Britanci piju dnevno 166 miliona šoljica čaja, koji uprkos sve većem broju kafopija, ostaje omiljeni napitak na ostrvu. U Velikoj Britaniji popije se blizu 42 miliona litara čaja na dan, dok jedna četvrtine Britanaca ispije pet ili više šolja dnevno. Zato smo u današnjem izdanju bloga engleskog jezika posebno mesto posvetili kompaniji čiji čaj vekovima ulepšava naš život.
Svakog leta dok osvajamo London jedna od naših omiljenih stanica je poseta najstarijoj radnji u Londonu – prodavnici čaja Twinings. Sa detaljima najpopularnijeg jezičkog putovanja My LONDON upoznajte se ovde, a šta sve može jedna perfektna šoljica čaja…pa najbolje je da pogledati sami u video prilogu koji donosimo u nastavku teksta o kompaniji i čaju Twinings 🙂
Thomas Twining bought Tom’s Coffee House and opened Britain’s first known tea room at No. 216 Strand, London, in 1706; it still operates today. The firm’s logo, created in 1787, is the world’s oldest in continuous use.
The location of the shop was perfect as it straddled the border between Westminster and the City of London, an area that was newly populated with the finest of London’s aristocracy as a result of the Great Fire of London.
By this time coffee houses were a popular feature of London life. Men – but never women – of all classes would gather there to drink, gossip and to do business. Coffee shops gathered a loyal clientele by specialising in particular products or by encouraging customers with common interests. Poets for instance would go to one establishment, army officers to another.
Competition between coffee houses was stiff, so fresh ideas and unusual promotional twists were what kept the business alive. The difference at Tom’s was tea.
Despite efforts to repress tea-drinking through the stupidly high taxes, tea became increasingly fashionable during the early part of the 18th Century, especially among the upper classes, and they flocked in their masses to buy tea from Toms Coffee House.
In fact, soon he was selling more dry tea than wet – we think it was probably the world’s first dry tea and coffee shop.
Twinings has been owned by Associated British Foods since 1964.
