What kinds of tea would upper-class Victorian people like Scrooge drink?
Black loose leaf Indian tea correctly brewed, of course, and the tea would have been kept in a “caddy” or under lock & key. However, the upper-class ladies still liked their hot chocolate. They also enjoyed tasty tiny sandwiches i.e. very thinly sliced cucumber from their walled gardens, no crusts. Also liked scones with cream & strawberries in season and fruit cake like Madeira and Pound Cake. This would be around 4 pm. On the other hand the White House Cook Book from 1887 says various punches were served as well as coffee. The punches were most likely a variation on the Wassail Bowl made from ale or wine with hot spices. Scrooge was before Victoria’s time and would have been drinking Port, Ale or Gin other’s may have also drank whiskey but propably Scrooge didn’t pay for anything beside ale or port.
Well, Scrooge was a scrooge … if he drank tea at all, it would have been the cheapest, nastiest thing he could find. I think he’s only ever depicted drinking alcohol. Also, it’s correct to say he wasn’t upper-class – he was a middle-class merchant. I was always taught that China tea is upper-class, and Indian tea upper-middle-class.
