According to local legend, the Russian Mikhail Bukanin entered a Prague cafe in 1848 and ordered tea. When the owner said that he'd never heard of the drink Bukanin marched into the kitchen and made the city's first cup of tea. Eighty years later, there were an estimated 150 tea-houses in Prague, but the culture died out under the Communist regime. Today's tea-houses are mostly a 1990s' phenomenon. Partly a reaction to the smoke-filled atmosphere of the Czech pub, and partly a reaction against the multinational, fast food culture that has recently arrived in Prague, tea-houses are nonsmoking, peaceful places to enjoy a quiet cup of tea and relax. The tea drinking is taken very seriously, and many of the tea-houses stock a huge array of different kinds of tea.
