Tea in Europe

Tea has been consumed in European homes and tea houses for around 400 years, though its many countries each have varying preferences for tea types and preparation methods.  In total Europe consumes close to 250,000 tonnes of tea a year though this overall amount has slipped a little in the last decade (-3.7%).  The United Kingdom alone drinks 44% of Europe’s imported tea, sharply down from 51% a decade ago.  Notwithstanding these declines in volume, the value of tea consumed in Europe has increased (+5%) and import volume has actually increased in Germany (+1.1%), Netherlands (+1.6%), France (+4.2%), and Belgium (+1.9%).

Note that if Russia is included in European statistics, as gradually it is, then annual consumption rises to 360,000 tonnes.

The heaviest per capita annual tea consumption in Europe is:

·      Ireland                         1.68 kg per person

·      United Kingdom          1.67 kg

·      Poland                         0.95 kg

·      Russia/CIS                   0.85 kg

·      Netherlands                0.47 kg

·      Germany                     0.38 kg

A major difference in serving preference across Europe is whether the tea is drunk with milk or without.  Black tea with milk (and often with sugar added) is prevalent in the UK and Ireland and some smaller English-speaking countries like Malta, Cyprus, and Gibraltar.  Black tea with dairy cream and sugar is preferred in the Friesian Islands of Germany but in the rest of Europe the milk jug is never seen alongside the teapot.  Germany is a very large consumer of Camellia sinensis teas, fruit teas and herbal tisanes – more people in Germany (90%) say they drink tea than is declared in the UK (82%) though the British drink more cups overall – over 100 million cups a day. 

Historically tea was thought of as a medicine in most of Europe and until recently was not a drink for every day – that role was reserved for imported coffee.  In Great Britain 200 years ago, coffee was a poor relation to tea which was imported in huge amounts from China, illegally bartered for opium grown in India.  When China suspended these tea exports the British, as is well documented, commenced tea growing in Assam.  The British were accustomed to drinking good quality green and black China teas.  Lack of tea processing knowledge and skill in Assam, however, resulted in some very poor-quality teas arriving at the London Auction.  Adding milk and sugar was doubtless a way of making those early Indian teas palatable and, as experience was gained, the process was tipped towards stronger and more coloury teas – strong red malty Assam black teas that reacted well to the addition of milk.

Nevertheless, these early Indian teas were large leaf orthodox grades rolled in giant machines that mimicked the hand rolling of China teas.  A subsequent machine innovation really confirmed the position of milk in tea: the design of the CTC machine the 1930s by Scottish engineer Sir William McKercher.  This cut tea leaves into tiny fragments, taking 30 seconds do what the giant rolling tables needed two hours to achieve, and maximizing strength and colour in the cup.  Moreover, the tiny particles were just what was required to fill teabags that were rapidly gaining popularity for convenience and speed.  In 20 years every rolling table in the East African tea industry was scrapped and replaced with CTC machines making black tea for teabags.  Teabags now amount to 96% of all the tea consumed in the UK.

The traditional Russian tea preparation method using a samovar is unlike any other European country; it is very similar to tea making in Turkey and Iran.  The samovar heats and stores hot water; black tea is prepared as a concentrate that is kept warm on top of the samovar.  When a drink of tea is required a glass is filled to one third with concentrated tea and topped up with hot water.  Never with milk but always with plenty of sugar.

Green tea counts for 21.5% of all the tea imported by Germany but is much higher in France at 51.9%.  The UK imports just 3.9% as green tea.  Germany is now a very important importer of Darjeeling tea, a position once held by the Great Britain.  The importance of the German market has influenced the colour and flavour of Darjeeling tea production, which has changed from a cup that could benefit from milk 60 years ago to a light delicate almost green tea that is now no longer sought after in the UK.

Earl Grey tea – a flavoured black tea typically blended from Keemun black leaf with added Bergamot oil was introduced and popularised by Twinings in the 18th Century.  Now, ten generations of the Twinings family later, Earl Grey is more popular in Sweden where 54% of Swedes drink it compared to 22% in the UK.

Consumption of plain commodity black tea in teabags has stagnated for several years and is steadily losing popularity in the UK.  However, in the UK and across Europe there is a rising tide for high value speciality teas.  The speciality tea market segment spans a range of tea types and origins but all showing excellence in their class.  They are mainly from orthodox production and are often produced by small scale artisans, even being made by hand.  All tea types – black, green, yellow, oolong, white and dark teas can be included as speciality teas if their quality is sufficiently good.  Organic teas are speciality teas, though not all speciality teas need be organic.  A transparent link to origin, knowing the garden name, and even the grower’s history, adds to their appeal and hence value.  The specialitity trend has emerged over the last 30 years and while there are no official statistics for European sales, in the USA they now account for around 20% of all tea sales.

It is against this background that the European Tea Society was founded two years ago – an inclusive not-for-profit organization whose mission is to inspire excellence throughout the speciality tea community, by innovation, research, education and communication. 

In this spirit, we the members of the European Tea Society applaud and support the concept of the United Nations’ 1st International Tea Day.  This special day is dedicated to tea and gives us an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the contribution of countless tea workers in producing countries and along the supply chain who work to ensure that we can enjoy our daily cup of tea.

From all tea drinkers in Europe, we raise our cups and say Thank You.

Nigel Melican, President, European Tea Society