The idea that one might check into a British hotel and then sit down happy and ask for a cup of tea might be the backbone of British hospitality, but it seems that the idyllic scenario of calm Englishness might be becoming a thing of the past.
If a guest wants a cup of tea, of course, it will be provided — along with lump sugar, tea strainers, bone china and a pot kept warm by a knitted cosy — just do not expect many people under the age of 40 to be seated next to you.
Reports of the decline in United Kingdom tea drinking dominated the press last week, columnists and opinion-makers throwing their hands in the air noting yet another quintessential piece of Britishness to go the way of the dodo, such as bowler hats, evening newspapers and sitting on the beach even if it is pouring.
Coffee is the British drink now, according to the BBC. It quoted Kiti Soininen, head of U.K. food, drink and foodservice research, Mintel, who said “sales of ordinary tea stood at £377 million ($298.6 million) in 2023, leaving it far behind instant coffee, at [almost] £1 billion.”
One might be more likely to see being served iced tea or specialty teas such as South African redbush or rooibos tea, which, by the way, my mother drinks.
I stopped drinking tea decades ago, too, having been pumped through with the stuff since an early age as most people here are.
When I visit my parents, my mum asks me if I want tea, then remembers I prefer coffee but gives me a cup of tea anyway as making tea is automatic for her. The kettle, literally, never fully cools down in her house.
Then I lived in the U.S. for 20 years, so I drank even less tea. Everyone in the U.K. knows you cannot get a good cup of tea there.
Americans would say the same thing about our coffee, which was very true back in the day when a coffee, if it was available, would come from a jar full of instant granules that probably had not been opened for some while and no one could remember exactly where it was kept.
Young people, the BBC reported, said tea was a drink for old people.
Also last week came the report that one U.K. tea brand Typhoo, which began producing regular tea in 1903, had been bought out of distress by a company that manufactures vapes, batteries, lighting and soft drinks.
World Coffee Portal said that in 2023 coffee sales in the U.K. reached £5.3 billion in sales, a 9.2% growth in year-on-year terms, with the number of coffee shops and other places to buy a cup of coffee having increased by 3.6% to 10,199 outlets.
While the proclivity of branches of High Street coffee franchises such as Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Nero and the like might be seen as being responsible for changing the sightlines of towns, there is not much argument against their popularity. They also are wonderful places for the young to gather and chat. They are not old enough to go to the pub, and you can take your laptop to the coffee shop even if you have gone with your friends but are instead talking to other friends online. I think that’s the way it works.
Tea shops have never taken off, even if coffee shops do sell tea.
One lullaby I remember from my early childhood went thus:
“I like a nice cup of tea in the morning; I like a nice cup of tea with my tea; and when it’s time for bed, and I’m a sleepyhead, I like a nice cup of tea.”
No more, I imagine, is that being softly sung, or maybe tea will go the same way as vinyl, almost lost but then making a staggering comeback when people realize it remains far better than what came afterwards.
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