Jo Steer

The drink was even included in family portraits.

Paintings showed children and adults sipping tea from their small china cups.

Tea drinking was seen as a mark of good taste, as only the very wealthy could afford such a habit.

Between 1720 and 1750, the British East India Company more than quadrupled imports of tea.

In fact, it became the company's primary focus, with entire fleets dedicated to its import.

As a result, tea gradually became more accessible.

lords and ladies continued to take tea in their opulent drawing rooms and country gardens.

But now, on occasion, the drink was also enjoyed by their servants and even the poorest members of society.

The social reformer John Hanway wrote about this in 1767.

According to Hanway, laborers mending roads would sip tea as they worked, as would farmhands moving hay about the fields.

He even described a certain lane where homeless beggars could be seen drinking tea.

It was no longer the reserve of the privileged few.

Nonetheless, on the whole, tea remained something of a luxury, as it continued to be taxed heavily.

For most of the 18th century, tea was much more expensive than coffee.

This made it a profitable business for smugglers.

At one point, it's thought that more than 3,000 tons of tea was smuggled into Britain each year.

Then in 1784, the British Parliament passed the Commutation Act.

This lowered the tax on tea significantly from 119% to 12.5% and helped to end smuggling.

Now that it was so much more affordable, tea became increasingly widespread.

It was one of Britain's most popular imports, above alcohol, sugar, and even chocolate.