Tea Facts

Britain has a long tradition with tea. But do you know when tea first came to our shores? Or why we have afternoon tea?

Here's some fascinating tea facts to answer those questions, or to use in school when you're planning your Big Tea Break.

  • Tea first came to Britain from China in the 16th century
  • The first written record of tea drinking occurs in 350 AD.
  • Tea drinking became popular in England after King Charles II tried some in 1664.
  • At first tea was very expensive – as much as £26 for a pound of tea, when wages were as little as £6 per year.
  • It was expensive because it took so long to arrive by sea from China or India and because the government put a high tax on it.
  • Although by the 1820s tea was £1 per pound it was still one of the most popular items for smugglers, who sold it for about 6s (30p) per pound. Then the average weekly wage for ordinary people was about £1 per week!
  • Because tea was so expensive the tea leaves were re-used several times. This type of tea was called SMOUCH.
  • Tea was so important and valuable in the 1850s that special sailing ships, called Clippers, were built to bring the tea to Britain from China as fast as possible – the most famous being the Cutty Sark.
  • The tax on tea even started a war between England and America . America was then part of the British Empire and ruled by England . The Americans did not like the tax they had to pay on tea coming from England and in 1773 threw 340 chests of tea overboard in Boston – the famous Boston Tea Party. This was one of the causes of the American War of Independence.
  • Tea was rationed during the 2nd World War – 2oz per person per week. It was called Britain ’s secret weapon. In the heavy bombing raids people working or taking shelter said they were OK as long as they had a cup of tea!
  • Tea contains tannin – that’s the brown stuff which stains the cup and your teeth!
  • In Britain today on average each person drinks 3 cups of tea per day.
  • 90% of tea we drink today is made with tea-bags.
  • We use 57 billion tea-bags every year in Britain – 57,000,000,000,000!
  • Some people claim to be able to tell the future by ‘reading’ the tea leaves left in a cup.
  • You can make a type of bread from tea – tea-bread, a bit like a fruit cake. Why not try it?