Lipton Day: Celebrating a Global Tea Tradition

Today, and May 10th annually, is Lipton Day リプトンの日 in Japan. As in the tea brand that is known the world over. Reportedly it is the largest tea brand in the world, offering high-quality tea at accessible prices. The anniversary was created by Unilever Japan, another big brand known in most parts of the world. Who, interestingly, once owned Lipton. 

The reason they chose May 10th for the anniversary is tied to the life of Thomas Lipton, who was born in Glasgow in 1850. He founded the brand and transformed tea into an everyday pleasure rather than a luxury item. On May 10th, 1871, he opened the first Lipton Market grocery store in Glasgow, a milestone that later inspired the choice of date for this anniversary. May 10th is also the date of his birthday.

To be perfectly honest, Lipton is not my personal favorite brand. But I do appreciate that they brought out a decaffeinated tea in Japan a few years ago. Decaffeinated tea was much later arriving to Japan than my home country of Ireland. Even now, there isn't that much of a choice of decaffeinated tea in Japan, so I am grateful Lipton have a somewhat affordable decaffeinated tea option available.