If I had only read Kim Wilson’s Tea with Jane Austen many years ago, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble. Yes, gentle readers, I spent hours researching the history of tea and how and when people in the Regency era served it only to find that most of the information had already been gathered in this book.
Tea With Jane Austen at the Morgan Library & Museum gift shop. Image @Jane Austen's World
Kim published her slim but informative book in 2004, two years before I began this blog. It is now in its second edition, and rightly so. The author has included almost all the facts and social customs about tea that a Regency romance author or Jane Austen fan or 18th- and 19th-century social historian could want.
Image inside the book. Copyright 2011 Frances Lincoln Ltd
I read this slim but fact-packed volume in two sittings the first time around, and have since read it twice more. Each time I have been DELIGHTED. Kim includes information about the Austens; a short history of tea; mealtimes and the hours they were taken by both simple folks and the gentry;
A sample page - Making the Perfect Cup. Click on image. Copyright 2011 Kim Wilson
tea served in the home and outside of it; tea served in the morning and at a grand ball; the best way to prepare tea (or how the English do it); the health benefits of tea; shopping for tea; recipes for tea treats (including one for Mr. Woodhouse’s gruel!); and the difference between high tea and low tea (and why so many of us use the terms wrong).
One of the many charming quotes sprinkled throughout the book. Copyright 2011 Frances Lincoln Ltd
If I have any fault to find with the book is that it’s too short. Thankfully, Kim Wilson also wrote In the Garden with Jane Austen, a book I shall review at a later time. I give Tea with Jane Austen five out of five china tea cups. Order the book here: Frances Lincoln, UK; and Amazon.com US
5 out of 5 tea cups
Binding: Hardback, 128 pages
ISBN: 9780711231894
Format: 215mm x 165mm
40 colour and 45 b/w illustrations
BIC Code: BGL, WBX
BISAC Code: BIO007000
Imprint: Frances Lincoln
More About Tea
- Would You Care for Weak Tea or Strong Tea? How the Dowager Countess Grantham Served Tea to Her Guests: Jane Austen’s World
- Bringing England Home: In Jane Austen’s England
- Start Your Tea Reference Library: four books by great ladies of tea
- Tea, Jane Austen, Social Order, and the American Revolution!
- Third Annual Jane Austen Festival: 2010
- Taking Tea With Jane Austen A Blend We Would Surely Enjoy
Jane Austen's World 
A few years back I attended a tea re-enactment at a local historical home. It was a lovely days spent with my mom and we learned so much about tea and how to serve it. Shortly after I had a tea party for my mom’s birthday with all her friends, serving traditional tea the “correct” way. It was one of our more memorable celebrations.
Thank you for the book review.
Regards,
Diane
I have wanted to read this book since 2008 (eeks maybe even before that – I think it took me that long to see it) and I still haven’t gotten to it…sad to say. The illustrations have always seemed lovely. Thanks so much for your review. It just reinforces my desire. My TBR and wishlist are a big clogged but this will probably get moved to the head of the list now.
I love this book, too! I definitely agree with your five tea cup rating.
I am also a big fan of this book. I have several other books about tea, being an avid book collector of tea and tea things. I’m also a big fan of Jane Pettigrew and have all of her books.
Also, I have been drinking tea most of my life (72 years) and can recall when it was somewhat difficult to get better quality teas in the U.S.
Some of the books I purchased included addresses of tea merchants that would have been difficult to find, in the days before the internet.
I also have Cooking with Jane Austen, The Jane Austen Cookbook and the delightful Jane Austen’s Christmas. (The latter is long out of print but well worth tracking down to add to a collection.)