Think of tea drinkers and invariably the British come to mind. The fact is that tea arrived in U.K. at about the same time as it did in Europe. But it was the British who took to it with a passion; changing the original Chinese brew by adding sugar and milk. Over time, the upper classes saw tea taking as a sign of civilized behaviour, and as a fashionable social event. There were others in those damp cold times who were comforted by the hot cuppa. For tea aficionados, the 19th Century British Prime Minister William Gladstone said of the brew, "If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; if you are depressed, it will cheer you; if you are excited if will calm you." Endorsements like that popularized the beverages in the U.K. Demand went skywards. Traders, planters and everyone dealing with tea were smiling all the way to the bank. In addition to booming tea sales, the dairy and sugar industry also grew.
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