Portuguese Princess Who Loved Her Tea
Once upon a time, in this fair land, tea was a luxury product that only the rich indulged in.
Hard to imagine as it is that something that many of us take for granted, or even couldn’t function without on a daily basis, was once a beverage only consumed at the highest levels of society.
It was debatable at one point if it could even be bad for your health! (There are still parts of Africa that advise pregnant women to abstain from tea drinking.)
It has taken several decades for tea to earn its place as the national beverage of choice and only now are the health benefits of tea becoming public knowledge.
This is all down to one tea-loving lady, Portuguese princess Catherine Of Braganza.
Tea in Portugal was not so expensive, as it wasn’t shipped from the continent and since her childhood Catherine was a tea enthusiast.
Wife to Charles II, she brought tea drinking to the royal court and it soon became a trend amongst the aristocracy in the 17th century.
Despite the poor quality back then, water was not at its cleanest and the tea blend taste would, by today’s standards, be considered undrinkable, the fashion quickly spread.
Soon wealthy men in coffee and tea houses in London were sitting down to tea services to talk business and politics.
Then it spread from the elite circles to the middle classes.
Everyone was putting the kettle on!
Unfortunately in 1660 to 1689 tea sold in coffee houses was taxed in liquid form.
The whole batch was made in the morning and kept stewing all day – this won’t have done anything for the overall flavour of the brew. Thankfully, our brewing methods have advanced.
As did the taxation, in 1689 the system changed and tea after this date was taxed by the leaf rather than the liquid.
Giving way to fresher brews for all.
If it hadn’t of been for one Portuguese princess insisting on taking her tea daily, the nation’s favourite brew might have been very different indeed.
Image: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Catherine_of_Braganza_-_Lely_1663-65.jpg
