<P> Green tea exported from China was first introduced in the coffeehouses of London shortly before the Stuart Restoration ( 1660 ) ; in 1657 , tea was offered as an item in a London coffeehouse in Exchange Alley . The owner Thomas Garraway had to explain the new beverage in a pamphlet , and an advertisement in Mercurius Politicus for 30 September 1658 offered `` That Excellent , and by all Physicians approved , China drink , called by the Chinese , Tcha , by other nations Tay alias Tee , ... sold at the Sultaness - head , ye Cophee - house in Sweetings - Rents , by the Royal Exchange , London '' . In London `` Coffee , chocolate and a kind of drink called tee '' were `` sold in almost every street in 1659 '' , according to Thomas Rugge 's Diurnall . Tea was mainly consumed by upper and mercantile classes : Samuel Pepys , curious for every novelty , tasted the new drink in 1660 and recorded the experience in his diary : ( 25 September ) `` I did send for a cup of tee , ( a China drink ) of which I had never had drunk before '' . Some years later , in 1667 , Pepys noted that his wife was taking tea on medical advice -- `` a drink which Mr Pelling the Pottecary tells her is good for her colds and defluxions '' . The Royal College of Physicians debated whether any of the exotic new hot drinks would `` agree with the Constitutions of our English bodies '' . </P>
how did tea make its way to england
Green tea exported from China was first introduced in the coffeehouses of London shortly before the Stuart Restoration ( 1660 ) ; in 1657 , tea was offered as an item in a London coffeehouse in Exchange Alley .