While there are volumes of information about the rich and illustrious tradition of Tea Time in Britain, information of the earliest introduction of tea to England and its associates are quite obscure. From the records of the East India Trading Company, the first appearance of tea as a commodity appears in 1644. Although there are vague records of sailors bringing back packets of tea from China and the Far East as gifts… the first public sale of tea was in 1657.
At first, tea was labelled as literally a cure all. Merchants advertised that this miraculous substance could cure almost any ailment, ranging from dropsy to aiding in reversing the signs of ageing. Tea rapidly grew in popularity and by the 1700’s there were over 500 coffee houses serving tea to its patrons throughout London alone. In fact it became so popular that the sale of tea actually became more popular and profitable than the sale of hard liquor. By the 1800’s tea had replaced ale and gin as the beverage of choice for both the well to do, and the common man.
At times tea was valued at almost a month’s wages for a pound of the dried leaves. It was stored in special lock boxes, and the lady of the house was the only one entrusted with the precious key. So precious a commodity in fact that serving tea became a ritual, something to be properly taught and practised by all of good breeding.
There are two specific traditions that are generally discussed when it comes to tea and Britain, High Tea and Afternoon Tea.
High Tea is often mistakenly presumed to be a tea ceremony reserved for the elite class of the upper crust of society. This is a unfortunate misgiving however, High Tea does not in fact refer to an individual’s social standing. The term “High” in High Tea refers to the height of the table at which the tea was served, specifically a dining table instead of the lower tables of a parlour. High Tea was actually a full meal consisting of meats, bread, cakes, and of course plenty of dark rich tea. In the working or agricultural communities of England individuals would come home around dark, normally around six in the evening, and at that time the evening meal would be served, hence the origin or High Tea.
The introduction of Afternoon Tea has been credited to Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford (1783 – 1857), one of Queen Victoria’s ladies – in – waiting. Traditionally, dinner was not served until 8:30 or 9:00 in the evening, even later during the summer months. The Duchess however would often become hungry, and order a light meal of bread and butter, cakes, tarts or biscuits and tea delivered to her boudoir. Thinking that she would be ridiculed or looked down upon by others she kept her ritual a secret for quite a while. When she was indeed exposed not only was she not ridiculed as she had feared but the idea of serving a Afternoon Tea caught on and eventually became a tradition throughout all of England. While such a wonderful and popular tradition cannot be credited to just one woman, there is no doubt that the Duchess will forever go down in history as the first to introduce Afternoon Tea to Britain.