Tea was generally considered a drink that kept people alert while bringing pleasure. The tea table was also regarded as a social setting for displaying manners and elegant conversation, especially for women. If guests came and were not offered a cup of fragrant tea or coffee, it would be considered impolite.
Almost every British woman had a habit of collecting saucers, teapots, and creamers, and these things promoted industrial development to a certain extent. Besides sapphires, Sri Lanka also produced tin teapots, which were considered the finest tea utensils after silver pots—the best choice for middle-class people who could not afford silver teapots but did not wish to use copper ones.
However, just as the orators of ancient Rome had debated silk in terms of moral corruption, Britain too was divided into pro-tea and anti-tea factions. The anti-tea faction believed tea gatherings were places where gossip spread and decadent consumerism was created. In their eyes, those teapots and tea caddies were like Pandora's Box: once opened, bad things would happen.
Their concerns were not without reason. The American War had begun in connection with the Boston Tea Party. In addition, some opponents believed that lower-class women such as laundresses and maids should not drink too much tea. After their hard labor, they should have something more invigorating than "filthy tea"—namely, aromatic malt ale.
Tea was a luxury commodity. It had once sold for as much as six pounds sterling per pound of tea. Some believed those magical Eastern leaves had a calming effect, but the tax on them had once been as high as 120%, leading to frequent smuggling and counterfeiting.
Chinese tea merchants mixed in Japanese tea dust to pass inferior goods off as better ones. Other smugglers simply dried blackthorn, ash, and hawthorn and sold them as tea.