London Photo Gallery - Tea Shopping

This is not a sponsored post. The British love their tea. This drink became popular in the late 18th century after the 1784 Tea and Windows Act reduced taxes from 119% to 12.5%. There was some debate that mortality rates fell substantially despite questionable sanitation conditions and minimal wage growth was due to people boiling water for their tea, which kills bacteria causing the era's common diseases. The Twining family came from Gloucestershire and were originally weavers and millers. They came to London in 1684 amidst recession and a young Thomas Twining ventured into a new realm, working for a merchant and purchasing a coffee house on the Strand in 1706. At the time, the rich and powerful were moving west of the city walls after the Great Fire, so Thomas thought this was a great location to capture that crowd. He introduced tea to differentiate himself from others, which was a success and he bought the 2 adjacent houses to expand. Today, that is their flagship store at 216 Strand, which sells both tea bags and loose leaf teas as well as offering a tasting bar. This is the oldest tea shop in London. TWG is a very recent brand, founded in 2008 as a "luxury concept", catering affordable luxury with the date label 1837. Its co-founder is passionate about tea, advocating it as he worked in the industry in Paris. Its modern showroom is located in a much busier spot right at Leicester Square and within walking distance to Chinatown's gateway arches.