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The new food introduced last time was now in greater supply. Sugar was still a luxury but people were now trying to grow the potatoes and turnips, that had arrived from America, in England. However it was drinking habits which began to change noticeably. Trade with Asia and America meant that tea and coffee were introduced to England. Instead of just drinking wine or beer, people could now have a hot cup of coffee or tea as well as chocolate. Tea was first introduced in about 1652. It wasn't the tea that you know now. It wasn't neatly packaged in a tea bag. Loose leaves of tea would be placed in the cup and hot water poured over it. Tea would be kept in something called a tea caddy. The first silver teapot appeared in England in 1670. Then you would put a teaspoonful of tea leaves in the teapot, one for each person and sometimes one extra, and pour your hot water into the teapot and leave it for a while before pouring it into your cup, sometimes over a tea strainer to stop the leaves getting into your cup. People living in towns couldn’t grow their own food so they had to buy it from shops, markets or travelling merchants. Providing food for others was becoming a big profession. There were still occasional famines but these happened less often, The poor in the country still had to kill their animals in the winter as they had no food to feed them although this did mean more food for the family, Needless to say, the Puritans ate simple meals. People began using forks.
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