Britain Takes Cup for Tea Drinking

LONDON — Britain, with an average of 1,355 cups a year per person, remains the top tea-drinking nation outside the Orient, the Tea Council reported Sunday. The council, which regulates the tea industry in Britain, says Britain’s closest rival, New Zealand, was far behind at 889 cups a year per capita.

Australia’s per capita annual consumption is 642 cups, the Soviet Union’s 325 and the United States’ 321, the report said. China, India, Japan and other Asian nations are big tea consumers, but per capita figures for those countries were not available.