I LOVE MY MUM.

Told my mum about my idea for my product and so on and she got back to me with the following... 

 "Fantastic idea about the tea. You have to go back to the 17^th & 18^th century though for some more ideas. Tea was soooo expensive then only the upper classes could afford it and they locked it away in very ornate tea caddies and actually had parties where they just drank tea, one to drink it and two to show off how much money they had. Google tea caddies and you will see some really impressive ones some go for as much as £150,000 at auction now depending on their condition. Maybe your tea could be boxed in something similar to be exported to these wonderful parties and events that it would be drunk at.. It could all help towards your research"

So here we go... Once again I'll highlight the most important parts.

During the late 17th and through the 18th Century, tea was very expensive. The price would fluctuate due to the great distances travelled and the safe arrival of ships from China. Looking at some prices quoted by a London tea merchant in 1787 you could buy basic tea for the modern equivalent of about £20 per pound weight (500gm) or fine tea for about £60 per pound weight! It is obvious why only the nobility or merchant classes could afford to drink tea!

Due to the price, tea was drunk (or ‘taken’) as a very formal social beverage, certainly not to quench the thirst! It’s rarity and price meant that only tiny amounts were taken in very small Chinese tea-bowls. In England we didn’t like placing our hot bowls or cups on our expensive wooden tables leading us to look at the available Chinese porcelain wares and often use the small sauce bowls to place hot cups upon. Hence the term ‘saucer’.

Tea was coarse-cut at this time which meant a lot of waste in the bottom of the cup. This is why tea services included a waste or slop bowl in which to discharge the waste between pourings. The tea-bowl could become hot so people may lift the bowl to the mouth on its saucer or even tip the tea into the saucer.  In these cases you would also need a spoon tray to place the spoon in! Etiquette differed from house to house.

Those that could afford the best would order their tea-bowls with handles. These early handles can look very strange being merely stuck onto the side of a tea-bowl with little thought for aesthetics. The handled tea cup was reserved only for the most expensive tea-services. The handle became more popular during the last quarter of the 18th Century and the tea-bowl eventually fell from use by about 1820. During this period the tea cup also became wider as tea prices reduced. Price reduction also led to tea being taken at breakfast time to quench thirst, again in much larger cups.

The wider cups allowed tea to cool quicker and handles on cups reduced the need to drink from the saucer. The saucer therefore started to ‘flatten out’ a little and eventually, during the 1840’s, incorporated a little recess in the centre in order to prevent the cup from slipping around. By this time, falling tea prices saw the working classes able to afford tea for the first time. Since 1850 the teacup and saucer have changed very little - apart from the fact that most of us unfortunately use the ubiquitous ‘mug’ on a daily basis! (http://www.antiqueporcelaincollector.com/about.html)

 Literally possibly the most important research I could have done, and I've only come across it now. This really fits with the work I am doing, I love my mums idea of serving my tea in Tea Caddies, like little vials or bottles within the caddy... for visuals of a tea caddy you need only look below...

 Pair of Tea Caddies by John Kincard London 1756

Maker Unknown Circa 1767

For some reason in my head, the kind of caddy for my tea looks a bit like this ornate cabinet I found on google (as always). A place to store your 'Opulence' products.