England and tea

1.

England and tea
Seven cups of tea make
you up in the morning;
nine cups will put you to
sleep at night.
English proverb

2.

The beginig
English tea party is the most famous of British traditions.
However, tea was introduced to England relatively recently, in
the middle of the 17th century. The popularity of the drink
grew rather slowly, spreading from Asia to Europe in the late
XVI - early XVII centuries, when the supply of tea by the Dutch
and Portuguese merchant ships became regular.

3.

Popularity
Surprisingly, tea owes its popularity to coffee houses. The
owner of one of the first London coffee houses, Thomas
Harvey, sold tea both in dry and brewed form, already in
1657. At that time it was called cha , Chinese drink, tay or tee
and was recommended as a cure for all diseases; not
everyone could afford such a curiosity.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, tea was offered
to visitors by more than five hundred establishments, and
after half a century tea became a favorite drink even of the
lower strata of English society.

4.

five-o’clock
At the beginning of the 19th century, Anna, the 7th Duchess
of Bedford, started the custom of evening tea drinking: yes,
the author of the five-o’clock tradition is a very specific
person who made drinking tea not only enjoyable, but also
fashionable.

5.

Today
Today, tea houses can be found anywhere in Misty Albion, but they
have had a hard time in recent years: the growing popularity of
coffee houses has led to a significant outflow of clientele.
But still, the British are proud of their status as a “tea country”,
and this is not a stereotype: an average citizen of the United
Kingdom drinks about 2 kg of tea a year (we are talking about tea
leaves). Interestingly, the country with the highest per capita tea
consumption does not grow tea itself.

6.

Etiquette of English Tea Party
• Greet those present.
• After you sit in your place, lay your purse on your lap or on a chair behind you.
• Take the fabric napkin in front of you, unfold it and lay it on your knees. If
necessary, leave the table, leave a napkin on the chair.
• First, sugar is placed in a cup, then lemon. If you drink tea with milk, don’t put
a lemon, otherwise the milk will curl.
• Proceed with snacks in the following order: first, savory and savory snacks,
then scones, then cakes.
• Skones (classic British buns) are cut horizontally and smeared with cream, jam
or kurd (custard).
• A teaspoon is placed next to the cup: leaving it in the cup is a bad taste.
• Holding the cup while protruding the little finger is also considered bad form.
• When you drink tea, your gaze should be directed to the cup, and not on top
of it.

7.

Have a nice tea party