Tea and the British Empire

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aristocracy you had to be rich in order

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to enjoy tea in the 18th to 19th

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centuries it was a huge employer across

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what became the british empire

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all tea when fortman mason opened was

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grown in china by 1837 it was grown in

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india

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from the late 19th century in africa it

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gave employment it has to be said a lot

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of that employment was indentured labour

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and it's something that tea growers tea

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drinkers tea blenders tea sellers

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have to acknowledge and it's something

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that we have to deal with and we have to

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deal with it in a very serious way

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but despite its murky history tea

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remains britain's most popular drink

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with an estimated 100 million cups being

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drunk every single day

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when you go to a grand hotel or

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restaurant presentation is every bit as

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essential as the actual tea from

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beautiful cake stands to pretty napkins

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and tablecloths i think our ancestors

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would have been horrified at that amount

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of indulgence in victorian and edwardian

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times you would have had something