History of Tea

History of Tea

Tea is nearly 5,000 years old and was discovered when legend has it, in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water. During the 1600s tea became popular throughout Europe and the American colonies. Since colonial times, tea has played a role in American culture and customs. Today American schoolchildren learn about the famous Boston Tea Party protesting the British tea tax - one of the acts leading to the Revolutionary War. During this century, came two great American contributions to the tea industry. In 1904, iced up on the World's Fair in St. Louis, and in 1908, developed Thomas Sullivan from New York, the concept of tea in a bag. Tea divided into three basic types: black, green and oolong. In the U.S., over 90 percent of the tea consumed is black tea, which is fully oxidized or fermented and provides a robust-flavored, amber brew. Some of the popular black teas include English Breakfast (good breakfast choice since its good taste mixes well with milk), Darjeeling (a blend of Himalayan tea with a blossoming bouquet suited for lunch) and Orange Pekoe (a blend of Ceylon tea, which is most used by the tea blends). Green tea skips oxidizing step. It has a more delicate flavor and is light green / golden in color. Green tea, a staple in the Orient, is gaining popularity in the U.S. because of some recent scientific studies linking green tea drinking with reduced cancer risk. Oolong tea, popular in China, is partly oxidized and is a cross between black and green tea in color and taste. While flavored tea evolve from these three basic teas, herbal teas contain no true tea leaves. Herbal and "medicinal" teas are created from the flowers, berries, peel, seeds, leaves and roots of many different plants.

Little did Chinese emperor Shen Nung realize that in 2737 BC, when dried leaves blew into his cup of hot water, drink he discovered would cause sensations in the world. During this time, water was always boiled for hygienic reasons. The pleasant and refreshing taste enchanted him, and soon everyone in the kingdom was drinking tea.
Japan was introduced to tea by Yensei, a recurring Buddhist priest living in China at the time of discovery. Tea was immediately embraced by Japanese society and resulted in the creation of the intricate Japanese tea ceremony, elevating tea to an art form.

Tea continued to travel throughout the Orient, and it was during the time of European explorers' tea made its cultural broad jump. The East India Company brought tea in the Netherlands, but its prohibitive cost at $ 100 per pound kept tea as a rich man's drink until so much was imported tea, the prices fell, and was sold in small food shops.

In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant brought tea to the American colonists in New Amsterdam, later called New York. Soon the colonists drank more tea than all England.

In England, tea gardens, ornate outdoor events with fancy food and tea, fireworks and gambling, seemed to sprout up overnight as entertainment centers today and many British enjoyed the festivities on offer there.

Russia discovered tea when decorated coffins of the dried leaves were sent to Tsar Alexis of the Chinese Embassy in Moscow in the 1618th It was the Russian custom to sip heavily sweetened tea from a glass in a silver holder. Russians also enjoyed honey or strawberry jam stirred into tea as their ethnic contributions. Even today, vodka and tea is the national drink in Russia.

Recovery of high costs from the French and Indian War, England levied a huge tax on tea imported to the colonies, mistakenly believing that the colonists were so hooked on it, they will pay anything to keep their supply coming in. One night the men Boston dressed as Indians, which resembles the French and Indian War won aboard ships anchored in Boston Harbor and threw the expensive tea cargo overboard into the harbor. England responded by having a raging fit, closing Boston's port and send the royal troops occupation of Boston. Because of this, colonists met to discuss these events and declared a revolution.

At one point, even England Company gave John the power not only to import tea, but to coin its own money, make peace, declare war and other privileges that were previously only held by countries.

In the 1880s, America came to the fore as the largest importer of tea because of faster Clipper ships and the ability to pay its debts in gold.

A tea plantation owner introduced iced tea to the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. It was a very hot day, and his hot tea booth was adopted by the crowds in favor of cold drinks. Of desperate measures when he was out of time and money for even coming to the Fair, he added ice to liquid hot tea and in the process that made it one of the highlights of the 1904 World's Fair.

Tea bag came as a surprise. Samples of tea by the early twentieth century were given in small silk bags and instead of opening the bags, was the tea bag as a whole has fallen into hot water by consumers. Quickly, a tea company sprang into action and patented tea bag. Thomas J. Lipton was responsible for designing a four-sided tea he dubbed the 'flow-thru' tea bag, which allowed the tea to steep in the cup faster than the usual two-sided bag.

Today tea is grown on tea estates and 70% of the tea we drink is grown in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Argentina and China. The best climate for growing tea, are those which are tropical or semi-tropical and tea can be grown on land not suitable for cultivation of much of anything else. Today there are three basic types of tea: black, oolong and green, and from these three types of spring more than 3,000 cultivated varieties. The leaves are picked at just the right time designated by the tea estate manager, then crushed to start the oxidation process.

Incredibly, we drink roughly the same tea today that Emperor Shen Nung drank the day he discovered it. Americans drink 140 million cups of tea every day, and 80% of it is in the form of iced tea.