Tea’s widespread popularity in Britain made it a frequent subject in literary works, where it underwent imaginative reinterpretation. Through this process, tea was skillfully integrated into the fabric of elite European culture, recast as a beverage associated with civilization, health, and freedom, possessing magical properties. In the eighteenth century, the act of “tea drinking” also became a prominent theme in the world of painting. These paintings serve as visual sources for understanding the social customs of the time, the design and usage of teaware and tea spaces, as well as the new etiquette culture that emerged around this imported commodity, and even the cultural exchanges between China and Britain. The designs of tea spaces and tea ware were often imbued with strong Chinese influences, marking one of the most profound changes that tea drinking brought to British visual culture. By the mid-to-late eighteenth century, the emergence of tea gardens introduced Chinese elements into the public spaces of Britain, influencing British landscape gardening. More importantly, tea gardens, welcoming all visitors at that time, became centers for popular enlightenment and the democratic dissemination of new ideas.