History of Tea in Europe
A Brief Summary
East Meets West.
While it is likely that tea found its way to Europe via Turkish traders along the Silk Road as early as the 5th century, steady European trade in tea did not begin until the Portuguese landed in China in 1516, having found a sea route to the east. Dutch merchants entered the tea trade in the early 17th century, lucratively spreading tea throughout Europe. Tea became fashionable to the Dutch and entered other western countries in the 9th century, but due to its high price, it remained a drink for the wealthy. It did not get widely popular until the 17th century when global trade took off. Dutch East India Company delivered the first shipments of tea in 1610 from China after a Portuguese missionary who worked in China had introduced it in Europe. During that time, tea entered Russia through the Silk Road. All that time, people were seeing tea as a luxurious item and its popularity in Paris and London was growing. It would take tea only 50 years to overtake coffee as the main drink in British coffee houses.
The Dawn of the British Empire.
Britain was the last of the three great maritime nations to enter the tea trade, however once tea was introduced, it quickly became Britain’s most popular beverage and enabled Britain to become a global superpower. When it comes to Britain, “The story of tea is the story of imperialism, industrialization, and world domination, one cup at a time.” Britain granted the John Company (which was later merged with the East India Company) a monopoly of all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of Cape Horn, which allowed it to dominate the tea trade for over a century. Its powers were practically equivalent to those of a sovereign nation, including acquiring and governing territory, coining its own money, declaring war, passing its own laws, etc. It was the largest and most powerful monopoly in world history, giving birth to the phrase. . .
“The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire.”