The History of Tea explores how a small Asian leaf became one of Britain's most recognisable cultural symbols.
From its early arrival in seventeenth-century London coffee houses to its royal endorsement by Catherine of Braganza, tea began as an expensive curiosity reserved for the wealthy. Over time, it became entangled with trade monopolies, heavy taxation, smuggling, adulteration, empire, industrial labour, domestic ritual, and national identity.
This concise historical account follows tea's journey from China to Britain, through the East India Company, the rise of colonial plantations in Assam and Ceylon, the creation of afternoon tea, factory tea breaks, wartime rationing, and the modern British habit of "putting the kettle on."
Far more than a simple drink, tea became a social ritual, an imperial commodity, a working-class comfort, and a symbol of British resilience. This book reveals how commerce, culture, empire, and everyday life combined to transform tea from an exotic import into a national institution.
Ideal for readers interested in British history, food history, empire, trade, social customs, and the surprising stories behind everyday habits.
