Early seventeenth-century Dutch and Portuguese traders were the first to introduce Chinese tea to Europe. Yet the strange brew that came in amongst the cargoes of silks and spices was not an instant success. Europeans preferred the flavour of coffee. The suspicious English waited until 1652 before they even began to trade in tea.

The Russians, however, were early devotees. Their tea arrived overland from China by camel train, and as their passion for tea increased, lines of 200-300 camels soon snaked across Asia. Their romantic journey lives on as the popular and delicate blend of China black tea known as Russian Caravan.

The first record of tea being advertised in Britain occurs in 1658, which listed tea for sale at a coffee house called the Sultaness-Head. Merchant Thomas Garway advertised tea at his own London coffee house later that same year.

Unbeknownst to Garway, some of his exaggerated claims may have had a ring of truth. But in the seventeenth century, nothing helped sell a product more than royal patronage.

Tea-drinking got its lucky break in 1662 when Charles II married Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess and avid tea-drinker. Catherine began taking tea at Court in delicate, translucent Chinese bowls and pots - and the courtiers soon followed suit.

Tea was already expensive, but now it was fashionable too. Suddenly tea had style and exclusivity. In the eyes of the image-conscious aristocracy, it was irresistible.