'A HISTORY OF...'//'TEA4HEALTH FACTS'//OUGD504-SUMMER

FACTS FROM THE TEA COUNCIL WEBSITE:
http://www.tea.co.uk/news-article/tea4health-facts-and-figures

19th January 2005

The British have been drinking tea for nearly 400 years - and other facts...

Background

- The British have been drinking tea for nearly 400 years

- Tea breaks are traditions that have been with us for approximately 200 years. Initially when workers commenced their day at around 5 or 6am, employers allowed a break in the morning when food and tea were served. Some employers repeated the break in the afternoon as well.

- Tea costs approximately 3p per cup to make. Coffee costs 6.5p

- Tea outsells coffee by 2 to 1

- There are 36 tea-growing nations. The principal ones are India, China, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Indonesia

- Over 50% of our tea comes from East Africa – Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe

Market Figures

- The UK imports around 160 thousand tonnes of tea per year

- The UK drinks 165 million cups per day - 62 billion cups per year.

- There are estimated to be about 1,500 different varieties of tea

- In a recent study, 80% of staff claim they find out more about what's going on at work over a cup of tea than in any other way.

- The UK tea market is worth circa £700 million annually

Consumption patterns

- Average consumption is circa 3 cups per day (10 years old and over)

- 70% of population (over 10yrs) drank tea yesterday

- 96% of tea is consumed in tea bags

- 90% of tea is consumed at home, 10% out of home

- 93% of tea consumed is blend – 7% speciality tea. Earl Grey 50% of speciality market

- Over 25% of milk consumed in UK is taken with tea

- 98% of people take milk with tea

- 45% of people take sugar with their tea

Making the perfect cup of tea

- Always boil fresh water. Re-boiling the water takes the oxygen out and can give a slightly metallic taste.

- Milk in second.

- Brew for 1 to 2 minutes or to taste.

Making the perfect pot of tea

- Always boil fresh water. Re-boiling the water takes the oxygen out and can give a slightly metallic taste.

- Milk in first – this avoids scalding the fats in the milk

- Brew for 3 to 5 minutes or to taste.

Health Facts

- Approximately 40% of the nation’s fluid intake today will be tea

- Tea without milk has no calories. Using semi-skimmed milk adds around 13 calories per cup, but you also benefit from valuable minerals and calcium.

- Tea with milk provides 16% of daily calcium requirement in 4 cups. Tea contains some zinc and folic acid.

- Tea with milk contains Vitamin B6, Riboflavin B2 and Thiamin B1

- Tea is a rich source of minerals manganese, essential for bone growth and body development, and potassium, vital for maintaining body fluid levels

- The average cup of tea contains less than half the level of caffeine than coffee. One cup contains only 50mg per 190ml cup

- Tea is a natural source of fluoride and delivers 45% of your daily requirement if you take 3/4 cups per day

- Only 11% of UK water supply has fluoride added

- Green and black teas are from the same plant, Camelia sinensis, and contain similar amounts of antioxidants and caffeine.

http://www.teaandcakes.co.uk/tea_facts.html

Tea replaced Gin as the drink of the masses in Eighteenth century England.

The oriental tea ceremony was developed by Zen Buddhist monks. Their ritual of making tea expressed 'the quest of greatness in the smallest details of life', and are 'an outward form of an inner belief in the importance of peace and harmony'. Tea ceremonies would be run by Tea Masters, and follow the Way of Tea.

Coffee actually pre-dates tea in England - early coffee houses started selling tea but it was slow to catch on until Catherine of Braganza, Charles II's wife made it trendy (like Posh Spice and St Tropez).

Tea used to be so heavily taxed that it was imported and distributed by a black market of underground smugglers. Pitt the Younger (surely the best named Prime Minster in the history of England) realised that the 119% rate of tax was a bit daft, and slashed this to 12.5%. Tea smuggling ceased remarkably quickly.

Early medics worried that tea drinking among the working classes would lead to weakness and melancholy (unlike Gin...!).

During both the First and Second World War, the British Government took over the importing of tea, to make sure that our favourite hot cup of sustenance would still be within reach.