Was having a discussion and a question was raised: what are the top tea drinking countries? Where drinking tea is ubiquitous and perceived part of the daily culture.

China/Taiwan
Japan
India
UK (England, Ireland)
Turkey

Where else? While iced tea is popular in the US (some regions more than others), I'm not sure if tea drinking (ie - steeped tea imbibed hot, either plain, milk/sugar or with splash of lemon) is considered sufficiently commonplace or ubiquitous. Or is it?

Other countries? Any place else in Europe (seems more coffee oriented than tea?)?

Why did tea become ingrained into Ireland and England? Why didn't it carry forward into the US (or did it become ubiquitously popular in culture there after the US was settled)?

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Originally posted by konata88:
Why did tea become ingrained into Ireland and England? Why didn't it carry forward into the US (or did it become ubiquitously popular in culture there after the US was settled)?

Folks in this country were used to something stronger, like cocaine in coca cola.

Thailand would be another. Taiwanese tea is the best though!

There is a theory that Americans stopped drinking tea (as much) as part of the opposition to British control. Tea tax, tea party, and all that.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:
There is a theory that Americans stopped drinking tea (as much) as part of the opposition to British control. Tea tax, tea party, and all that.

Yeah, probably why tossing it into the harbor didn't go over well with the Brits.....

As to the UK, at one time it was the premier trading company, just about everything that moved through the world did so through them, to be used and resold.

Tea among other things was a big profit for the Brits.

Tea is of course popular throughout Asia and the British commonwealth among other places. The Middle East too.
I vividly recall sharing tea with a local tribal leader in Iraq in 2005. I drank it as it was considered a serious insult to refuse, despite the slimy residue on the outside of the cup, luckily I didn’t get sick!

But why did it become popular outside of regions where tea is grown?

And why didn't it remain popular in America? Association with the British is plausible. But then why did beer/ales stay and just tea diminished? Perhaps it was just harder to obtain in America vs trade routes to England? Or did tastes change away from tea? Is tea popular in Canada? France? Portugal/Spain/Mexico?

Again, just discussion curiosity re: the where and why of tea consumption.

Northern Germany, especially East Friesian, they drink more tea per person than the British. My wife got me drinking it and been hooked ever since.

Interesting!

I was in England a couple of times, and the offering of tea and its preparation for a guest were common. Also, hot water seemed to be the first thing upon returning home.

My main drink is green tea, either hot or cold.

It is a little weird that the U.S. isn’t a tea country, as we can grow it. (It grows fairly well around Charleston, at least.)

Coffee out of the triangle trade, maybe? It’s not particularly easy to sail from any of the coffee regions, I know of, to population centers in the U.S.

When did the switch happen?

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Originally posted by konata88:
But why did it become popular outside of regions where tea is grown?

The same question could be asked about coffee, tobacco, opium, cocoa, etc.: People from outside the areas where it was grown went to where it was grown, discovered it there, liked it, and then took it back home.

Although I don’t seem to have it in my library any longer, I read a book just about tea some years ago, and it’s an interesting story (to some of us, anyway). As I recall, it’s not known how it was originally discovered, but after it was, its caffeine content and (possibly) its ability to make boiled water* taste better caused its popularity to spread. And of course once anything becomes popular in a society, cultural pressures help keep it popular. I was once ridiculed for asking for tea rather than coffee among a group of fellow soldiers at a restaurant. Fortunately such attitudes didn’t change my preference, and I usually drink about a quart a day—gunpowder green, of course.

* Something else that is believed to have been discovered in Asia was that boiled water from certain sources was less likely to make one sick.

I like tea. Always had inexpensive stuff though. Cream and sugar. I’m a black tea guy, never warmed up to the green teas and whatnot. I even like Lipton tea bags. lol

A friend’s father once asked why I liked green tea because, “It doesn’t have any taste.” Another friend remarked that people evidently put cream and sugar in coffee because they don’t like the taste of coffee: Guilty as charged.

People who are not familiar with tea may not know that its flavor varies a lot depending on the variety and how its processed. The finely milled tea in bags like traditional (“brisk”) Lipton usually has a stronger flavor than “loose” or full leaf varieties. Black teas are usually more strongly flavored than green, with lapsang souchong being among the strongest. Brewing time and water temperature affect flavor and caffeine content, and of course as does the amount of tea in the pot. Cultural practices make a difference as well. I don’t like it the way I usually encountered it in Britain because it was too strong for my taste, and was obvious why they like it with milk and sugar.

I drink a bit of tea. Usually green tea from Japan (sencha and gyokuro levels; I like matcha as well but it's way too expensive. Even gyokuro is too expensive for me now; I accepted to just use sencha from Uji but I find other regions are very enjoyable as well). IMO, Green tea is much more sensitive to water temp and steep time than black tea. My everyday tea (I drink several cups a day) now is black tea (Irish Tea from Harney & Sons). Green tea is reserved for special occasions given its price while in retirement.

What types of food and drink are popular in a given country has become a curiosity. Like mutton and goat. And now tea. Some things are ubiquitous in come cultures and others not so much. It's rather curious given what would seem broad availability, including broad migration and trade routes. And why is tea seemingly more popular in the southern states and not the blue blood northeast?

BTW, I do like pu-ehr tea but don't buy it anymore given china. And the Taiwan sourced tea isn't quite the same (in my findings to date). Taiwan does have great oolong tea though. Instead of pu-ehr, I find that the Japanese houji-cha is a decent alternative.

Again, not important, just musings over dinner.

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Also, hot water seemed to be the first thing upon returning home.

"I'll put on the kettle, dear."

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Originally posted by 229DAK:

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Also, hot water seemed to be the first thing upon returning home.

"I'll put on the kettle, dear."

Exactly! My English buddies use one of those pour in diffusers which looks like a small sieve. I like our small cylindrical ones we have so I can leave them in for any length of time we desire.

Also, I left natural and artificial sweeteners long ago.

Canada

Tea Time at the Empress Hotel in Victoria BC is an experience...

I would like to experience the English afternoon tea time more. I tried it once in Japan which was very nice (but expensive). Not sure it's offered anywhere locally - I'll take a look.

ETA: looks like I found a few places (but an hour's drive away). Expensive - tea + finger sandwiches + pastries is about $40/person. Expensive given that the amount of food is not even a meal, just a snack. I guess tea is just too rich for me.

I rarely drink tea and as a result, don't have any in stock right now, which brings up another question. How long does it keep before going bad...or weak or whatever might happen to it? Do you refrigerate it? I've had it both sweetened and unsweetened and with milk. I do prefer my iced tea unsweetened.

I'm a coffee guy and drink it black unsweetened, though that wasn't always the case. And I do think there is still a great coffee flavor when it's sweetened and creamed. I do favor stronger coffee over weak coffee.

About tea time. My honeymoon back in 1981 was to Bermuda. At the time, my then wife and I enjoyed the afternoon teatime ceremony in our hotel and had a running joke about it with another couple we became friendly with. It was complimentary.