English Breakfast

The tradition of tea drinking has become synonymous with England, despite the British arriving relatively late to the tea scene in historical terms. Ironically, the first recorded mention of tea in English literature can be traced back to a translation of a Dutch traveler's accounts from the East. Tea initially made its way to England through Dutch ships, as the British government grew increasingly frustrated that a small nation like the Netherlands controlled the tea trade with the UK. In 1651, the British government enacted the Navigation Acts, prohibiting the importation of goods on non-British ships. Resourceful traders and Dutchmen, however, found a way to continue the trade by transshipping tea in Holland onto British vessels.

In the early days, tea was hailed as a health elixir, believed to possess various curative properties. In the 1650s, Garway's Coffee House boldly declared that tea "makes the body active and lusty" and proclaimed it to be the epitome of wholesome goodness, preserving perfect health even into old age. The concept of afternoon tea, on the other hand, can be attributed to Anna, the wife of the seventh Duke of Bedford. In an effort to alleviate the mid-day "sinking feeling," Anna instructed her servants to prepare tea and cakes in the late afternoon. This charming innovation sparked a fashionable habit that endures to this day, enriching the British tea-drinking culture.