When tea was fi rst brought into Europe it arrived in such small amounts that
it was expensive and only the upper classes could afford to drink it. Prices fell
when the Dutch East India Company’s imports of tea caused competition. Tea
then became a drink of the common people. In Holland, tea was first consumed
at inns, but eventually gentlemen and gentlewomen would gather in the homes of
friends to have tea-tasting events that resembled wine-tasting parties. The custom
of tea parties emerged, creating opportunities for women to gather outside the
home, a development that is thought to have contributed to women’s liberation.