BLENDS , BREWS , LEAVES
OUR OBSESSION WITH TEA
FOOD + DRINK
ASK ANYONE FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO NAME SOME QUINTESSENTIALLY BRITISH TRAITS AND YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT THEY WILL MENTION TEA . THERE IS NO DENYING THAT THE UK ’ S LONG AND LASTING LOVE AFFAIR WITH TEA HAS BECOME HEAVILY INGRAINED IN OUR SOCIETY , BUT WHY ARE WE JUST SO OBSESSED WITH THE HUMBLE CUPPA ? insideKENT ’ S OLIVIA RICCINI HAS GRABBED A BREW TO FIND OUT MORE …
An eccentricity passed down through generations and something we take very seriously , the art of tea drinking may seem pretty simple , but in fact the way we make a brew is a ritual so unique to the individual that it is something us Brits take very seriously . Spark up that age old debate , ‘ milk or tea in the cup first ?’ and you will be sure to ruffle some feathers . Your granny probably has a tea tray set up with all the appropriate equipment : teapot , milk jug , cups and saucers and sugar pot – a grand affair even though it might just be an idle Tuesday afternoon – she would be very disappointed if she knew you just chucked a tea bag in a cup and waited for the kettle to boil . We believe our brand of tea bag also speaks volumes about who we are as individuals too , whether your go to is Twinings , Yorkshire Tea , PG Tips , Typhoo or an expertly blended herbal leaf , when we meet someone new and discover their selected tea choice , we can ’ t help but absorb this information as though it tells us something very personal about their character , even giving them a nod of approval when we find a kindred spirit in the shared type of tea we drink .
Whether you drink your tea with milk and sugar or have it black and leave the tea bag in , the history of how tea came to be here on British soil remains the same . Despite being a stereotypically British drink , tea of course began its exotic beginnings in faraway imperial China , a romantic folklore tale depicting how it came to be . According to the UK Tea & Infusions Association ( www . tea . co . uk ), legend has it that , in 2737 BC , the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water , when some leaves from the tree blew into the water . Shen Nung , a renowned herbalist , decided to try the infusion that his servant had accidentally created , and thus the idea of ‘ tea ’ was born . Although it is impossible to know if there is any truth in this story , what history does tell us is that Portuguese traders and missionaries introduced tea to Europe and soon after , in the last years of the sixteenth century , the Dutch began to encroach on their trading routes and began shipping tea as a commercial import . Due to it ’ s high price , tea remained a drink for the wealthy when it eventually reached Britain , with the renowned British East India Company having a monopoly on trade . Thanks to Charles II ’ s wife , Catherine of Braganza , a Portuguese princess and tea addict , her love of the drink established tea as a fashionable beverage . First at court , and then among the wealthy classes as a whole , tea steamed into the country , first being served to the public at a London coffee house in 1658 .
Fast forward 363 years , society has become expert in tea blending , with thousands of fruit and herbal teas joining the traditional tea leaves as firm favourites for millions world over .
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