Tea is discovered by Samuel Pepys

By Andrew Gadsden

Fri 13 Mar 2009


Samuel Pepys wrote about his first experience of Tea.


Short and sweet today.

Did you know that long before tea became the national drink, coffee was the hot drink of choice?  I feel I can admit this fearlessly.  After all, everyone makes mistakes and, fortunately, as soon as Britain discovered tea there was no stopping us.

So here is what Samuel Pepys says about his first experience of tea:

We talked together of the interest of this kingdom to have a peace with Spain and a war with France and Holland… And afterwards did send for a Cupp of Tee (a China drink) of which I never had before, and went away.

Samuel Pepys, Diary, 25 Sep 1660