I don’t know how you feel in the morning, but a nice cup of tea sets me up for the rest of the day. Every time I drink a cuppa, it evokes memories of my grandmother singing to me:
I like a nice cup of tea in the morning, for to start the day you see, and at half past eleven, well my idea of heaven is a nice cup of tea.
Original Binnie Hale recording here.
I would stare at her wondering how she could enjoy such a cuppa steaming liquid, when my preference was a fruit juice!
Tea is so much a part of our British way of life. I didn’t realise it was initially introduced to this country by a Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, in the 1660’s after her marriage to King Charles 2nd. A gift to Charles 2nd in Catherine’s dowry was the port of Bombay in India, now known as Mumbai. This valuable port was handed over to the East India Company for an annual rent of £10 in gold.
Famous diarist Samuel Pepys first mentioned drinking tea (spelled tee), in his diary entry for 25th September 1660. He noted that it was China tea. Interestingly, tea drinking was considered unusual in that period with the commoners! Pepys was a member of the wealthy London set.
The British first introduced tea plantations into India to break the monopoly of China tea. Much later, vast areas of land in India, were converted to the production of tea by the British East India Company. India has now evolved into one of the most technologically equipped tea industries in the world, although it is now alleged that China has overtaken India due to increased land availability.
In more recent times the Indian Government has been sympathetic to the demands of their industry and pledged to support tea plantations and lobbied extensively with world trade organisations.
There’s a lot of history attached to the tea industry and millions depend on the sale of tea, not just for the feeling of well-being but for the actual standard of living from proceeds of tea production exported to the rest of the world.
Now enjoy that cuppa tea! I prefer Indian!
What’s yours? Mine’s Teasmade!
Mary's Blog 