The History of English Tea. Урок-лекция

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The History of English Tea

Урок-лекция

Introduction

Tea is the most common drink all over the world. According to general estimates, it is the main one for two billion people on the earth.

It is also worth mentioning that tea is one of the oldest drinks, the use of which is inextricably linked with the national culture, economy and historical traditions of many countries and peoples, in particular, tea drinking is the main tradition in England, but few people know how this tradition was born.

From the History of English Tea

British traditions have always been protected, and British customs have been respected for centuries. One of these traditions is tea drinking. This tradition has been around for more than 350 years.

Tea has been around for a very long time. Its start was most likely in China during the third millennium B.C. and was made popular in England by King Charles II and his wife, the Portuguese Infanta Catharine de Braganza, in the 1660s. Catherine introduced the custom at court to serve tea for breakfast. The drink quickly became fashionable among the courtiers, and then among the aristocracy and throughout the country. But it wouldn't be until 1840 that the practice of afternoon tea became a tradition.

The more refined teas likeEarl Gray, Assam, or Darjeeling were only available to the upper class, leaving those in the lower classes to settle for cheap teas that would be served with milk and sugar to hide the flavor. Now that tea is much more accessible, the flavors used have expanded from simple black teas to more complex and fruity blends, like our newestBlue Lady Black Tea. If you participate in afternoon tea today, it is likely to include various teas, biscuits, or a small cake.

The first person to open the sale of tea in England was Thomas Harvey. He bought 140 pounds of tea from Dutch merchants and informed everyone about the sale. From that day on, tea was always popular in the British Isles. It was green tea.

For a long time, there were high tariffs for tea, so only the upper class could buy it. After the reduction of tariffs, the demand for tea increased sharply.

Clippers - Tea Ships

For the tea trade, special ships were used, which were called clippers. One of the most famous was the ship "Cutty Sark". This is the only clipper ship that has survived to our time. It was designed by Hercules Linton and commissioned by one of London's largest tea merchants, John Willis. The clipper "Cutty Sark" was used to deliver tea from China

to London.

In 1895, John Willis sold the ship to the Portuguese company "Ferreira" and the ship was converted to Barcentina and began to be used for the transport of coal. After that, the ship was resold several more times until Cutty Sark was bought out by Wilfred Owen.

Cutty Sark was laid up in 1954 in a permanent berth in the Greenwich drydock. On May 21, 2007, a fire broke out at Cutty Sark. It destroyed about 80% of the entire ship. The Cutty Sark Redevelopment Society was formed for the restoration, with the Cutty Sark clipper redevelopment project estimated at 25 million pounds. The restoration took 5 years of work and required 50 million. The re-opening of the ship took place in 2012, it was solemnly held by Queen Elizabeth II.

Fortnum & Mason

Fortnum & Mason is a very famous place. This is an old large building, with a mechanical clock on the facade, which is more than two hundred and fifty years old and is located on one of the most famous streets in London — Piccadilly..

The store was founded by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason in 1707. William Fortnum worked in the royal Palace, including being responsible for lighting candles in the royal bedrooms. The queen demanded new candles every evening, and the old ones, which were only half burned, were allowed to be taken away by the attendant. William Fortnum began to take them, and as there were many candles, he suggested to the man from whom he rented a house, Hugh Mason, that they should be sold. Mason had a small grocery store in St. James, and they started selling candles through it, and over time it became one of the most famous stores in the world.

The true glory of the store reached in the Victorian era and still remains one of the most prestigious in Britain. His clients included Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Byron, and many others — almost all successful Englishmen over the past 250 years. He has been the supplier of the royal house for more than a century and a half.

"Fortnum and Mason" is famous for its tea, in the department with which there are even those types and brands that are more than two hundred years old. Here you can find the tea that Jane Austen or Queen Victoria once drank.

Amazing Facts about the British Tea Party

According to one legend, Queen Victoria introduced the fashion for morning tea. "English breakfast" is perfectly combined with milk. Traditionally, the cup is first filled with milk, and then tea. This is explained very simply: earlier, when tea was drunk from fine porcelain, boiling water could damage the dishes.

There is more than just one teatime. There's High Tea, Low Tea, and Cream Tea. Even though it sounds fancy, High Tea is not about how fancy it is but what kind of food is served with it. High Tea is served with a more substantive meal, rather than snack-type food. Although not as widely used, the term Low Tea is what is traditionally known as Afternoon Tea. Cream Tea is popular among tourists. It is usually served around 3:30-5:00 pm and includes a pot of tea of whatever kind you like, an assortment of scones and cakes, jam, and clotted cream. The cream can be so thick that a spoon can stand up in it. It has the consistency of butter, but it is in fact, cream.

Afternoon tea, that most quintessential of English customs, is a relatively new tradition. It was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o’clock, thus leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.

This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880’s upper-class and high society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o’clock.

Tea dances began to be arranged in aristocratic families for the entertainment of guests and friends. Music plays, you can play to the accompaniment, people relax and dance. Often such gatherings were arranged right in the gardens. They brought out wooden tables and danced in the open air among the trees. Sometimes individual dancers were invited. The hostess could play the piano. Everything was casual and nice.

Nowadays, afternoon tea is a light meal typically eaten between 3:30 pm and 5 pm. Traditionally it consists of thinly-sliced bread and butter, delicate sandwiches (customarilycucumber sandwiches or egg andcress sandwiches) and usually cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg cake or Victoria sponge). Scones (with clotted cream and jam) would also be served. The sandwiches are usually crustless, cut into small segments, either as triangles or fingers, and pressed thin. Biscuits are not usually served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups.

However, in the average suburban home, afternoon tea is likely to be just a biscuit or small cake and a mug of tea, usually produced using a teabag.

“High tea" is an evening meal, sometimes associated with the working class but in reality enjoyed by all social classes, in particular after sports matches, especially cricket. It is typically eaten between 5 pm and 7 pm. This was also sometimes called a "meat-tea" in the past.

High tea typically consists of a savoury dish (either something hot, or cold cuts of meat such as ham salad), followed by cakes and bread, butter and jam.

Conclusion

In general, the history of tea in the UK is very rich in interesting and amazing moments, as well as fascinating facts.

Since the 18th century, the United Kingdom has been one of the world's largest tea consumers, with an average annual per capita supply of 1.9 kilograms (4.2 lb). Originally an upper-class drink in Europe, tea gradually spread through all classes, eventually becoming a common drink. It is still considered an important part of the British identity and is a prominent feature of British culture and society.

Sources:

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_(meal)

2) https://greenwich-guide.org.uk/cutty/

3) https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Afternoon-Tea/

4) https://zavarka.life/chajnaja-kultura/angliya.html

5)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_in_the_United_Kingdom

6)https://www.hackberrytea.com/blogs/tea-education/british-tea-traditions

Адрес публикации: https://www.prodlenka.org/metodicheskie-razrabotki/532914-the-history-of-english-tea-urok-lekcija