Tea in BritainTea, that most essential English drinks, is a relative late comer to British

Tea in Britain

Tea, that most essential English drinks, is a relative late comer to British shores. Although the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium (千年) BC in China, it was not until the mid 17th century that the beverage(饮料) first appeared in England. The use of tea spread slowly from its Asian homeland, reaching Europe by way of Venice around 1560, although Portuguese trading ships may have made contact with the Chinese as early as 1515. It was the Portuguese and Dutch traders who first imported tea to Europe, with regular shipments by 1610. England was a latecomer to the tea trade, as the East India Company did not invest on tea's popularity until the inid-18th century.

Coffee Houses

Curiously, it was the London coffee houses that were responsible for introducing tea to England. One of the first coffee house merchants to offer tea was Thomas Garway, who owned an establishment in Exchange Alley. He sold both liquid and dry tea to the public as early as 1657. Three years later he issued a broadsheet advertising tea at 6 and 10 per pound, flattering its virtues at "making the body active and energetic", and "preserving perfect health until extreme old age".

Tea gained popularity quickly in the coffee houses, and by 1700 over 500 coffee houses sold it. Ibis distressed the pub owners, as tea cut their sales of wine, and it was bad news for the government, who depended upon a steady stream of revenue from taxes on liquor sales. By 1750 tea had become the favoured drink of Britain's lower classes.

Taxation on Tea

Charles U did his bit to counter the growth of tea, with several acts(法案)forbidding its sale in private houses. This measure was designed to counter sedition(混乱), but it was so unpopular that it was impossible to enforce. A 1676 act taxed tea required coffee house operators to apply for a license. This was just the start of government attempts to control, or at least, to profit from the popularity of tea in Britain. By the mid 18th century the duty on tea had reached 119%. This heavy taxation had the effect of creating a whole new industry tea smuggling.

Smuggling Tea

Ships from Holland and Scandinavia brought tea to the British coast, then stood offshore while smugglers met them and unloaded the precious cargo in small vessels. The smugglers, often local fishermen, transported the tea inland through underground passages and hidden paths to special hiding places. One of the best hiding places was in the local parish(教区) church! Even smuggled tea was expensive, however, and therefore extremely profitable, so many smugglers began to mix the tea with other substances, such as the leaves of some trees. Used tea leaves were also redried and added to fresh leaves.

Finally, in 1784 William Pitt the Younger introduced the Commutation Act, which dropped the tax on tea from'! 19% to 12.5%, effectively ending smuggling. Bad quality tea remained a problem, though, until the Food and Drag Act of 1875 brought in strict punishment for the practice.

Tea Clippers (快速帆船)

In the early 1800's ships carrying tea from the Far East to Britain could take over a year to bring home their precious cargo. When the East India Company was given a monopoly(垄断) on the tea trade in 1832, they realized the need to cut the time of this journey. The Americans actually designed the first "clippers", or streamlined, tall-masted vessels, but the British were close behind. These clippers sped along at nearly 18 knots by contemporary accounts—nearly as fast as a modem ocean liner.

So great was the race for speed that an annual competition was begun for dippers to race from the Canton River to the London Docks. The first ship to unload its cargo won the captain and crew a good bonus.

The most famous of the clipper ships was the Cutty Sark, built in 1868. It only made the tea run eight

A．Y

B．N

C．NG