Tag: twinings

Did You Know . . . .

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Did you know that …

… all “tea” comes from one plant, of which there are over 3,000 varieties.
… except for water, tea is the most popular beverage in the world.
… China grows more tea than any other country, but they are not the largest exporter.
… tea improves concentration, mood, and energy, as well as relaxation.
… there is no ‘orange‘ in orange pekoe tea.

… if the tea leaf shipped out of China from the northern ports, it was called ‘cha’
… if the tea leaf shipped out of China from the southern ports, it was called ‘te’.
… white tea actually has more caffeine than black tea.
… a pound of tea has more caffeine than a pound of coffee – but a cup of tea has less caffeine than a cup of coffee.
… the average tea drinker in the U.K. drinks 4.5 lbs of tea each year, while the average tea drinker in Turkey drinks 6.8 lbs.

… tea was first touted for its medicinal benefits – good for colds, dropsies and scurvies.
… in Victorian England, tea sold on average for £26/pound – while the average wage was £10/year.
… in Victorian England, some servants would take the used tea leaves and sell it to unscrupulous dealers, who would add fillers and resell the leaves.
… although we think of teapots as British, they actually originated in China in the 1500s.
… in the Middle East, haggling over prices doesn’t even begin until after tea is served.

… tearooms where the first ‘women-owned’ businesses in the U.S.
… the most famous tearoom in the world is the Willow Tea Room in Glasgow, Scotland.
… in the 19th century, the term for accepting a bribe was called “tea money“.
… in Victorian England, tea was kept locked away in ornate tea chests, with the key being held by the lady of the house.
… in Victorian England, children in orphanages were given tea with milk and sugar daily.

 

… the first tea to be exported from China and enjoyed by Europeans was ‘green’ tea, called “gunpowder“.
… the Portuguese were the first to enjoy drinking tea in Europe, after merchants brought it back from Asia.
… crates of Chinese porcelain was first used as ballast in the bottom of ships transporting tea.
… a China closet was where the lady of the house would display her fine imported “Chinaware”.
… the Chinese started putting handles on teacups when they realized Europeans drank their tea much hotter than they did and in larger bowls.

Ming Dynasty Yixing Teapot

… “pot holes” is the term given to the holes in the road left by English potters who would dig up the fine clay to craft their teapots.
… in the late 1800s until WWI, from London to Glasgow, Tango tea dances were all the rage.
… Prime Minister Earl Grey is credited with ending slavery in Great Britain.
… Earl Grey tea is one of the most popular ‘flavored’ teas in the world.
… Both Twinings and Jacksons of Piccadilly take credit for inventing “Earl Grey” flavored tea.

The Cup of Tea, Mary Cassatt 1881

… Afternoon Tea is credited to the 7th Duchess of Bedford, Anna Russell, in the 1840s.
… Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was a world-class coffee producer until the coffee blight of 1870.
… the tea bag was invented accidentally by Thomas Sullivan as a sample bag for his customers.
… iced tea was accidentally invented by Richard Blechynde on a very hot day at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 when he gave out ‘cold’ samples of his tea.

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Cover Photo:  “Church Lady High Tea” by Janie McGee

BREAKFAST TEAS

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Have you ever had one of those nights when you’re laying in bed and your head becomes full of the most bizarre, unrelated thoughts.  As hard as you try to toss them aside, you can’t.  Those thoughts just keep coming back into your consciousness … rolling around and around and around.  Well, that’s exactly what happened to me last night.  And, for some reason, the subject was breakfast teas.  Yes, I know … bizarre!   English Breakfast and Scottish Breakfast to be exact.

What kept occurring to me was, “why do they exist?”  Although I’ve traveled through all the wonderful countries of Great Britain, never have I seen (except in grocery stores), been offered or served a “breakfast tea”.  I’ve been served PG Tips, Yorkshire Gold, Barry’s, Twining’s, A&P, Tetley and a variety of unknown bagged teas.  I’ve also been served, on one occasion, a very nice Ceylon.  But never anything for breakfast called “breakfast tea” whether it’s from England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist or aren’t being sold in grocery stores.  Barry’s now has an English Breakfast and Taylor’s even has a Scottish Breakfast.

Here in the States, however, many tea drinkers think you need to start the day with a breakfast tea … most often, English Breakfast, but, of course, if you are a “real tea drinker” then it’s Irish Breakfast.  Why would all of this be running around in my head at 3am?  I don’t know.  But the more I tried to put it away, the more I tried to understand it.

As a tea retailer, my English Breakfast tea … a bright blend of assertive Ceylon and hearty Assam with a burgundy-like Keemun … was by far my most popular seller until that is, customers started asking for something stronger.  They needed a tea that packed the punch of a cuppa coffee … something that would stand up better to milk and sugar.   Knowing that Barry’s packed a punch, I created a tea much like it … a rich, dark blend of high-quality CTC (cut, torn and curled) malty Assams … Irish Breakfast it was!  And it was a huge hit.  But now other customers said it was too assertive, too rich, too dark.  You cannot please everyone, I guess, so back to the blending table.

I felt like Goldilocks and the Three Bears … if the Daddy Bear Irish Breakfast was too strong, and the Baby Bear English Breakfast was too weak, then we needed a Momma Bear.  How about … Scottish Breakfast!

Scottish Breakfast became an even bigger success than English or Irish.  Every customer loved it.  A blend of orthodox full-bodied Assams with just a hint of Ceylons, it struck the right balance between the two.  It held its own with milk and sugar, or dark right from the pot.  It was such a success that orders for 2, 3 and 5 lbs. were coming in continuously.  Customers didn’t want to run out.  Even today, although I’ve closed up shop, I still get requests for “Scottish Breakfast” tea.

But the question still remains unanswered.  With more than 3500 varieties of teas available including Assams, Keemuns, Ceylons, Yunnans, Darjeelings, white teas, green teas, pu-erhs and oolongs, teas from countries all over the world, China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Nepal, Kenya, Japan, then why are breakfast teas still so much in demand here in the States?

And as I sit here this morning enjoying a delicate cup of fragrant, light  Silver Needles with its hint of sweetness, this question remains unanswered and still continues to run through my head.

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What’s in your cup?

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Victorian Tea Chest

The timeline is England, late-18th century.  Tea has found its way from the table of the aristocracy to the table of the every man.  Gone are the days when tea was served to only men in English coffeehouses.  In the homes of the aristocracy, tea now is locked away in elaborately-carved wooden tea chests; the key kept safe by the “lady of the house” should the chambermaid, the footman or the butler decide to help him or herself.  Tea now is also being enjoyed in almost every home, tea room and workplace. Maid servants are enjoying a ‘tea break’ twice a day … with an allowance taken from their wages to pay for the tea.  Apprentices in manufacturing plants are allocated a parlor where they can have a twice daily tea break.  Children in orphanages are given tea with milk and sugar.

1700 teaNot everyone, however, thinks this ‘tea drinking’ is appropriate for the lower classes.  Jonas Hanway in A JOURNAL OF EIGHT DAYS JOURNEY wrote “The use of tea descended to the Pleboean order among us, about the beginning of the century … men seem to have lost their stature, and comeliness, and women their beauty.  Your very chambermaids have lost their bloom, I suppose by sipping tea …  It is the curse of this nation ….”

He wasn’t alone.  William Cobbett wrote in COTTAGE ECONOMY, “The tea drinking has done a great deal in bringing this nation into the state of misery in which it now is.  It must be evident to every one that the practice of tea drinking must render the frame feeble, and unfit to encounter hard labor or severe weather.”

By the mid-1800’s, a professional man (doctor, lawyer) might earn £50 a year, while the average workman was only earning about 20 shillings a week.   A live-in chambermaid might earn £5 per year, while the butler of the house would earn £20 .  With Tea selling for more than £26 a pound, how was anyone ever going to afford this beverage?  One word …. “smouch“.

We might call it recycling, they called it “smouch“.   Servants in the royal and affluent households, as well as workers in coffee houses, would take the used tea leaves and sell them through the back door to unscrupulous dealers.  These “smouch” dealers would then add things like tree leaves, sheep’s dung and saw dust as fillers.  They would color the leaves with iron sulphate, verdigris and copper.  They would dry this mixture and then sell the “smouch” back to the tea merchants.  It is believed that within an eight mile area, approximately 20 tons of “smouch” was manufactured every year.  This flourishing underground market, in addition to smuggling, is what made it possible for tea to reach the commoner.

“METHOD OF MAKING SMOUCH WITH ASH LEAVES TO MIX WITH BLACK TEAS”
“When gathered they are first dried in the sun then baked.  They are
next put on the floor and trod upon until the leaves are small, then
lifted and steeped in copperas, with sheep’s dung, after which, being
dried on the floor, they are fit for use.”
Taken from Richard Twining’s “Observations on the Tea
and Window Act and on the Tea Trade, 1785”.

tea cartoonThe tea that was being imported from China and enjoyed now by all classes was green tea … not black tea as so many people associate with Great Britain.   It was what we now refer to as “gunpowder” green tea.  Black tea came about because the Chinese were becoming just as unscrupulous as the “smouch” dealers.   The Chinese, knowing that people expected their green teas to have a bluish tint when steeped began adding gypsum to their tea just before firing the leaves, giving their cheaper teas the right color.

Partly due to the fact that forests were being completely decimated in order to manufacture “smouch”, and due to the fact that poisonous dyes were being used, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1725 banning the mixing of tea leaves with any other leaves. This Act went completely unnoticed, which prompted another edict from the government in 1777 banning the sale of “smouch” altogether.

Tea drinkers eventually became concerned about some of the more bizarre ingredients they were ingesting.  When you think of all the copper, lead, gypsum and iron that people were drinking, sheep’s dung doesn’t sound so bad!  The public became so concerned about these poisonous dyes, they began asking for ‘black’ tea … which is why black tea is the predominate tea enjoyed throughout Great Britain.  And with smuggling so rampant at that time “smouch” was no longer an issue.

So how about it …… would you like a little “smouch” with your tea?

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References:  World Wide Words, Boston Tea Party, The Victorian Web, The Farm Antiques, Twinings