The habit of tea drinking is so closely associated with England, however, the British were fairly late on the tea scene. China Black Tea was awkwardly introduced into the coffee houses of London in the 1600s. As coffee house owners convinced their patrons to try it, tea quickly caught on at first only with the fashionably rich. Queen Catherine of Braganza, who was familiar with tea in Portugal, is credited with making the act of drinking tea popular not only with the court and country, but also with the English bourgeoisie. China Black Tea was first brought to England through Holland on Dutch ships. Soon, the British government was quite incensed that a small country like the Netherlands could control shipment of tea to the UK. This opened the doors to the major tea trade of the East India Company. When tea drinking really took hold as an activity for the whole population the East India Company’s imports rocketed.

Some of the most popular tea recipes such as Earl Grey and the Baron’s Gold (English Breakfast) in this section have a long history and origin in England, and are still regularly consumed today – with milk and sugar of course. And some of our teas were specifically blended to dedicate treasured places of British history, such as St. Paul’s London Breakfast (St. Paul’s Cathedral), Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

“Tea makes the body active and lusty. Tea is declared to be the most wholesome, preserving perfect health until extreme old age.” – Garway’s Coffee House, London, 1650’s