Tea, Delicious Tea

In class today we discussed the growing popularity of tea in England and America during the time preceeding the Revolution.   The phenomenon is quite interesting, comparable to that of bottled water in modern times.  Today, a shift has occurred towards the popularity of bottled water due to many factors: from health concerns to the hope of giving off an impression of high class to packaging.  Similar ideas were true in England during the 18th century.   McFarlane's The Empire of Tea relates that,"In a model diet of a typical middle class family in 1734, a contemporary allocated some 5.25 pence per head per week for bread and 7 pence per week for tea and sugar"(70).  This shows the popularity of tea beyond even those necessary items as bread.  Tea, while it had begun as a luxury item reserved for the upper class, became an element of British society which transcended class.   In America, this also became evident, even more so because Americans tried to make their consumption of tea less "stuffy" than in Britain by moving tea into the home.  It even broke down gender barriers by giving women power in constructing and steeping the drink.   It was interesting to look at the adaptions Americans made upon the consumption of the drink, and while it has not maintained the popularity it still holds in England today, tea shaped part of the pre-revolution culture in the colonies preceeding the Boston Tea Party.