- Today the habit of tea drinking is inexorably linked to the British despite the fact that the British were fairly late on the tea scene in historical terms. Ironically, the first mention of tea in English literature is a translation of a Dutchman's travels to the east. Tea was first brought to England via Holland on Dutch ships. Since tea was becoming an "in" beverage, the British government became quite incensed that a tiny nation such as the Netherlands would control the shipment of tea to the