The history of tea in London

It may be a very British tradition, but tea was first introduced to the United Kingdom from China, via India.

London Focus

It arrived in London via the docks, in particular the East India Dock. This huge pier - roughly located between the Blackwall and East India DLR stations - could accommodate up to 250 ships. Unlike some of the other docks, there were no warehouses here, the four quays being used solely for import and export (a single journey transporting tea between England and China could take up to a year). Although it was smaller in size to the Royal Docks for instance, it was prosperous, and the tea trade alone brought in £30 million a year in revenue in the 19th century.

In the 18th century tea became fashionable among the upper classes, partly thanks to the wife of Charles II, Catherine of Braganza. But tea was already a popular drink in London coffee houses, as by 1700 there were over 500 establishments selling both liquid and loose leaf tea. This posed a threat to the taverns where alcohol was sold, as the government relied heavily on taxes from booze.

The East India Company employed a third of the British workforce, and were the most powerful organisation of their day. Their main area of commerce was trading tea. The obvious solution to the issue of losing revenue was to impose a tax on tea, something which made it very expensive. Already not a cheap drink due the East India Company’s monopoly, this inevitably led to a black market. By the mid-1800s the tax rose to almost 120%. Tea was easy to transport, making it an ideal commodity for smugglers. Illicit tea was delivered to the UK via the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, at first on small rowing boats rather than large ships.
\n\nLengthy trips between Europe and Asia were harming profits, so new, faster vessels were designed called “clippers”. These ships were taller and much faster than average; one example was the Cutty Sark, which now sits proudly at Greenwich Pier. Built in 1868, it may have only done the journey between continents eight times, but it’s the most famous ship of its kind.

The tradition of taking afternoon tea was popularised by the 7th Duchess of Bedford in the 19th century. At this time it was habitual to have just two meals a day: breakfast and dinner. To satisfy her mid-afternoon hunger pangs she would request a pot of tea and some sandwiches; soon she was inviting friends over and the event became a social occasion. The habit soon caught on, and places like the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens started serving afternoon tea at weekends, along with providing dancing and other entertainment.

The Tea Building in Shoreditch, despite being owned by Lipton once upon a time, was in a fact bacon factory when it was first built in the 1930s. Over the years it’s been home to a nightclub, art galleries, media companies, and it currently houses recently restaurant Pizza East and Shoreditch House.

In 2005, the Tregothnan Estate in Kent began supplying tea, the only one grown in Britain in fact (hence them labelling it the home of English tea). Just as fragrant as its Asian counterparts, you can sample their Earl Grey at the Royal Park Hotel, where they offer it habitually as part of their Afternoon Tea or breakfast.
\n\n A good old fashioned cuppa is also becoming more and more popular. Walk to any supermarket and you’ll find varieties like rooibos, caramel-flavoured and Christmas tea, but that doesn’t mean that quintessential tea is passé. That isn’t to say it’s not Britain’s best-loved drink anymore, quite the opposite, it just means that English palates have moved on with the times, in the same way that preferred tastes have.

Around the world, the number of different types of tea available – and the ways of serving it – are countless. Just imagine Japanese tea ceremonies which evolved as an intrinsic part of Far Eastern culture, or think of sweet, mint Moroccan tea, the method of which (it’s poured from a distance away from the cup) is regarded as an art form.
The Bramah Tea Museum was, until recently, a good starting point to learn about the history of tea, however it’s been closed for renovation since 2008. If you fancy a good aromatic cup of tea you can try classic Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Darjeeling and Assam. Try Mayfair’s Postcard Teas which also stocks exotic teas and tea-drinking utensils, the Tea Palace which has branches in Covent Garden and Chelsea, or Tea Pod in Shad Thames where you can also indulge in afternoon tea. Japanese, Chinese and other blends like genmaicha, (brown roasted rice) oolong and all manner of other teas are available in Chinatown; to drink them ready-prepared try Yautcha (you can buy loose leaf teas here too) and Yum Cha. You could even be kitsch and shop at the East India Company in Mayfair, which was revived in 2010 after 135 years and now specialises in luxury foods. Alternatively the food halls at Harrods and Selfridges are a good option; the latter stocks blends created by expert Alex Probyn, who also creates personalised teas for customers via his website. So if you’ve never been tempted to stray from milk and two sugars, there are more options to try to try than you could possibly count.

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