History of Tea

Explore Aberdeen's Tea History

Welcome to Aberdeen's hidden history of tea; a tale woven into the City's docks, streets, and merchants’ ledgers - yet often overlooked. Aberdeen, and Scotland as a whole, played a pivotal role in shaping the global tea story, from the cultivation fields of Asia to the elegant tearooms of Europe.

The City’s shipbuilders constructed over 3,000 vessels, including the iconic tea clippers that raced across the seas to bring fresh tea to British shores. Beyond shipbuilding, Aberdeen thrived as a redistribution hub, channeling tea from the City of London’s vast imports to the rest of Scotland and beyond.

This tea trail takes around 90 minutes and will take you on an exploration of how Aberdeen’s industrious spirit left a mark on the world's most beloved drink - offering a chronological journey through its maritime legacy, historic sites, and hidden tea tales.

Stop 1: Mercat Cross

Castle Street

Built in 1686, Mercat Cross has long been a centre for public announcements, including proclamations of new monarchs. There are ten medallions of Scottish monarchs on the cross, one of which is James VII (James II of England). A few years before the cross’s construction, tea culture began to spread in Scotland. Italian born Mary of Modena, Consort of James VII, popularised tea when she first served it at Holyrood Palace in 1680, setting a trend that quickly took hold among Scotland's elite. This early tea was green tea imported by the Dutch East India Company from China. Mary grew up in Amsterdam where the drink was already popular.

Directions: Head down Marischal Street, over the bridge and down the steps to the Shore Porters’ sign on Shore Lane. Wheelchair access is via Regent Quay.

Stop 2: Shore Porters Society

Shore Lane

The Shore Porters Society, established in 1498, is one of the oldest transport and removal companies in the world and reflects Aberdeen’s deep maritime and trading heritage. The Society began as a cooperative among porters to facilitate the movement of goods from bustling docks to local merchants and beyond.

Directions: Walk to the end of Shore Lane, turn right onto Regent Quay, and stop at the Port of Aberdeen office.

Stop 3: Aberdeen Port

Regent Quay

Aberdeen Port became integral to tea’s spread in Scotland. The East India Company (EIC), which had a monopoly of all trade with Asia, brought the first shipment of tea from Java to London in 1664. It was just 100 lbs in weight but this created a stir in the popularity of the drink led by King Charles II and his wife, Queen Catherine of Braganza. By the 1700s, tea was a fashionable drink across Britain, and ships regularly transported tea from London to Aberdeen to meet demand in the north. By 1750, 10% of the government’s budget came from the tax on tea. Aberdeen’s connections with major English and European ports turned it into a regional distribution hub. Tea was transported in wooden chests to maintain freshness. The docks here would have witnessed the coming and going of goods central to Aberdeen’s prosperity - not only tea but also whisky, textiles, and grains.

Directions: Walk back along Regent Quay until you reach the corner of Church Street where there is a sign on the wall for Waterloo Quay.

Stop 4: Docks & Quays

Waterloo Quay

At Waterloo Quay in 1848 George Thompson Jnr., the owner of the Aberdeen Line and Lord Provost, welcomed Queen Victoria and Prince Albert when they arrived onboard the Royal Yacht for their first visit to Balmoral. Nearly 30 years later Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India, and it was under her reign that people in India started to drink milky sweet tea mixed with spices (chai). Queen Victoria became fond of taking her tea at breakfast time after Edinburgh born, Robert Drysdale, supplied her with a new blend of tea at Balmoral Castle. The trend for English Breakfast Tea in Britain grew, but it came from Scotland!

Directions: Retrace your steps along Regent Quay to Sugarhouse Lane on the right. There is a plaque at the entrance to the road.

Stop 5: Sugarhouse Lane

Sugarhouse Lane

Sugarhouse Lane is a remnant of Aberdeen's connection to the sugar trade, a crucial part of the tea culture in Britain. By the 1720s, adding sugar to tea was a fashionable habit among the wealthy, further promoted by the East India Company and West India Merchants. At the same time enslaved people laboured under horrific conditions to enable sugar to be available on the tea table. Sugarhouse Lane is on the site of the Sugar House Company, a business which was established in 1776 to refine raw sugar from the Americas for resale. America was a British colony and the EIC convinced the British government to allow them to transport its surplus stocks of tea from London to America in a bid to avoid the Company going bankrupt. But the tax on the tea caused revolt in Boston and patriots dressed as Mohawks boarded the ships and threw the tea overboard in the so-called Boston Tea Party. The response to this triggered the American War of Independence.

Directions: Continue along Regent Quay to No 35.

Stop 6: Customs House

35 Regent Quay

The Customs House, built in 1810, was central to Aberdeen’s regulation of trade goods, including tea, as they flowed in and out of the harbour. Customs House officers ensured that the goods were taxed correctly. Smuggling was common along the Scottish coast, and Customs House played a role in combating the illegal tea trade. In 1788, it was known that five small boats regularly smuggled goods into Aberdeen amounting to an astonishing 350 tons. One ploy amongst the smugglers was to obtain a false bill of lading for Bergen and then convince the customs official your ship was blown off course if you were challenged.

Directions: Walk along Regent Quay and turn right onto Marischal Street to No 35.

Stop 7: The Aberdeen Line

35 Marischal Street

Marischal Street was the office of the Aberdeen Line, a prominent shipping company started by its owner George Thompson Jnr. in 1825. This company was pivotal in transporting tea with its clipper ships, especially after the invention of the Aberdeen Bow by Aberdeen-based Alexander Hall and Sons in 1839. The advancement meant that the clipper ships associated with the Aberdeen Line gained a reputation for reliability and speed, essential for transporting goods like tea, which required prompt delivery to maintain freshness. Tea clipper ships raced from China to London with the first picking of tea - with the winner commanding the highest premium for their tea. The Aberdeen Line’s clipper ship, Thermopylæ took part in one of the most famous tea clipper races in 1872 against the Dumbarton-built Cutty Sark, travelling from Wooing in China to London. Thermopylæ won by eight days after Cutty Sark’s rudder broke.

Directions: Retrace your steps down Marischal Street, turn right along Regent Quay. Cross Virginia Street and turn right onto Shorebrae to Shiprow.

Stop 8: Tea Merchant Warehouses

Shiprow

Shiprow was a hub of maritime commerce, housing merchants and captains involved in the tea trade, including John Thompson, who was both a grocer and tea dealer. John Thompson also established a Temperance Hotel in the city. Shiprow was lined with warehouses, such as No 66, 68, and 72, which stored imported goods, including tea. As tea trade expanded, the warehouses played a key role in storing tea that arrived at Aberdeen’s Port before it was distributed throughout Scotland.

Directions: Walk up Shiprow to where it meets Union Street. Opposite and to the left is Esslemont and Mackintosh.

Stop 8: Tea Merchant Warehouses

Shiprow

Shiprow was a hub of maritime commerce, housing merchants and captains involved in the tea trade, including John Thompson, who was both a grocer and tea dealer. John Thompson also established a Temperance Hotel in the city. Shiprow was lined with warehouses, such as No 66, 68, and 72, which stored imported goods, including tea. As tea trade expanded, the warehouses played a key role in storing tea that arrived at Aberdeen’s Port before it was distributed throughout Scotland.

Directions: Walk up Shiprow to where it meets Union Street. Opposite and to the left is Esslemont and Mackintosh.

Stop 9: Esselmont & Mackintosh

38 Union Street

The Esslemont family were drapers, grocers, tea dealers, and tea blenders in the late 19th century when tea became more affordable and more available. This was because of several events over the century - all related in some way to Scotland. In the 1830s Indian nobleman Maniswam Dewan showed Edinburgh-born Robert Bruce wild tea growing in Assam which led to tea cultivation in Assam. And in 1848, Scottish botanist Robert Fortune was sent to China by the EIC. Fortune stole 20,000 tea plants from China and smuggled them to Darjeeling and cultivation began there. Soon after, in 1852, James Taylor from Auchenblae, near Laurencekirk, introduced tea cultivation to Ceylon working later with Scottish tea merchant Thomas Lipton.

Directions: Cross Union Street to the Town House on the right.

Stop 10: The Town House

Broad Street

Aberdeen’s Town House served as the City’s courthouse, where occasionally trials involving tea smuggling were heard. In the 1770s, tea taxes were as high as 119%, creating a lucrative market for smuggled tea. More tea was smuggled in than was brought in legally. In particular tea from the Netherlands and Sweden was frequently smuggled into Aberdeen, including by the Swedish EIC. This was high risk, however. Smuggled tea was unregulated and often adulterated with various substances, including sheep’s droppings, hawthorn leaves, and used tea leaves. Even some local justice officials were involved in smuggling, reportedly hiding tea under the floorboards of the Town House to evade taxes.

Directions: Continue along Union Street and turn left onto King Street to No 13.

Stop 11: Chivas Brothers

13 King Street

13 King Street was the home of Chivas Brothers, known today for their whisky, but originally involved in tea and other goods. Founded in 1801, the Chivas Brothers began as a grocery business. As the demand for high-quality tea grew, establishments like this catered to a refined market, providing exotic teas alongside fine wines and spirits. The expertise built from blending bespoke teas for customers translated to whisky, for example, Johnnie Walker of Kilmarnock, and the Grahams Brothers from Aberdeen who started in tea but went on to launch their own whisky blend called ‘Black Bottle’ in 1879.

Directions: Continue along Union Street and turn left onto King Street to No 13.

Stop 12: Charles Gordon Statue

Schoolhill

A statue to General Charles Gordon of Khartoum is outside Robert Gordon College (no association). Charles Gordon, fought in the Second Opium War, which was directly related to tea due to its origins in Britain’s efforts to secure tea supplies from China. When the EIC faced silver shortages to buy tea, they began illegally trading Indian-grown opium to China in exchange for Chinese silver, which then funded tea purchases. Millions of Chinese people became hooked on opium. Tensions escalated when the Chinese Emperor destroyed some opium imports, prompting Britain’s military intervention in two Opium Wars (1839-1842 & 1856-1860). Both were won by Britain which went on to secure more ports through which to import opium, including Hong Kong.

Directions: Turn left down Belmont Street. If you fancy a cuppa, take a detour along Little Belmont Street to a charming tea shop called ‘Cup’ about half way down. Afterwards continue down Belmont Street and turn left when it joins Union Street. Continue on Union Street until you reach St Nicholas Cemetery.

Stop 13: St Nicholas Cemetery

Union Street

John Auldjo, an innovative businessman, was buried in St Nicholas Church cemetery. Along with his brick and tile business in the Clayhills area, he established Aberdeen Pottery, producing some of the first teaware. Initially the EIC imported tea pots, cups, saucers, sugar bowls etc. from China. These imports were delicate and could not be rivalled by British potteries. However, it was Josiah Wedgwood at his Staffordshire pottery in the 1750s who made the first ‘creamware’ - and Auldjo’s Aberdeen Pottery followed suit. Cups and bowls from an excavation in 2005 at the site were found to be some of the finest made in Britain during that period.

Directions: Come out of the cemetery, turn right and in front of you on the corner of Back Wynd there is a building with wrought-iron balconies. This is the remains of Queen’s tea rooms.

Stop 14: Queen's Tea Room

118 Union Street

Opened in 1888, Queen’s Tea Rooms became a popular destination in Aberdeen, especially among women, as tea became more affordable. Tea rooms offered rare respectable venues where women could meet unchaperoned, fostering social connections and conversations about women’s rights and suffrage. Inspired by the Duchess of Bedford’s practice of afternoon tea, Queen’s Tea Rooms became part of the broader movement of afternoon tea (sometimes known as ‘low tea’ because it is served on a low table), marking tea’s transformation into a social activity for everyone. However, ‘low tea’ should not be confused with a ‘Scottish High Tea’ which is an evening supper with a hot or cold main dish followed by bread or scones with jam and accompanied by a large pot of strong black tea.

Directions: Continue up Union Street until you reach the Music Hall on the right.

Stop 15: Music Hall

Union Street

In the 1860s, the Music Hall hosted one of Scotland’s largest tea parties, with over 2,000 attendees gathered in support of abstinence. Events such as these were central to the Temperance Movement of the 19th century, which encouraged abstaining from alcohol. Even as early as the 16th and 17th centuries, ale (or wine if you could afford it) was the drink of choice. The popularity of tea was championed by temperance advocates as a wholesome alternative to alcohol.
The Music Hall also has an excellent cafe and they serve blends that would have historically been carried on Aberdeen-made ships.

Directions: Come out of the cemetery, turn right and in front of you on the corner of Back Wynd there is a building with wrought-iron balconies. This is the remains of Queen’s tea rooms.