In 1946, George Orwell published an essay on a matter that is the subject of “violent disputes”—namely, the making of a “nice cup of tea.” His recommendations include warming the pot beforehand and pouring tea in the cup before adding milk. He also touches on the global reach of the beverage: tea, he explains, is “one of the mainstays of civilization in this country, as well as in Eire, Australia, and New Zealand.” “China tea,” he writes, “has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays—it is economical, and one can drink it without milk—but there is not much stimulation in it.” His final point is that tea, unless drunk in the “Russian” style, must be served without sugar.
In A Thirst for Empire: How Tea Shaped the Modern World, Erika Rappaport places the consumption of tea within a larger history of empire and globalization. In the process, she explores the ways in which an ancient infusion traveled from Asia to Europe, becoming a symbol of temperance, civility, and refinement. And as Britain sought to extend its influence to Asia, it laid claim to the beverage, transforming a foreign drink into a vital part of modern British culture. Throughout the book, she describes tea’s wide influence on politics, social life, war, empire, diplomacy, commercial life, and religion.
A symbol of temperance, civility, and refinement.
When tea arrived in Europe during the seventeenth century, it was an object of conspicuous consumption. England developed a taste for
