Tea in Australia: A History, 1788-2000
Before 1950, Australians were the world’s highest consumers of tea per capita. This book tells the story of how tea emerged as the national beverage in the Australian colonies during the nineteenth century, and explores why Australians consumed so much of the beverage for so long. Special attention is devoted to analysing the evolution of the Australian tea distribution network, especially the marketing strategies used by the tea traders to promote their products. Other topics examined here include the development of tea rituals such as afternoon tea and high tea and their role in Australian society, the local manufacture of teawares, the establishment of tea rooms and the emergence of a tea growing industry in Australia after 1960. The first comprehensive account of the history of tea in Australia, this book will be of particular interest to individuals interested in Australian history, economic and social history, and food history.
Peter D. Griggs is a human geographer with an interest in agricultural and environmental history. Now retired and an independent researcher, he lectured in Geography at the Cairns Campus of James Cook University, Australia, from 1991 to 2016. He has published thirteen book and atlas chapters and twenty-four journal articles on aspects of the historical development of the Australian sugarcane industry and the environmental history of Queensland. He is the author of the books Global Industry, Local Innovation: The History of Cane Sugar Production in Australia, 1820-1995 (2011) and A Dream in Trust: The Centenary History of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland (1985).
“Griggs’s account is rich in data. […] Unlike beer or wine, tea’s place in the story of Australia has largely remained untold until now. This curious omission is one Peter Griggs has amply addressed in what tea marketers would doubtless call a ‘richly satisfying and refreshing brew’. It is full of detail, perhaps not surprising given Griggs is a retired academic, a human geographer whose previous major works include a history of cane sugar production in Australia. Tea in Australia is a complex, well-written and generously illustrated story that tells us much about the social and commercial conditions of an Australia that has all but passed: one where an egalitarian ‘cuppa’ dictated the daily routine of everyone.”
John Schauble
Victorian Historical Journal, Volume 92, Number 1, June 2021
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