According to Antony Burgess;
Samuel Pepys, the diarist of the reign of Charles II, who came to the British throne in1660, writes of having drunk “tee (a China drinke) of which I had never drank before,” He does not say whether he liked it or not. There was at first some dissension as to its preparation. It could be either too strong or too weak? Should it be sweetened or not? In the eighteenth century the greatest tea drinker of all time established the way the British were to drink it. This was Dr. Samuel Johnson, the lexicographer who created his huge English Dictionary single-handed, no doubt under the stimulation of tea. His teapot held two litres. He took it strong, the bite of the tannin being allayed with a little milk, adding sugar in little lumps. At the house of a distinguished lady, he kept passing his cup for more and more, until he had ingested thirty-two cups. The lady said: “Dr. Johnson, you drink too much tea.” Johnson said “Madam, you are insolent.”
