Tea traditions and the art and practice of drinking tea has its origins in thousands of years of history. That people the world over continue not only to drink but also to honor it through ceremonies and customs speaks to the timeless qualities of this comforting beverage.
With the table set and fragrant flowers arranged in vases, all the pieces are in place for a lovely gathering. From brewing the perfect blend to setting the menu, careful planning ensures a memorable teatime experience.
Victorian Afternoon Tea
Brief History
An old legend credits the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung in the 28th century B.C. with the
discovery of tea. As the story is told, the health conscious emperor knew that boiling
water before drinking seemed to protect people from disease. He always insisted on
having his water boiled and that simple precaution led to a wonderful revelation. One
day while touring the provinces, the emperor stopped for a rest with his entourage.
Servants gathered branches from a nearby evergreen bush to build a fire for boiling the
emperor’s water. A passing wind blew leaves from the bush into the boiling pot and soon
a delightful aroma issued forth. Intrigued, the emperor quickly sipped a bit of the
infusion. He immediately declared that the refreshing brew must have medicinal
qualities and ordered his servants to gather leaves from the bush to take back to the
palace.
News of the emperor’s discovery spread quickly throughout the provinces. Soon
everyone in China was drinking tea and the infusion of that evergreen plant quickly
became an important part of the Chinese culture. Over the centuries, the knowledge and
appreciation of tea gradually spread to other parts of the Orient.
After hundreds of years, tea arrived in England and by 1660 tea was flowing everywhere
on the island. One Samuel Pepys, renowned 17th century diarist, noted in 1660 that he
had his very first “cup of tee of which I had never drunk before.” In 1662, when
England’s King Charles II married Portugal’s Princess Catherine of Braganza, part of her
dowry was a chest of tea. It was this queen’s love for tea and her influence on the royal
court that influenced the spread of the “new drink.” Tea merchants were soon offering
tea as an elixir for just about anything that ailed anyone. It was first served in public
coffeehouses and in outdoor “tea gardens” then increasingly in homes.
Around 1650, Dutch ships carrying the new drink to the Dutch colony of New
Amsterdam introduced it to the American colonies. It took another twenty years for the
rest of the colonies to become acquainted with tea, though no one really had any idea of
how to use it properly. Americans would let the tea brew and stew for hours, creating a
dark bitter drink. They also salted and ate the used leaves on buttered bread. It wasn’t
until 1674, when the British took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York, that
the custom of tea drinking as we now know it began.
Tea was enjoyed in the American Colonies until the late 18th century. But when King
George III decided to use tea as a source of revenue, and raised the import tax on tea sent
to the Colonies, the independent-minded Americans rebelled. In 1773 the colonists
dressed as Native Americans and dumped a shipload of tea into the Boston Harbor. This
event became known as the Boston Tea Party and was one of many that propelled the
colonies toward independence and probably indirectly led to a marked preference for
coffee in the United States.
Around 1840, the custom of afternoon tea began in England and is credited to one of
Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting, Anna Maria Stanhope, known as the Duchess of
Bedford. In England at the time, people ate a heavy breakfast, a late dinner, and very
little in between. Toward mid afternoon the Duchess routinely experienced a “sinking
feeling” which she remedied by dining in her boudoir with tea, cakes, tarts, and biscuits.
Others soon followed the Duchess’ lead and in a few decades the custom of “taking tea”
in the afternoon became well established. At first the practice was limited to the upper
classes, but it eventually became so popular that tea shops and tearooms began opening
for the enjoyment of the general public. This elegant custom became greatly popularized
during the height of the Victorian Era making “teatime” a regular pastime of the proper
English Lady.
By the late 19th century, teatime had acquired its’ own formal etiquette. Tea services
were made of silver or china. Fine linens were used for tea cloths and serviettes (table
napkins). Tea gowns were loose and flowing with matching hats and gloves. The tea
itself was imported from India or Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), colonies of the British Empire.
With the tea came decorated platters of savories (dainty finger sandwiches), scones with
jams or homemade preserves and clotted cream, toast with cinnamon, petits fours (small
cakes cut from pound or sponge cakes and frosted), and other delicacies that came to be
known as “tea food.” In working class homes, afternoon tea became a much heartier
affair with cold meats, cheeses, and breads. This evening meal was called “high tea” and
often replaced dinner.
The United States can claim two distinct contributions when it comes to tea, both dating
from the 20th century. In 1904, visitors to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis
sweltered in a heat wave and shunned the hot brew offered by Indian tea growers. An
Englishman named Richard Blechynden, who represented the tea growers, experimented
with pouring the tea over ice in order to entice fair visitors. The result was a success.
Iced tea now accounts for 80 percent of the tea drunk in the United States. The second
contribution is the tea bag, the brainstorm of an American tea merchant named Thomas
Sullivan, who hit on the idea of providing samples to his customers in small silk pouches
or “a tea leaf holder.” Sullivan’s customers soon discovered that the pouches could be put
directly in teapots. Orders soon came pouring in for the tea packaged in those little bags
and Sullivan patented his brainstorm.
Nearly five thousand years have gone by since Emperor Shen Nung sipped the first cup
of tea on that Chinese roadside and almost two centuries have elapsed since the Duchess
of Bedford first thought of tea and cakes to carry her through until dinnertime. So much
time, yet some things do grow better with age. Tea can be enjoyed today with a sense of
history and a sense of kinship with those who made significant contributions to the
development of this lovely pastime.
