Pepys' first Cup of Tee

I like this extract from Samuel Pepys diary, 1660, which I came across recently......

September 25th

To the office, where Sir W Batten, Collonel Slingsby, and I sat a while; ... And afterwards did send for a Cupp of Tee (a China drink) of which I never had drank before

Apparently it is one of the first references to drinking tea in England - it must have been a real luxury considering the cost and length of time it took transporting tea from the Far East. It was only drunk by the fashionably rich in England for the next 100 or so years.

 Chinese porcelain and a Yixing teapot

Britain has since become the country with the largest per capita tea consumers in the world.


I like this Dutch Golden Age painting by artist Roestraten (1627-1698) showing a Chinese tea set used in Europe.