Why do the British love tea so much? Thank the royal family – how tea became the UK’s favourite drink, and why Brits all insist on adding milk
Bags of flavour: a potted history of tea from Fortnum & Mason’s in Hong Kong, which offers 150 varieties of leaf and boasts trained tearistas running tea consultations, offering pairing notes and advice on how to make the perfect cuppa
Drinking tea is entrenched in the British way of life. From early morning to late at night, the kettle is on for a brew in many households across the country. Not surprisingly, Britain is one of the world’s biggest tea-drinking nations alongside Turkey, Ireland and China, but why do they drink so much tea? Turns out, it’s all to do with taxes.
Tea was first brought to Britain in the early 17th century by the East India Company and was presented to King Charles II. His Portuguese wife, Princess Catherine of Braganza, set the trend in drinking tea, which then caught on among the aristocrats of the time. But tea was so expensive, due to heavy taxation imposed by the government, that people kept these fragrant leaves under lock and key. Once taxes were reduced, ordinary people were then able to enjoy the beverage, and it became more popular than the other drinks of the day: coffee, chocolate and alcohol.
The most popular tea varieties today include English Breakfast, Earl Grey, green and herbal teas, and oolong – however, a recent study suggests that coffee has recently overtaken tea again as the most popular drink in the United Kingdom.
In Hong Kong, possibly the most well-known outlet for English tea is Fortnum & Mason, a company that has been blending and selling tea for three centuries.
“We were commissioned by none other than King Edward to create a perfect brew and we still blend and sell this tea today,” says Freddie Yan, tearista at Fortnum & Mason in Tsim Sha Tsui. “Tea was the commodity that William Fortnum and Hugh Mason built their business on. In the centuries since, whether ancient Chinese blends, perfumed teas, or invigorating green or red bush tea, Fortnum & Mason has sourced the best examples from all over the world.”
“Most famously, perhaps, a few of our teas have been created uniquely for members of the British royal household. Our Royal Blend tea was developed for King Edward VII and is a mix of Assam and low-grown Ceylon teas; the latter gives a lighter, more uplifting note to the malty Assam. It is a strong tea best drunk with milk,” says Yan. (Fun fact: Britons started to put milk in tea because in the 17th and 18th centuries, the china cups that the tea was served in used to crack from the heat of the water, so milk was added to cool the tea down.)