History of Tea

Explore Aberdeen's Tea History

Stop 1: The Mercat Cross (17th Century)

The Mercat Cross, built in 1686, has long been a centre for public announcements, including proclamations of new monarchs. There are ten medallions of Scottish monarchs on the cross from James I to 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 had grown up in Amsterdam where the drink was popular.

Directions: From Mercat Cross, head down Marischal Street over the bridge, and down the stairs to Shore Lane where the Shore Porters’ sign is.

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.

Imagine the Mary ship, captained by Dalrymple, stranded out in the port in 1765, as its cargo of tea awaited offloading by the porters. The ship was lost, but this incident underscores the risks of maritime trade and the unpredictable nature of tea importation. In 1835, the Shore Porters Society purchased No. 16 Shore Lane from John Lyell Grant, a tea dealer, marking its link to the tea trade. Later, in 1887, John Lyell Grant opened an ‘Emporium for Tea’ nearby, at Number 85 Broad Street.

Directions: Head to end of Shore Lane with a view over the port

Stop 4: Docks and Quays

Aberdeen’s 28-acre Victoria Dock and Waterloo Quay became bustling centres for trade during the peak of the tea clipper era in the 19th century. And it was at Waterloo Quay in 1848 that George Thompson Jr, 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: from Waterloo Quay, retrace your steps along Regent Quay to Sugarhouse Lane on the right. There is a plaque at the entrance to the road.

Stop 3: Aberdeen Port

Aberdeen Port became integral to tea’s spread in Scotland. The East India Company, which had a monopoly of all trade with Asia, brought the first shipment of tea from Java in 1664. It was just 100 pounds 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 ensure it arrived fresh.. 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.

Did you also know that in the Aberdeen Port it was considered bad luck to turn ships anti-clockwise. And, as it was felt this rule should also apply on shore, some historians believe this is why it is typical to stir tea in a clockwise direction.

Directions: from the end of Shore Lane, turn left and walk along Regent Quay to the corner of Church Street and Waterloo Quay. There is a sign for Waterloo Quay on the wall

Stop 5: 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. At this time America was a British colony and the East India Company convinced the 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 8: Shiprow - Merchant and Storage Area

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 at 79 Queen Street.

Shiprow was lined with warehouses, such as numbers 66, 68, and 72, which stored a variety of imported goods, including tea. As the tea trade expanded, these warehouses played a key role in storing tea that arrived at Aberdeen’s port before it was distributed throughout Scotland.

Directions: Walk up Shiprow where it meets Union Street. Over the road is Esselmont and Macintosh

Stop 6: Customs House, 35 Regent Quay

The Customs House on Regent Quay, 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 the 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 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: Continue along Regent Quay and turn right onto Marischal Street to No 43.

Stop 7: Clipper Quay - The Clipper Races

Marischal Street was the headquarters 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 flush (picking) of tea. The winner commanded 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. The winner was the Thermopylæ - in 106 days - eight days ahead of her rival - after the Cutty Sark’s rudder broke.

Directions: Return to Regent Quay, turn right onto Shorebrae to Shiprow. Shiprow runs from the left and right of this junction. Explore this street.

Stop 9: The Town House – Smuggling, the law, and the Tea Trade

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 East India Company.

This was high risk however. Smuggled tea was unregulated and was 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 shortly after it becomes Castle Street, turn left into King Street to No 13 where there is a plaque

Stop 10: Esselmont & Mackintosh, 38 Union Street – Tea Dealers and Tea Rooms

Peter Esselmont and William Mackintosh were tea dealers and blenders and started trading from No 38 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 started tea cultivation in Assam.

And in 1848, Scottish botanist Robert Fortune was sent to China by the East India Company. Fortune stole 20,000 tea plants from China and smuggled them to Darjeeling and cultivation began there. Soon after, James Taylor born in Auchenblae, near Laurencekirk, in 1852, introduced tea farming to Ceylon working later with Scottish tea merchant Thomas Lipton.

Directions: Cross over Union Street to The Town House on the right

Stop 11: 13 King Street – Chivas Brothers

13 King Street was the home of Chivas Brothers, known today for their whisky, but who were 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.

Other household names also followed the same path from blending tea to blending whisky, for example, the Grahams Brothers from Aberdeen who started in tea but went on to launch their own whisky blend called ‘Black Bottle’ in 1879, and Johnnie Walker of Kilmarnock.

Stop 13 : St Nicholas Cemetery - Aberdeen Pottery and Tea Wares

John Auldjo, an innovative business man, was buried in St Nicholas Church cemetery. Along with his brick and tile business, he established Aberdeen Pottery in the Clayhills area of Aberdeen, 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’. One pottery to follow suit was John Auldjo of Aberdeen Pottery. The pottery made a range of very fine wares including teapots and creamware. Some 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 and cross over the road. No 38 opposite is the building with columns on it above the shops

Stop 15: Music Hall – The Temperance Movement and Tea Culture

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.

Stop 12: General Charles Gordon Statue

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 East India Company 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: Continue along Schoolhill. Turn left down Belmont Street. As you come down Belmont Street, why not take a detour left along Little Belmont Street to a charming tea shop called ‘Cup’ about half way down on your right. If it’s not time for tea, then continue down Belmont Street and turn left when it joins Union Street. Continue on Union Street until you find St Nicholas Cemetery on the left.

Stop 14: Queen’s Tea Rooms, 118 Union Street – Social Revolution through Tea

Opened in 1888, Queen’s Tea Rooms became a popular destination in Aberdeen, especially among women. Tea rooms gained popularity after tea became more affordable. Tea rooms provided one of the few 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 walking up Union Street for about 300 yards until you reach the Music Hall on the right

And if this trail has made you fancy a cup of tea, well the good news is that the Music Hall has an excellent cafe - the Coda Cafe Bar. They serve Breakfast tea, Earl Grey and Chai. Tea for these blends would have been historically carried on tea Clipper ships made in Aberdeen.