Regency Reader Questions: Port and Tea

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Thanks for the question, Marina, and for being a Regency Reader!

I have answered a similar question about port here: Regency Reader Questions: After Dinner Port – Regency Reader  that goes into some detail about the etiquette of port drinking. I think it probably depended on the individual couple and their preferences.  In fiction, it could certainly show a distance between the couple if they chose to follow this ritual while conversely abandoning port to visit together over a cup of tea or sherry might convey a sense of closeness. I imagine what actually happened existed on a spectrum depending on variables including a couple’s relationship, their individual preferences, and how rigid they were in observing rituals.

Tea is a fascinating subject, and I have a video post that gives a brief overview about tea drinking and how it was feminized until the Regency era: https://www.tiktok.com/@regencyreader/video/7550302844587379999?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7576014121331230263.  Needless to say, until the later Regency tea was often thought of as a woman’s drink.

Prior to 1783, when William Pitt the Younger cut the tea tax from 119% to 12.5%, tea was a popular black market product (How tea conquered Britain – BBC Bitesize). It often was kept locked away because of the expense prior to the 18th century, when tea drinking started to grow exponentially in popularity.  With it came the increase in sugar consumption, too (Steeped in history: Tea drinking in Britain | London Museum).

Coffee had grown in popularity with the coffeehouses of London where business and politics was done for decades, and so by the Regency there was still a lingering gender divide between coffee and tea. Heyer on occasion, has her heroes or other male characters calling tea “cat-lap” or some other derogatory term, reflecting some attitudes about tea.

There were a lot of different attitudes about tea, including its health benefits or impacts:

157 TEA There is no subject which has occa sioned a greater controversy amongst dietetic writers than the subject of tea By one party it is decried as a poison by another it is extolled as a medicine and a valuable addition to our food while some refer all its beneficial effects to the water thus introduced into the system and its evil consequences to the high temperature at which it is drank In order to understand the value of the different arguments which have been adduced in support or to the disparagement of this beverage it will be necessary to inquire into its composition Two kinds of tea are imported into this country distinguished by the epithets black and green Both contain astringent and narcotic principles but in very different proportions the latter pro ducing by far the most powerful influence upon the nervous system As the primary operation of every narcotic is stimulant tea is found to exhila rate and refresh us although there exist individuals who are so morbidly sensible to the action of cer tain bodies of this class that feelings of depres sion accompanied with various nervous sensations and an unnatural vigilance follow the potation of a single cup of strong tea while others experience from the same cause symptoms indicative of de rangement of the digestive organs but these are exceptions from which no general rule ought to be deduced The salubrity of the infusion to the general mass of the community is established by

sufficient testimony to outweigh any argument founded on individual cases It must however be admitted that if this beverage be taken too soon after dinner the digestion of the meal may be dis turbed by the distension it will occasion as well as by its influence as a diluent the narcotic and astringent principles may also operate in arresting chymification but when a physician gives it his sanction it is with the understanding that it shall be taken in moderate quantities and at appointed seasons When drank four hours after the princi pal meal it will assist the ulterior stages of diges tion as already explained 146 and promote the insensible perspiration while it will afford to the stomach a grateful stimulus after its labours With regard to the objection urged against its use on the ground of temperature it will be only neces sary to refer to the observations which have been already offered upon this subject 144 In enume rating however the advantages of tea it must not be forgotten that it has introduced and cherished a spirit of sobriety and it must have been remarked by every physician of general practice that those persons who dislike tea frequently supply its place by spirit and water The addition of milk cer tainly diminishes the astringency of tea that of sugar may please the palate but cannot modify the virtues of the infusion Paris, J. A. (1827). A Treatise on Diet: With a View to Establish, on Practical Grounds, a System of Rules for the Prevention and Cure of the Diseases Incident to a Disordered State of the Digestive Functions. United Kingdom: Thomas & George Underwood.

I have found tea was ubiquitous throughout the Regency era at public and private functions as a complementary beverage, usually alongside coffee.  I think at home, this was increasingly the case:

TEA TABLE Now stir the fire and close the shutters fast Let fall the curtains wheel the soft round And while the bubbling and loud hissing urn Throws up a steamy column and the cups That cheer but not inebriate wait on each So let us welcome peaceful evening in The tea table is in most families a delightful relaxation it is afforded with no trouble and little expense and the only time perhaps a father can spare to have his family once a day collected about him where he may see the different dispositions of his children and draw a know ledge of the general management of his family L. (1827). Domestic Economy, and Cookery: For Rich and Poor; Containing an Account of the Best English, Scotch, French, Oriental, and Other Foreign Dishes; Preparations of Broths and Milks for Consumption; Receipts for Sea-faring Men, Travellers, and Children’s Food : Together with Estimates and Comparisons of Dinners and Dishes …. United Kingdom: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green.

I have also found, particularly towards the end of the long Regency, that it was factored into household budgets including as an allowance (tea and sugar) for staff as part of their wages, or at least a varying scale of wages based on whether or not they were responsible for their own tea and sugar.

This suggests to me that by the end of the Regency era, tea drinking was commonplace. I do think it was dear and so often rationed in less wealthy households as the following suggests:

better be got from the confectioner and two large cakes TEA Two ounces of tea is the general allowance to each person in the week and is perhaps just what one person drinking it twice a day ought to have though less will do if properly managed in a family The Chinese generally put in just what will make a cup which has a cover and leave it till the flavour and virtues of the tea are extracted which they drink off the leaves without sugar or cream but such as cannot afford it in this way use a tea pot If the tea was infused and allowed time to extract all the flavour and virtue and then reduced to a proper strength with boiling water the nauseous taste that is extracted by water being again poured over the tea would be avoided There is another very necessary thing to be attended to which is that the greater the quantity of tea put into the tea pot of course greater will be the strength and flavour of the first water as it will take first the volatile and finest parts of the tea as a certain quantity of water will only receive a certain quantity of matter leaving the coarser for a second infusion which may be more deeply tinged with the colouring matter and though sometimes actually stronger than the first is ill flavoured and earthy tasted and it should be remembered that the last cup will be that which will leave the impression For the economist who wishes to have good tea where there is a family it would be recommendable to use two tea pots and to put the half of the tea into each The cups being half filled a little water will take out the remainder of the tea to fill them up and the fresh tea will be ready for the second cup And if the tea pots are again filled up and left till morning and poured off into a tea kettle and just allowed to come to the boil it will be an excellent breakfast tea This makes a saving of nearly one half as it may be made with a spoonful of fresh tea to raise the flavour
COFFEE As there are few that do not think themselves compe tent to make coffee and will seldom if ever look for a better method in a receipt let their attention be arrested for a moment to this Our neighbours upon the Conti nent will not be imposed upon as we are they purchase their coffee raw and roast and grind it just before using which ensures their having it genuine and high flavoured In purchasing it roasted we are not either able to judge of the kind or healthiness of the grain while the flavour is entirely lost If it is purchased ground two thirds of it may be peas beans or any thing else and if they were sound grains it would be of less consequence but daily experience shows us that every sort of bad and blighted grain that is not fit for any other use is burnt for coffee A poor person pays two pence or two pence halfpenny for an ounce of coffee when with a very little trouble when she is sitting over her own fire she might roast a pound of peas that would not cost more than three pence she wants a mill that is true but how soon would she save one if any one would put her upon the way The French also use chiccory which is sold cheap and is so easily raised that there would hardly be any room for adulteration French families after the coffee is poured off put the chiccory into the coffee pot for the children and servants if they have coffee sometimes the families drink it half and half and whenever coffee is found too heating it corrects it Health more than economy ought therefore to make every one that uses coffee attend to these ob servations We all know that foreigners cannot touch our coffee for it wants flavour and strength and they would rather drink bad tea as they use so much sugar that it is to them an eau sucrée L. (1827). Domestic Economy, and Cookery: For Rich and Poor; Containing an Account of the Best English, Scotch, French, Oriental, and Other Foreign Dishes; Preparations of Broths and Milks for Consumption; Receipts for Sea-faring Men, Travellers, and Children’s Food : Together with Estimates and Comparisons of Dinners and Dishes …. United Kingdom: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green.

I have found many sources that reference higher and lower quality tea, similar to what you would find today.  One source from the early Victorian era lists “inferior tea” at a cost of 16s 8d for one pound. In one of my new favorite sources, we have for an income of 1,000 pounds per annum a budget for tea and coffee for the family of 5 shillings a week (A New System of Practical Domestic Economy. (1823). United Kingdom: H. Colburn and Company.). Depending on a family’s relative wealth, I could see a rationing approach to limiting cups of tea or coffee consumed.

Hope that is helpful.  There is a lot more to say about tea — it’s a fascinating subject, so let me know if you have questions in the comments below.

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One Response to Regency Reader Questions: Port and Tea

  1. M. L. Kappa says:
    February 18, 2026 at 9:44 am

    Thank you, this was very informative! As always