Thank God for tea !

Tea ...the " National Drink".

If there is a typical British drink, that is tea. Known as the ‘National Drink’, it is consumed daily by a majority of people across the country. Teas can be divided into categories depending on how they are processed: white, yellow, green, oolong, black and postfermented. In Britain, tea is usually black tea served with milk.

The tea plant is native to East and South Asia. It was imported to Europe during the Portuguese expansion of the 16th century. Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, took the tea habit to Great Britain around 1660. It became a widely consumed drink in the 19th century when the British started importing tea from China.The world’s largest producers of tea are China and India.

Did you know  ?

The first tea bag was marketed in 1904. American Thomas Sullivan from New York was the first to distribute samples of his tea in small bags with a drawstring. This method became widely used during World War II, when tea was rationed. Tetley was the first brand to sell tea bags in the UK, in 1953. They became an immediate success12.