Tea and Tea Drinking

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

SORTING TEA IN CHINA.
Frontispiece.
ARTHUR READE,
AUTHOR OF STUDY AND STIMULANTS
London: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
1884.
LONDON: PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
The question of the influence of tea, as well as that of alcohol and tobacco, has occupied the attention of the author for some time. Apart from its physiological aspect, the subject of tea-drinking is extremely interesting; and in the following pages an attempt has been made to describe its introduction into England, to review the evidence of its friends and foes, and to discuss its influence on mind and health. An account is also given of the origin of tea-meetings, and of the methods of making tea in various countries. Although the book does not claim to be a complete history of tea, yet a very wide range of authors has been consulted to furnish the numerous details which illustrate the usages, the benefits, and the evils (real or imaginary) which surround the habit of tea-drinking.

Introduced by the East India Company—Mrs. Pepys making her first cup of tea—Virtues of tea—Thomas Garway's advertisement—Waller's birthday ode—Tea a rarity in country homes—Introduced into the Quaker School—Extension of tea-drinking—The social tea-table a national delight—England the largest consumer of tea.