The Perfect Cup of English Breakfast Tea
Steep your teabag 3-5 minutes in hot water, preferably at a temperature of 100’C / 212’F. For a stronger brew, let the teabag steep for a maximum of eight minutes.
Traditionally, this blend is enjoyed best at breakfast with fresh milk and a lump of sugar.
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When tea was first introduced to Britain, the government touted it as an alternative to beer. At the time beer was commonly drunk throughout the day since the water was untreated and dangerous for human consumption.
Early in British life tea was known as a health beverage and claimed all sorts of curative powers. In the 1650’s, Garway’s Coffee House proclaimed, “Tea makes the body active and lusty. Tea is declared to be the most wholesome, preserving perfect health until extreme Old Age.”
Tea was first brought to England via Holland on Dutch ships. In 1651 the British government passed the Navigation Acts, which forbade the importation of any products on non-British ships. Traders and Dutchmen, being resourceful, continued the trade by loading the tea in Holland and transporting it back onto British ships.
During WWII, tea became an important morale booster. So important was tea to Britain that during the air raids of the Battle of Britain, stores of tea were hidden in 500 secret locations throughout the country to protect it from being bombed.
Today the habit of tea drinking is inexorably linked to England despite the fact that the British were fairly late on the tea scene, in historical terms. Ironically the first mention of tea in English literature is a translation of a Dutchman’s travels to the East.
| Decaffeinated Teabags | |
| English Breakfast decaf sampler - $3.95 with free shipping |
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| English Breakfast decaf 24 count bag - $10.95 |
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| English Breakfast decaf double bag - 48 count bag - $16.95 |
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| Teabags | |
| English Breakfast sampler - $3.95 with free shipping |
|
| English Breakfast 24 count bag - $9.95 |
|
| English Breakfast double bag - 48 count bag - $15.95 |
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How Afternoon Tea Came To Be:
Afternoon tea was the invention of Anna, wife of the seventh Duke of Bedford.At the time custom dictated only two planned meals per day: a hearty breakfast and a late evening dinner.
In an effort to ease the mid-day “sinking feeling,” she began instructing her servants to prepare tea and cakes in the late afternoon.
Thus began a fashionable habit, which still exists today.
"...I am making a big keepsake photo book for my mom for Mother's Day, and I am going to include a "Queen Mum" tea sample pack and some fine chocolate for her to enjoy while she looks at it. Thanks!"
-- Michele Ellington, El Paso, Texas
