A Broken Teapot Fetches $800,000 at Auction

Gasps, and then applause filled the room as the gavel fell at Woolley & Wallis Auctioneers in the cathedral town of Salisbury last week when an unpretentious teapot—missing its lid and with a broken handle— fetched over $800,000, courtesy of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Remarkably, the keen-eyed owner paid only $20 for the relic…

The Traditional British Cup of Tea Is Changing

The UK needs to nurture younger tea drinkers.The traditional English cup of tea, once considered a necessary luxury, is undergoing its biggest change since tea was first advertised for sale in London in 1657. British tea consumption has fallen from 2.5 ounces per person per week to less than an ounce. That means Britons are drinking…

Recycling Used Tea Leaves in the 18th Century

Print by T. Rowlandson c.1810 British MuseumTea was an exotic new beverage during the 1700s and there were few directions on how to steep the expensive leaves cultivated on the other side of the globe. There were no tea books and steeping suggestions were not included with your purchase because tea would not come in…

Liberty Teas of Colonial Boston

Colonists rejected King George's tea in favor of local concoctionsAs the tea dust rose above the water of Boston Harbor following the 1773 rebellion, colonists faced a minor dilemma. What would they do to assuage their tea habit that was so ingrained in Boston society? Colonial ladies still had their tea tables, cups, and equipage, but…

Teas Thrown Overboard at The Boston Tea Party

The anniversary of the Boston Tea Party is approaching and I've noticed two recent citations referring to 10,000 pounds of Darjeeling tea being thrown overboard in Boston on the evening of December 16, 1773, and a mention that some of the tea was in brick form. Both references are not true.All the East India Company…