Tea Remains Our National Indulgence

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 686, 11 June 1929, Page 1

Tea Remains Our National Indulgence

3,121,600,000 Cups A Year Consumed “BEST COCKTAIL” SAYS DOCTOR Tea has been described by Sir James Crichton-Browne, an eminent English physician, as "the best cocktail.” That New Zealanders take full advantage of the gentle stimulus of the beverage is shown by the fact that the average consumption a head each year is 3,000 cups. The total reaches the astounding number of 3,121,600,000 cups. fJ'HE consumption of tea at all hours of the day and night is New Zealand's national indulgence, and the pleasure of the cup is shared by men, women and children. In homes the kettle is “put on” several times a day for the purpose of making tea, and then, of course, there are the tearooms, which have been established in every town, and almost every hamlet. An English professor, now living in the Dominion, has said that tea-rooms are the one distinctive national institution in New Zealand. With crowds that throng these rooms every afternoon in the cities, it is not surprising that an enormous quantity of tea has to be imported each year to meet the public demand. As the habit is almost universal, those denied the pleasure of assembling in the public rooms indulge themselves in office or in home. IMPORTATION FIGURES During the year 1928, the total imports of tea into the Dominion amounted to 11,148,7701 b., this representing a cash value of £883,847. To the port of Auckland came 2,707,544 lb., representing a value of £226,965. Calculations as to the number of of cups of tea consumed are based on figures supplied by an Auckland tea expert, who says that each pound of good tea makes 280 cups. New Zealanders being too fastidious to consume indifferent tea, must be presumed, therefore, to favour the good. From that point consideration can be given to Auckland’s own consumption. The amount of tea imported each year for the city’s use is 2,707,574, or, roughly, 131 b a head of population, although, of course, a good deal of this must go to areas outside the city. Anyway, the amount of tea imported will, if used economically, make 758,120,720 cups, or well over 3,000 a head. These figures are sufficient to prove that tea is New Zealand’s national drink, and it is unlikely that any country in the world has a much higher average consumption. Still, the drink has always been popular, even in the days when it was considerably more expensive than now. The women who have their modest afternoon’s diversion in the tea rooms may like to have recalled the lines that Pope wrote about Queen Anne’s sit-ting-room: Here, thou great Anna, whom three realms obey, Does sometimes counsel take, and sometimes tea. Then, finally, there is . the pleasant assurance of Sir James CrichtonBrowne.