Jane Austen "Nothing but Tea"
Pray, coffee drinkers, do not trifle with a connoisseur of the finer beverage, lest you find yourself forevermore excluded from respectable society.
In our illustration, we humbly present a woman with tea on her mind - literally. The crown of her hat is composed of an upside-down teacup, the brim a fetching saucer. Five more tea accoutrements complete the drawing, including a string of cups, fashionable tea leaf dress, chandelier steeper ball earrings, stirring spoon sunglasses and a bergamot flower brooch.
Yes, we have a penchant for Earl Grey tea (especially that which uses real bergamot oil and not "natural flavors" but we digress). And no, Earl Grey wasn’t yet a thing in Jane Austen’s day. Neither were Jackie O. sunglasses. But like Earl Grey, they are fabulous nonetheless.
A word of caution: Should you ever be so impertinent as to mention that dreaded black ooze of a beverage that begins with a “c,” we shall report your impropriety to Lady Chamomile at the next meeting of the HBPS - The Hot Beverage Preservation Society. You have been warned.
The quotation is from Mansfield Park, which was published in 1814 - a year after Pride and Prejudice.
Our favorite copy of Mansfield Park is from Penguin Classics.
Would you rather have coffee?