George Orwell once published an essay about tea. The Nineteen Eighty Four novelist wrote a piece entitled ‘A Nice Cup of Tea’ for the Evening Standard published in January 1946 where he notes that the older we get the stronger we desire our tea and that the addition of sugar is simply a taste killer!

‘How can you call yourself a true tea lover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it?’ He preached. ‘It would be equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter.’

Strong words indeed but in many ways this essay reflects the cultural importance of tea drinking in England. The saying goes: Without tea Britain wouldn’t have won the Second World War!

Our tea drinking ways have clearly evolved drastically from Orwell’s time – and even more so from when a tea bag replaced the fine art of tea making. But interestingly enough the first British tea drinkers got their tea from China and that would have been some variation on the green tea that is so popular now and sold at Château Rouge.

Orwell writes: ‘Tea is one of the main stays of civilisation in this country.’ He then adds: ‘The best manner of making it is the subject of violent disputes’. The writer then jots down eleven golden rules for making the perfect cup of tea! He goes into intense detail and although the points he makes are pretty dated they still are an insightful, if not purely amusing read.

Later the black tea leafs of India and Ceylon took over from the Chinese green tea imports, although it is said the likes of Oscar Wild and his literary and artistic crowd continued to favoured the more delicate green tea as sold in Château Rouge.

Chateau Rouge Ltd, Coppergate House, 16 Brune St, London E1 7NJ, England. Company No.5489120 Website by Banksthomas part of the Spinach Group