Re: Tea and Coffee

[Prince_Lieven]

I'm sure I heard somewhere that Catherine brought tea to England anyway (Portugal had strong trade links with India). In fact, in the BBC produced 'Charles II' there is an amusing scene when Catherine asks for tea upon her arrival in England. Charles' courtiers giggle and Sir Edward Hyde says 'The English do not drink tea' or something of the kind. Amusing when you consider how popular tea is in England and Ireland now.

[RussMan]

Yeah, they also considered tobacco at the time to be bland and disgusting too. Wow! That sure did change!!!

[SakuragiMiu]

I'm sure I heard somewhere that Catherine brought tea to England anyway (Portugal had strong trade links with India). In fact, in the BBC produced 'Charles II' there is an amusing scene when Catherine asks for tea upon her arrival in England. Charles' courtiers giggle and Sir Edward Hyde says 'The English do not drink tea' or something of the kind. Amusing when you consider how popular tea is in England and Ireland now.

This is what I've learnt in college (I'm studying to be a Portuguese tour guide in Portugal):

-Catherine was transporting some tea leaves and queques (probably the origin of the word cake, because a queque is sort of a Portuguese muffin). When she arrived in England she was seasick and asked for someone to prepare her some tea. People just laughed and said that the only thing they had was beer. Back then, tea leaves in England were only used for trades and never to prepare a drink.

She picked up the tea leaves, prepared some tea and drank it with a queque. From them on the English would learn the habit of drinking tea, since she was the one who introduced this habit. She also introduced the fan in the court, something that she learnt from Luisa de Guzman, her mother, queen of Portugal and former princess of Spain.

Too bad that I've seen some authors and fonts saying that the costume of drinking tea started with another noble English woman in the 18th century, and not with our Catherine. It seems that history tends to forget about the Portuguese influence throughout the world- we're so little so everyone forgets about us!

[CountessKate]

Apparently tea was sold in coffee houses in London and the merchant Thomas Garway offered it in dry and liquid form;  his first public sale was in 1657.  The sale of "China Tcha, Tay or Tee" appeared was announced in 1658, in the newspaper Mercurius Politicus, booked by the owner of The Sultaness Head Coffee House.  In 1660 Garway again advertised tea at his own coffee house, Garraways.   It was sufficiently in use that in 1660 it was actually taxed; "For every gallon of Chocolate, Sherbet, and Tea, made and sold, to be paid by the Makers thereof, Eightpence," and inspectors were appointed to visit the coffee-houses twice daily to see the quantity brewed .  Pepys mentions his first cup of tea as a novelty in 1661 "I did send for a Cup of Tee, a China Drink of which I never drank before."  He doesn't say whether he liked it or not.

So Catherine of Braganza couldn't have introduced tea to England since she didn't arrive here until 1662; however, she may have made tea drinking more fashionable.