The Origins and History of Tea

The world’s most widely consumed beverage, all tea comes from the tropical plant known as
Camellia Senensis. The tea plant grows best in a warm climate with long sunlit days, cool
nights and an abundance of rainfall. Tea plants grow at altitudes ranging from sea level to
7,000 feet and on latitudes as far north as Turkey and as far south as Argentina. The best
tea grows at higher altitudes and many bushes can be cultivated for over 100 years. Tea
bushes cover about six million acres of the earth and are harvested every week during the
almost year-long growing season. The following information provides further information
on the colorful history of this fascinating drink.

The tea story started in China around 2750 BC. During this time, the tea plant was found
to have a number of medicinal properties. Legend says that an Emperor by the name of
Shen Nung was sitting in the shade of a wild tea tree, boiling some drinking water, when a
breeze blew a few leaves from the tree into the pot and gave the water a flavor that he
found delicious. He experimented further and found it to have medicinal properties, as well
as a pleasing flavor. He urged the Chinese people to cultivate the plant for the benefit of
the entire nation. Over time, he has become the Legendary Father of Tea.

In the early days of tea consumption, the leaves were picked and boiled in water to
produce a rather bitter brew. The leaves were used primarily as a medicine and secondly as
a pleasurable drink. It took over 3000 years for tea to become a popular drink throughout
the Chinese empire. During the Tang Dynasty (600-900 AD), the popularity of tea was
recognized by the imposition of a tax. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), steamed and
dried loose tea leaves became popular; however, this style of green tea did not keep or
travel well outside of China. In order to protect their crop, Chinese merchants started to
roast their leaves in order to prevent them from rotting. The leaves that were left in the
air to oxidize produced black tea (or red, as the Chinese call it.) This tea was
manufactured mainly for export, and the Chinese, even today, continue to drink the native
green tea.

The Dutch were the first to drink tea in Europe, shipping it in 1610, with the introduction
to Britain around 1650. It arrived a few years after coffee had reached England. It was
through the coffeehouses that the new drink spread to the people. In 1657, Thomas
Garway, an English proprietor, had the idea of offering tea to the public, and it quickly
became the drink of choice, far outpacing wines and liquors. Unfortunately for the
government, Britain soon began to lose all the taxes accompanied with the sale of liquor.
They quickly remedied the situation, however, by imposing a tax on tea. Nonetheless, it
was not until the early part of the next century that it became a common beverage for the
upper and middle classes. When the coffee shops became too disreputable for respectable
people, it was in the pleasure gardens of London that royalty, aristocrats and ordinary
working people took tea.

In 1772, the tea tax was causing problems in Great Britain’s colonies in America. While
many other taxes on goods bound for America had been repealed, the three pence per
pound of tea remained firm. It was in place to offset the bankrupt British East India
Company. Over a five-year period, the colonies paid duty on almost 2 million pounds of tea.
Enraged by the tea tax and other shipping restrictions, The Sons of Liberty attempted to
block the shipments of tea from arriving in Philadelphia and New York. On December 16,
1773, The Sons of Liberty let two ships sail into Boston Harbor. Disguised as Native
American Indians, they emptied 342 large chests of tea into the harbor. This later came
to be known as the Boston Tea Party. These actions by the colonists led the Parliament to
pass a series of laws known as the “Intolerable Acts”. They limited the political freedom
of the citizens and ultimately led to the Revolutionary War. In many ways, tea helped
provide a cause for American independence.

During the 19th century, tea drinking became an essential part of British social life. Tea
parties and events were organized for all possible occasions, including family teas, picnic
teas, tennis teas and elegant afternoon teas. Over the years, housekeeping manuals and
cookbooks gave clear instructions about teatime invitations, etiquette, methods of brewing
and serving, dress and tablewares. The tea party was the very symbol of elegance and
prosperity.

Although the first tea was discovered in China, several other areas of the world now
contribute to the overall tea harvest. The first tea used in England originated in China, and
it wasn’t until the 19th century that tea growing spread to Formosa and that indigenous
tea was discovered in Assam. In 1839, the first Indian tea was sold in London. Around 1191,
Japanese Zen priests brought tea seed back from studying abroad in China and began
cultivating them in the southernmost part of Japan. The first tea in Africa was planted in
the Cape in 1687, but did not progress until the latter part of the 19th century. The 20th
century has seen the spread of tea in Africa, notably in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania.

American specialty tea market has quadrupled in the years from 1993-2008, now being
worth $6.8 billion a year. Similar to the trend of better coffee and better wines, this
tremendous increase was partly due to consumers who choose to trade up. Specialty tea
houses and retailers also started to pop up during this period.

The history of tea dates back almost 5,000 years and tea itself now has more than 3,000
different variations. The most widely consumed beverage in the world has both a historical
and cultural importance that cannot be rivaled.

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