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Why are the Brits so obsessed with tea? Let's find out.

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Hi, I'm Kate and this is Anglophenia.

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Now one of the first things you'll be asked by most Brits is,

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would you like a cup of tea?

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Yes, we're rather fond of a proper brew, which is what we call a nice cup of tea.

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And it's our go-to solution for almost any scenario.

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Want an excuse to gossip with your friends?

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Invite them over for a cup of tea.

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Do you have a builder doing some work on your house?

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It would be offensive not to offer him a cuppa.

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Going through a personal drama? Yep, you guessed it, a cup of tea will make everyone feel better.

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It's hardly surprising then that the UK race through a whopping 165 million cups of tea every day.

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Seriously, that is a lot of cup lifting. But it's how we stay in such great shape.

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But how have we become one of the biggest tea drinking nations per capita in the world?

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Here are a few interesting moments in history that helped make tea a quintessentially British

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affair.

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Our love of tea goes back to the mid 1600s when the British East India Company dominated

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the tea imported to Britain.

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We had a constant and growing supply of tea, which was convenient as we had been excluded

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from the coffee exporting Mediterranean during our wars with France and Spain at the time.

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Whilst our surrounding countries remained hooked on coffee, Britain became a tea-drinking

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nation.

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Tea hasn't always been the innocent drink we know and love today.

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During the 1700s, increasing tea prices saw a rise in both tea smuggling and fake teas,

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which were often used tea leaves mixed with other leaves and then dyed.

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These lower-priced teas were sold to the working classes, which meant that tea, even if it

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wasn't the best quality, were no longer just for the rich.

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Afternoon tea, also known as low tea due to the low tables it was served on,

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came about in around 1841 thanks to the very hungry tummy of one woman,

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Anna Russell, the Duchess of Bedford, who took social convention into her own hands

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and began enjoying a pot of tea and a light snack to satisfy that sinking feeling in the late afternoon.

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Before long, afternoon tea became quite the social event.

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Queen Victoria, a friend of the Duchess's, formalised afternoon tea

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with her Buckingham Palace tea receptions.

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I think my invite may have gotten lost in the post.

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Today afternoon tea is enjoyed at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon and is made up of

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a selection of finger sandwiches, scones, pastries and homemade cakes.

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Cream tea is a simpler version with scones, clotted cream, jam and of course a pot of

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tea and it's my personal favourite.

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Not to be mistaken for afternoon tea, high tea, also known as meat tea, was in fact a

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hot meal of meat pies, vegetables and bread, eaten at the end of the day with a cup of

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tea by factory workers during the Industrial Revolution. It was called high tea due to

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the high tables it was served on, but these were just regular sized tables.

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Today, in many parts of the UK, the evening meal is often referred to as tea, which can

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be a tad confusing if you're expecting sandwiches and a slice of cake.

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In the 1880s, tea rooms became fashionable with women, as respectable places they could

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go to meet their friends for a discreet chat and even discuss politics. Eventually, tea

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rooms became an integral part of the women's liberation movement. Tea was also used as

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a morale booster to soldiers during the Second World War, with the Prime Minister Winston

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Churchill stating that tea is more important than bullets. Hear, hear.

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Interestingly, 96% of tea consumed in Britain comes in the form of a tea bag, which just

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so happens to be an American invention. During the early 1900s, tea merchant Thomas Sullivan

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sent out tea samples to his customers in silken sachets. Americans were naturally enthusiastic

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about these new-fangled, super-convenient tea bags, but they didn't catch on in Britain

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until the 1950s. But boy, do we love them now.

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So there you are, just a few examples of how tea has become part of British culture and

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society. Now with all this talk of tea, I bet you're wondering how to make a proper

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cup of tea. Well, you're in luck. In the next episode, you're formally invited to tea with

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Anglophenia as we show you how to make a nice cuppa the British way.

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In the meantime, subscribe for more episodes. And remember, you can tweet us at Anglophenia

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and follow us on Facebook by liking our page. Thanks for watching.

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My tea leaves predict you'll enjoy this one. Oh, your total tea loved that one. That one

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is quality.