Category: The Tea Master’s Blog

English customs were generally imitated in this country, particularly in the urban centers of Boston where, as he visited in 1740, Joseph Bennett observed that “the ladies here visit, drink tea and indulge every little piece of gentility to the height of the mode and neglect the affairs of their families with as good grace […]

Fans of Downton Abbey may be fascinated—and a bit envious—of the Crawley daughters’ morning ritual of awakening to a tray of hot tea placed upon their recumbent laps by their ladies’ maids. I suspect the great estate house was quite drafty, and a few cups of tea were surely consumed before the pampered ladies placed […]

Every tea room owner can tell you a story about a customer who sent back their pot of Orange Pekoe tea because it did not taste of oranges. The answer to the drinker’s dilemma may be found in the fact that Orange Pekoe is one of the most common grades of tea manufactured in India […]

The Great London Tea Company was one of several Boston-based tea importers that operated in the late 1800s. Their offices were on Washington Street, one of the city’s busiest shopping areas, and located just down the street from Old South Meeting House. A look into their sales brochure from 1887 gives us a look into […]

The traditional English cup of tea, once considered a necessary luxury, is undergoing its biggest change since tea was first advertised for sale in London in 1657. British tea consumption has fallen from 2.5 ounces per person per week to less than an ounce. That means Britons are drinking on average just 8 cups of […]