Why Do Brits Drink Tea While Their Neighbors Love Coffee?

Ever wondered why the British, surrounded by some of the world’s biggest coffee lovers, remain steadfast tea drinkers? With the Nordic countries leading global coffee consumption per capita and Belgium just across the sea, the UK’s preference for tea stands out. But it wasn’t always this way.

The short answer: Britain once loved coffee too—but due to geography, colonial trade shifts, and a devastating coffee disease in its main supplier, Sri Lanka, tea took over. By the late 1800s, tea imports skyrocketed, and the British never looked back. Today, Brits drink around four cups of black tea daily, averaging 3.5kg of tea per person per year.

A Brief British Coffee heyday

In the 17th and 18th centuries, coffee was huge in Britain. London alone had over 2,000 coffeehouses by the late 1600s. These weren’t just cafes—they were social hubs, debate clubs, and even called “penny universities” because for the price of a penny, you could drink coffee, read the news, and exchange ideas. Coffee was the drink of the Enlightenment era.

Why Coffee Couldn’t Thrive in Britain

Coffee plants need cool, rainy conditions—specifically between 25° north and south of the equator—but Britain’s northernmost point is at 50° north. That’s far too cold. So, the British relied entirely on imports. For most of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch controlled the global coffee trade, sourcing beans from their colonies in Indonesia, Suriname, and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon).

The Shift to Sri Lankan Coffee—and Its Collapse

Sri Lanka, located between 5° and 10° north, had ideal highland conditions for growing coffee. The Dutch started cultivating it there in the island’s central mountains. When British power grew in the 19th century, they took over Sri Lanka and aggressively expanded coffee farming—even clearing mountain forests for plantations. Between the 1830s and 1880s, coffee farming in Sri Lanka doubled twice, covering nearly 1,600 square kilometers and accounting for 15% of arable land.

Exports boomed: from 1840 to 1870, Sri Lankan coffee exports increased 20-fold. Much of that coffee went straight to Britain, making the UK a dominant force in global coffee trade. But in 1875, disaster struck: coffee leaf rust hit the island. The fungal disease, which turns leaves yellow, then red-brown like rust, kills trees within years. Nothing stopped it. Plantations were wiped out.

From Coffee to Tea: A Strategic Pivot

To recover, the British-backed Sri Lankan planters switched crops. They chose tea—specifically, Camellia sinensis, which thrived in the same high-altitude regions and resisted the rust. Tea plantations replaced coffee farms, and by the late 1800s, Sri Lanka (then still called Ceylon) became one of the world’s top tea exporters. That’s why today, when people talk about British tea, they often mean Ceylon tea.

How Tea Took Over British Life

Britain’s tea boom wasn’t overnight. Tea imports rose from just 6 tons in 1699 to over 10,000 tons by 1799, and around 20,000 tons by the century’s end. Soon, everyone drank tea—from the upper class to laborers. Contrary to stereotypes of fancy afternoon tea, the most iconic British tea ritual is “builder’s tea”: a strong black tea brewed in a mug with a teabag, milk, and sugar. It’s a working-class staple.

Then there’s the famous “tea time.” Around 4 PM, it’s tradition to stop everything for tea. This custom began in rural England, where farmers took an afternoon break with tea and bread on high tables (hence “high tea”). Today, Brits drink tea all day: “bed tea,” “breakfast tea,” “elevenses,” “afternoon tea,” and “night tea.” On average, Brits drink four cups of black tea daily—about 3.5 kilograms of tea per person per year.

Recommended FrontStreet Coffee for British Tea Lovers Curious About Coffee

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