling, assam, , ceylon. attempt circumvent dependence on chinese tea, east india company sent scottish botanist robert fortune china purchase , bring out of china tea plants, taken india, although discovery of native varieties of tea plant in india proved more important development of production there.

tea remained important item in britain s global trade, contributing in part britain s global dominance end of eighteenth century. day tea seen worldwide symbol of britishness , also, some, symbol of old british colonialism.

the london 2012 section of paralympic handover in beijing included tea part of routine. cup or mug of tea in britain made in different way common in china , other eastern countries. on 90% of tea consumed black tea, not small amount of milk , / or sugar added. tea used contained in tea bag. of 2009, uk can boast 1 commercial tea plantation planned. existing 1 lies in cornwall , owned tregothnan estate. 2015, lie in pembrokeshire, wales, owned pembrokeshire tea company.