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Dec 14th, '14, 07:04
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The Decline of the Teapot

by Johnny Canuck » Dec 14th, '14, 07:04

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... years.html

Britain goes cool on the teapot as sales plummet by nearly 40 per cent in just five years

By SEAN POULTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL
UPDATED: 01:11 GMT, 2 February 2012

The idea of enjoying a pot of tea has sustained Britain's princes and paupers alike since the 17th century.

The ceremony of warming the pot before adding the tea and boiling water, then leaving to brew to guarantee the perfect strength has been part of the national culture.

It was often a genteel process and an essential element of the British high tea with its cucumber sandwiches, scones and a selection of cakes.

Tea is considered an icon of British culture and its popularity can be traced to the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, who arrived in this country in 1662. Even today, tourists queue to be served tea in a pot with all the traditional trimmings at top hotels like the Ritz.

However, the reality is that sales of teapots have plummeted as people have become impatient with the whole process. In an era of instant gratification when pot noodle and microwave ready meals substitute for home cooked food, the idea of slamming a teabag in mug and pouring on the hot water has now taken over.

Sales of teapots are down by 39 per cent compared to five years ago, according to Debenhams. While sales of traditional teacups and saucer have seen an even greater decline, registering a fall of 44 per cent. By contrast, the store said its sales of mugs have leapt by 59 per cent compared to 2006.

According to Debenhams, sales of teapots are down by 39 per cent compared to five years ago.

Despite the popularity of American-style coffee shops, Britons still drink as many as 165 million cups or mugs of tea every day. Debenhams, which sells nearly five million cups of tea in its restaurants and cafes each year, is fighting to restore the teapot's place on the nation's tables with the launch of a Campaign for Civilised Tea Drinking. This means it will only serve tea in stores in a teapot, with a traditional cup and saucer.

The campaign has the support of social etiquette expert, Liz Brewer, who said: 'Tea is the most quintessential of English drinks, and the act of tea drinking has long been one of the greatest British traditions. 'We must preserve the custom which, for centuries, has been the hallmark of polite society - tea served in a teapot before being poured into china cups.'

The teapot's first foray into European society was in the 17th century, when it was shipped from China, and made from porcelain. While tea is considered an icon of British culture, its popularity can be traced to the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, who arrived in this country in 1662 to become the wife of Charles II. She was reputedly a tea addict. It was her love of the drink that established it as a fashionable at court, and then among the wider wealthy classes.

Debenhams head of home design, Alison Hill, said: 'Tea served in a pot has always been a feature of British life – it's as famous as the Tower of London or Big Ben.

'As well as being an historic, pivotal part of everyday family life for generations, tea has helped us through the Blitz, and many hard times since then.

'We believe it is an essential part of what it means to be British, and therefore we want to do all that we can to preserve this practice for the future.'

She suggested that dispensing with the teapot was simple laziness.
'We know that people have busy lives and so often find it easier to use a tea bag in a mug. However, at the same time, we don't want to see an essential element of British society disappear because of expediency,' she said.

'While using high quality tea-leaves provides drinkers with probably the ultimate cup of tea, we're also recommending using teabags in a teapot. The great British ceremony of making a pot of tea is infinitely adaptable

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Dec 15th, '14, 11:36
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Re: The Decline of the Teapot

by Evan Draper » Dec 15th, '14, 11:36

'We must preserve the custom which, for centuries, has been the hallmark of polite society - tea served in a teapot before being poured into china cups.'
She continued, "Not that it has an effect on quality, mind you. A scant pinch of tea flakes will taste marginally better in a coffee mug than tossed heedlessly into one of these dishwater fishbowls. But it's important to keep up appearances, 70 miserable years into the decline of our imperium. Which, by the by, is also mirrored by the entropic heat loss incurred in the vessel transfer."

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