Tea with Jane Austen

Who would not want to sit down with Jane Austen and join her in a cup of tea? Here for the first time is a book that shares the secrets of one of her favorite rituals.

Tea figures prominently in Jane Austen's life and work. At the centre of almost every social situation in her novels one finds tea. In Emma, does Miss Bates drink coffee? Of course not: 'No coffee, I thank you, for me-never take coffee.-A little tea if you please.' In Pride and Prejudice, what is one of the supreme honours Mr. Collins can envision Lady Catherine bestowing on Elizabeth Bennet and her friends? Why, drinking tea with her, naturally.

Tea with Jane Austen begins with tea drinking in the morning and ends with tea in the evening, at balls and other gatherings. Each chapter includes a description of how tea was taken at a particular place or time of day, along with history, recipes, excerpts from Austen's novels and letters and illustrations from the time.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Notes on the Text

Introduction

‘Happy, Happy Breakfast’: Tea in the Morning

Breakfast with the Austens • Breakfast with Mr Darcy • Tea and Toast, or

Strong Beer and Sturgeon? • Town and Country Style • A Grand Breakfast with

the Austens at Stoneleigh Abbey • Recipes for Morning

Cents & Sensibility: Tea and Shopping

‘A bustling hour or two shopping’ • ‘This Scene of Dissipation and Vice’ • Miss

Austen Shops in Style • Wonderful Wedgwood • Tea on Horseback • Smouch

and Sheep’s Dung • A Visit to Twinings • A Delectable Assortment of Treats •

An Ice with Jane Austen

‘That Best of All Travelling Liquors’: Tea Away from Home

Rakes and Courtesans in the Garden • Tea al Fresco • Tea on the Road • Tea

for the Stranded • In Mrs La Tournelle’s Parlour • Tea and Grog • Officers and

Gentlemen • Emma’s Box Hill Picnic and Captain Wentworth’s Mess

‘The Tea!—The Tea!—The Wholesome Tea!’: Tea and Health

Tempest in a Teapot • The Apothecary’s Arsenal • Herbs and Dandelions • Tea

and the Delicate Constitution • Tea for Oppressed Heroines • Spiritual

Refreshment and Inspiration • Tea with That Little Something Extra • Proper

Nourishment for the Sick

‘You Must Drink Tea with Us Tonight’: Tea in the Evening

At the End of the Day • Waiting for Tea • A Quiet Family Evening • Pleasant

Little Parties • An Elegant Entertainment • ‘Every thing so good!"’• A Splendid

Supper • Dishes for a Grand Entertainment

‘A Good Dish of Tea’: Making the Perfect Cup

Bibliography

Index