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British Tea

Tea is the worlds second most popular drink after water and the British people are the third largest consumers of tea with each Brit drinking over 4 pounds (2kg) per year.

Explore England  Tea Plants showing leaves

The Tea plant

Explore England  Sri Lankan Tea Plantation

Sri Lankan Tea Plantation

Tea had been drunk in China for centuries and was first imported into Britain during the 17th century and became a craze after Charles II's queen, Catherine of Braganza, started drinking it, there is nothing new about  celebrity endorsement.

During the heydays of the British Empire, the Brits took tea from its native China and set up plantations in India and Ceylon (Sri-Lanka).

As demand for tea grew, the amount smuggled into England was far more than the legitimate imports, to stop the crime associated with the smugglers the hated tea tax was abolished, prices fell and what once an exclusive drink for the wealthy become the drink of choice for the nation.

Today, despite not being a tea producing nation, the centuries of experience in blending leaves and cultivating exceptional single leaf varieties make British Teas some of the finest in the world.

Explore England  British Tea 120 bag Twining Tea Gift Set

Twinings tea gift set

Twinings are one of the oldest and most respected of British tea companies and have a vast selection including many single leaf varieties, green, white and speciality blends.




































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