General Historical Overview

Enjoying a cup of tea is a frequent occurrence in historical romance novels. Tea consumption has a long and interesting history beginning in China nearly 5,000 years old. The spread of tea drinking would not reach Europe (Holland, Germany, France) until the sixteenth century. Tea was considered a medicinal beverage and very costly at more than $100 per pound. Consequently, only the aristocracy could afford to drink tea.

English aristocrats introduced tea to England in the middle 1600s. Garway’s Coffee House in London in 1657 was the first coffee house to sell tea. London could boast nearly 500 coffee houses by 1702. It would be Thomas Twining who would have the vision to open London’s first house that served only tea. Tom’s Coffee House was opened in 1717. He recognized the large number of women who were tea drinkers. (Coffee houses were a popular place to visit and were exclusively for men.) As a result, his tea shop was open to both men and women.

Tea in the Afternoon

Anna, seventh Duchess of Bedford, began having afternoon tea in her home in the 1840s. She took tea along with cakes at around five o’clock in the afternoon. This eliminated the "sinking feeling" she experienced in the late afternoon having not eaten anything since breakfast. Afternoon tea would soon become an institution.

The institution of tea would extend across all classes and eventually come to America by emigration from Britain.

Tea Gardens - Remember Vauxhall?

The greatest tea garden where men and women met socially was Vauxhall on the Thames near Vauxhall Bridge. Vauxhall was opened in 1732 and remained open well into the nineteenth century. Bread and butter or small cakes were served with tea. Tea gardens provided entertainment such as masked carnivals, fireworks, races, gambling, and concerts. The last London tea garden closed in the 1850s.

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