History of tea

The history of tea is long and complex, spreading across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. Although tales exist in regards to the beginnings of tea being used as a beverage, no one is sure of its exact physical and cultural origins.

Geographic origins

According to Mondal (2007, p. 519): "Camellia sinensis originated in southeast Asia, specifically around the intersection of latitude 29°N and longitude 98°E, the point of confluence of the lands of northeast India, north Burma, southwest China and Tibet. The plant was introduced to more than 52 countries, from this ‘centre of origin’."

Based on morphological differences between the Assamese and Chinese varieties, botanists have long asserted a dual botanical origin for tea; however, statistical cluster analysis, the same chromosome number (2n=30), easy hybridization, and various types of intermediate hybrids and spontaneous polyploids all appear to demonstrate a single place of origin for Camellia sinensis — the area including the northern part of Burma, and Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China.

Yunnan Province has also been identified as "the birthplace of tea…the first area where humans figured out that eating tea leaves or brewing a cup could be pleasant." Fengqing County in the Lincang City Prefecture of Yunnan Province in China is said to be home to the world's oldest cultivated tea tree, some 3,200 years old.

Origin myths

In one popular Chinese legend, Shennong, the legendary Emperor of China and inventor of agriculture and Chinese medicine was drinking a bowl of just boiled water due to a decree that his subjects must boil water before drinking it some time around 2737 BC when a few leaves were blown from a nearby tree into his water, changing the color. The emperor took a sip of the brew and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and restorative properties. A variant of the legend tells that the emperor tested the medical properties of various herbs on himself, some of them poisonous, and found tea to work as an antidote. Shennong is also mentioned in Lu Yu's famous early work on the subject, Cha Jing. A similar Chinese legend goes that the god of agriculture would chew the leaves, stems, and roots of various plants to discover medicinal herbs. If he consumed a poisonous plant, he would chew tea leaves to counteract the poison.

A rather gruesome legend dates back to the Tang Dynasty. In the legend, Bodhidharma, the founder of Chan Buddhism, accidentally fell asleep after meditating in front of a wall for nine years. He woke up in such disgust at his weakness that he cut off his own eyelids. They fell to the ground and took root, growing into tea bushes. Sometimes, another version of the story is told with Gautama Buddha in place of Bodhidharma.

Whether or not these legends have any basis in fact, tea has played a significant role in Asian culture for centuries as a staple beverage, a curative, and a status symbol. It is not surprising, therefore, that theories of its origin are often religious or royal in nature.

A Ming Dynasty painting by artist Wen Zhengming illustrating scholars greeting in a tea ceremony

Lu Yu's statue in Xi'an

Illustration of the legend of monkeys harvesting tea

Early history

China

Main article: History of tea in China

The Chinese have consumed tea for thousands of years. People of the Han Dynasty used tea as medicine (though the first use of tea as a stimulant is unknown). China is considered to have the earliest records of tea consumption, with records dating back to the 10th century BC.

Laozi (ca. 600-517 BC), the classical Chinese philosopher, described tea as "the froth of the liquid jade" and named it an indispensable ingredient to the elixir of life. Legend has it that master Lao was saddened by society's moral decay and, sensing that the end of the dynasty was near, he journeyed westward to the unsettled territories, never to be seen again. While passing along the nation's border, he encountered and was offered tea by a customs inspector named Yin Hsi. Yin Hsi encouraged him to compile his teachings into a single book so that future generations might benefit from his wisdom. This then became known as the Dao De Jing, a collection of Laozi's sayings.

In 59 BC, Wang Bao wrote the first known book with instructions on buying and preparing tea.

In 220 AD, famed physician and surgeon Hua Tuo wrote Shin Lun, in which he describes tea's ability to improve mental functions.

During the Sui Dynasty (589-618 AD) tea was introduced to Japan by Buddhist monks.

The Tang Dynasty writer Lu Yu's (simplified Chinese: 陆羽; traditional Chinese: 陸羽; pinyin: lùyǔ) Cha Jing (The Classic of Tea) (simplified Chinese: 茶经; traditional Chinese: 茶經; pinyin: chá jīng) is an early work on the subject. (See also Tea Classics) According to Cha Jing tea drinking was widespread. The book describes how tea plants were grown, the leaves processed, and tea prepared as a beverage. It also describes how tea was evaluated. The book also discusses where the best tea leaves were produced. Teas produced in this period were mainly tea bricks which were often used as currency, especially further from the center of the empire where coins lost their value.

During the Song Dynasty (960-1279), production and preparation of all tea changed. The tea of Song included many loose-leaf styles (to preserve the delicate character favored by court society), but a new powdered form of tea emerged. Steaming tea leaves was the primary process used for centuries in the preparation of tea. After the transition from compressed tea to the powdered form, the production of tea for trade and distribution changed once again. The Chinese learned to process tea in a different way in the mid-13th century. Tea leaves were roasted and then crumbled rather than steamed. This is the origin of today's loose teas and the practice of brewed tea.

Tea production in China, historically, was a laborious process, conducted in distant and often poorly accessible regions. This led to the rise of many apocryphal stories and legends surrounding the harvesting process. For example, one story that has been told for many years is that of a village where monkeys pick tea. According to this legend, the villagers stand below the monkeys and taunt them. The monkeys, in turn, become angry, and grab handfuls of tea leaves and throw them at the villagers. There are products sold today that claim to be harvested in this manner, but no reliable commentators have observed this firsthand, and most doubt that it happened at all. For many hundreds of years the commercially used tea tree has been, in shape, more of a bush than a tree. "Monkey picked tea" is more likely a name of certain varieties than a description of how it was obtained.

In 1391, the Ming court issued a decree that only loose tea would be accepted as a "tribute". As a result, loose tea production increased and processing techniques advanced. Soon, most tea was distributed in full-leaf, loose form and steeped in earthenware vessels.

Hong Kong

See also: Hong Kong tea culture

In Hong Kong, apart from the yum cha culture of southern China, a localised version of English tea was developed, the Hong Kong-style milk tea.

Japan

Ancient Tea Urns used by merchants to store tea

Japanese tea ceremony

Main article: History of tea in Japan

Tea use spread to Japan about the sixth century. Tea became a drink of the religious classes in Japan when Japanese priests and envoys, sent to China to learn about its culture, brought tea to Japan. Ancient recordings indicate the first batch of tea seeds were brought by a priest named Saichō (最澄, 767-822) in 805 and then by another named Kūkai (空海, 774-835) in 806. It became a drink of the royal classes when Emperor Saga (嵯峨天皇), the Japanese emperor, encouraged the growth of tea plants. Seeds were imported from China, and cultivation in Japan began.

In 1191, the famous Zen priest Eisai (栄西, 1141-1215) brought back tea seeds to Kyoto. Some of the tea seeds were given to the priest Myoe Shonin, and became the basis for Uji tea. The oldest tea specialty book in Japan, Kissa Yōjōki (喫茶養生記, How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea), was written by Eisai. The two-volume book was written in 1211 after his second and last visit to China. The first sentence states, "Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one's life more full and complete." Eisai was also instrumental in introducing tea consumption to the warrior class, which rose to political prominence after the Heian Period.

Green tea became a staple among cultured people in Japan—a brew for the gentry and the Buddhist priesthood alike. Production grew and tea became increasingly accessible, though still a privilege enjoyed mostly by the upper classes. The tea ceremony of Japan was introduced from China in the 15th century by Buddhists as a semi-religious social custom. The modern tea ceremony developed over several centuries by Zen Buddhist monks under the original guidance of the monk Sen no Rikyū (千 利休, 1522-1591). In fact, both the beverage and the ceremony surrounding it played a prominent role in feudal diplomacy.

In 1738, Soen Nagatani developed Japanese sencha (煎茶), literally roasted tea, which is an unfermented form of green tea. It is the most popular form of tea in Japan today. In 1835, Kahei Yamamoto developed gyokuro (玉露), literally jewel dew, by shading tea trees during the weeks leading up to harvesting. At the end of the Meiji period (1868–1912), machine manufacturing of green tea was introduced and began replacing handmade tea.

Korea

See also: Korean tea ceremony and Korean tea

Darye, Korean tea ceremony

The first historical record documenting the offering of tea to an ancestral god describes a rite in the year 661 in which a tea offering was made to the spirit of King Suro, the founder of the Geumgwan Gaya Kingdom (42-562). Records from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) show that tea offerings were made in Buddhist temples to the spirits of revered monks.

During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the royal Yi family and the aristocracy used tea for simple rites. The "Day Tea Rite" was a common daytime ceremony, whereas the "Special Tea Rite" was reserved for specific occasions. Toward the end of the Joseon Dynasty, commoners joined the trend and used tea for ancestral rites, following the Chinese example based on Zhu Xi's text formalities of Family.

Stoneware was common, ceramic more frequent, mostly made in provincial kilns, with porcelain rare, imperial porcelain with dragons the rarest. The earliest kinds of tea used in tea ceremonies were heavily pressed cakes of black tea, the equivalent of aged pu-erh tea still popular in China. However, importation of tea plants by Buddhist monks brought a more delicate series of teas into Korea, and the tea ceremony. Green tea, "chaksol" or "chugno", is most often served. However, other teas such as "Byeoksoryung" Chunhachoon, Woojeon, Jakseol, Jookro, Okcheon, as well as native chrysanthemum tea, persimmon leaf tea, or mugwort tea may be served at different times of the year.

Vietnam

Vietnamese green teas have been largely unknown outside of mainland Asia until the present day. Recent free-enterprise initiatives are introducing these green teas to outside countries through new export activities. Some specialty Vietnamese teas include Lotus tea and Jasmine tea. Vietnam also produces black and oolong teas in lesser quantities.

Vietnamese teas are produced in many areas that have been known for tea-house "retreats." For example, some are located amidst immense tea forests of the Lamdong highlands, where there is a community of ancient Ruong houses built at the end of the 18th century.

Global expansion

A conical urn-shaped silver-plated samovar used for boiling water for tea in Russia and some Middle eastern countries

The earliest record of tea in a more occidental writing is said to be found in the statement of an Arabian traveler, that after the year 879 the main sources of revenue in Canton were the duties on salt and tea. Marco Polo records the deposition of a Chinese minister of finance in 1285 for his arbitrary augmentation of the tea taxes. The travelers Giovanni Batista Ramusio (1559), L. Almeida (1576), Maffei (1588), and Teixeira (1610) also mentioned tea. In 1557, Portugal established a trading port in Macau and word of the Chinese drink "chá" spread quickly, but there is no mention of them bringing any samples home. In the early 17th century, a ship of the Dutch East India Company brought the first green tea leaves to Amsterdam from China. Tea was known in France by 1636. It enjoyed a brief period of popularity in Paris around 1648. The history of tea in Russia can also be traced back to the seventeenth century. Tea was first offered by China as a gift to Czar Michael I in 1618. The Russian ambassador tried the drink; he did not care for it and rejected the offer, delaying tea's Russian introduction by fifty years. In 1689, tea was regularly imported from China to Russia via a caravan of hundreds of camels traveling the year-long journey, making it a precious commodity at the time. Tea was appearing in German apothecaries by 1657 but never gained much esteem except in coastal areas such as Ostfriesland. Tea first appeared publicly in England during the 1650s, where it was introduced through coffee houses. From there it was introduced to British colonies in America and elsewhere.

Greece and Cyprus

Throughout Greece and Cyprus Greek tea (Greek τσάι or Tsai) is made with cinnamon and cloves.

India

Tea Garden in Assam, India

Main article: History of tea in India

See also: Assam tea, Darjeeling tea, Masala chai, Nilgiri tea, Doodh Pati Chai, and Munnar

Tea cultivation in India has somewhat ambiguous origins. Though the extent of the popularity of tea in Ancient India is unknown, it is known that the tea plant was a wild plant in India that was indeed brewed by local inhabitants of different regions. The cultivation and brewing of tea in India has a long history of applications in traditional systems of medicine and for consumption. Some cite the Sanjeevani tea plant first recorded reference of tea use in India. However, scientific studies have shown that the Sanjeevani plant is in fact a different plant and is not related to tea. The Singpho tribe and the Khamti tribe also validate that they have been consuming tea since the 12th century. However, commercial production of tea in India did not begin until the arrival of the British East India Company, at which point large tracts of land were converted for mass tea production.

The Chinese variety is used for Sikkim, Darjeeling tea, and the Assamese variety, clonal to the native to Assam, everywhere else. The British started commercial tea plantations in India and in Ceylon: "In 1824 tea plants were discovered in the hills along the frontier between Burma and Assam. The British introduced tea culture into India in 1836 and into Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1867. At first they used seeds from China, but later seeds from the clonal Assam plant were used." Only black tea was produced until recent decades.

A view of tea Plantations in Munnar, Kerala, India

India was the top producer of tea for nearly a century, but was displaced by China as the top tea producer in the 21st century. Indian tea companies have acquired a number of iconic foreign tea enterprises including British brands Tetley and Typhoo. While India is the largest consumer of tea worldwide, the per-capita consumption of tea in India remains a modest 750 grams per person every year.

Top station, 41 km (1 Hour) from Munnar, is aptly named, as it is home to some of the highest tea plantations in India. It lies on the state of Kerala and commands a panoramic view of rolling green hills.

A Panoramic view of Tea Plantations in Munnar, Kerala, India.

Iran

Tea harvest in Lahijan, Iran

Gilan in North of Iran is main production center of Iranian Tea. Historically, Lahijan is the first town in Iran to have tea plantations. With its mild weather, soil quality and fresh spring water, Lahijan stands to have the largest area of tea cultivation in Iran. "Lahijan Spring Tea" is the best quality tea produced in the country. Tea is cultivated at other cities of Gilan, for example Fuman and Roudsar.

Taiwan

Tea plantation in Taiwan

Taiwan is famous for the making of Oolong tea and green tea, as well as many western-styled teas. Bubble Tea or "Zhen Zhu Nai Cha" (Mandarin: 珍珠奶茶) is black tea mixed with sweetened condensed milk and tapioca. Since the island was known to Westerners for many centuries as Formosa — short for the Portuguese Ilha Formosa, or "beautiful island" — tea grown in Taiwan is often identified by that name.

Thailand

Thai tea or "cha-yen" (Thai: ชาเย็น) in Thailand, is a drink made from strongly brewed black tea ("red tea" in East Asia). Other ingredients may include added orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind seed or red and yellow food coloring, and sometimes other spices as well. This tea is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk.

Usually, Thai people drink Thai hot tea in the morning, frequently with Yau ja gwai (fried dough) or Pa-tong-ko (Thai: ปาท่องโก๋). The varieties of Thai tea include:

• Thai hot tea (Thai: ชาร้อน, cha-ron) is Thai tea served hot.
• Dark Thai hot tea (Thai: ชาดำร้อน, cha-dam-ron) is Thai tea served hot with no milk content, sweetened with sugar only.
• Dark Thai iced tea (Thai: ชาดำเย็น, cha-dam-yen) is Thai tea served cold with ice and without milk.

Turkey

See also: Turkish tea

Turkish tea

Turkey is traditionally one of the largest tea markets in the world. Turkish black tea is the most popular drink in Turkey, even more popular than Turkish coffee.

United Kingdom

See also: British tea culture

Tea plantation in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

The importing of tea into Britain began in the 1660s with the marriage of King Charles II to the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, who brought to the court the habit of drinking tea. On 25 September 1660 Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary: "I did send for a cup of tee (a China drink) of which I never had drank before." It is probable that early imports came via Amsterdam or through sailors on eastern boats.

Regular trade began in Guangzhou (Canton). Trade was controlled by two monopolies: the Chinese Hongs (trading companies) and the British East India Company. The Hongs acquired tea from 'the tea men' who had an elaborate supply chain into the mountains and provinces where the tea was grown.

The East India Company brought back many products, of which tea was just one, but it was to prove one of the most successful. It was initially promoted as a medicinal beverage or tonic. By the end of the seventeenth century tea was taken as a drink, albeit mainly by the aristocracy. In 1690 nobody would have predicted that by 1750 tea would be the national drink. The origin of large trade in tea was the need for a return cargo from the East Indies. Merchantmen ships delivered fabrics manufactured in Britain to India and China but would return empty or partially full. To solve this problem the East India Company began a vigorous public relations campaign in England to popularize tea among the common people in Britain and develop it as a viable return cargo.^{[citation needed]}

The escalation of tea importation and sales over the period 1690 to 1750 is mirrored closely by the increase in importation and sales of cane sugar: the British were not drinking just tea but sweet tea. Thus, two of Britain's trading triangles were to meet within the cup: the sugar sourced from Britain's trading triangle encompassing Britain, Africa and the West Indies and the tea from the triangle encompassing Britain, India and China.

The Qing Emperor of China decreed that "China was the center of the world and had everything they could ever need, so all trade with foreigners must be paid for in Silver!" This meant that British traders had to pay China for its tea with silver bullion. Critics of the tea trade at this time would point to the damage caused to Britain's wealth by this loss of bullion. As a way to generate the silver needed as payment for tea, Britain began exporting opium from the traditional growing regions of British India (in present day Pakistan and Afghanistan) into China. Opium use in China had a long history however British importation of opium, which began in 1781 increased fivefold between 1821 and 1837, and the Qing government's attitude towards opium, which was often ambivalent, hardened as usage of the drug spread more widely across Chinese society. It finally began serious enforcing measures against importation in 1838-9. Tea by now had become a very important source of tax revenue to the British Empire and the banning of the opium trade and thus the creation of funding issues for tea importers was one of the main causes of the Opium Wars.

Whilst waging war on China was one of Britain's tactics it also began to explore, then executed, a plan to use India for growing tea. Plantations were established in areas such as Darjeeling, Assam, and Ceylon. as an attempt to circumvent its dependence on Chinese tea, the East India Company sent Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to China to purchase and bring out of China tea plants, which were then taken to India, although it was the discovery of native varieties of tea plant in India which proved more important for the development of production there.

Tea remained a very important item in Britain's global trade, contributing in part to Britain's global dominance by the end of the eighteenth century. To this day tea is seen worldwide as a symbol of 'Britishness', but also, to some, as a symbol of old British colonialism.

The London 2012 section of the paralympic handover in Beijing included tea as part of the routine. A cup or mug of tea in Britain is usually made in a different way than is common in China and other Eastern countries. Over 90% of tea consumed is black tea, often but not always with a small amount of milk and / or sugar added. The tea used is often contained in a tea bag. As of 2009 the UK can boast one commercial tea plantation with another planned. The existing one lies in Cornwall and is owned by the Tregothnan Estate. By 2015 another will lie in Pembrokeshire, Wales, owned by the Pembrokeshire Tea Company.

United States

See also: American tea culture and Tea production in the United States

While coffee is by far more popular, hot brewed black tea is enjoyed both with meals and as a refreshment by much of the population. Similarly, iced tea is consumed throughout. In the Southern states sweet tea, sweetened with large amounts of sugar or an artificial sweetener and chilled, is the fashion. Outside the South, sweet tea is sometimes found, but primarily because of cultural migration and commercialization.^{[citation needed]}

Tea also played a pivotal role in the American Revolution. The colonists lived very much as the British did and consumed large quantities of Tea, and when the crown put a tax on the transportation and sale of tea, it was a factor in the revolution. It proved a major tipping point in the form of the Boston Tea Party.

The 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.

Tea consumption decreased in America sharply after the American Revolution, as "The Americans love it very much, but they had resolved to drink it no longer, as the famous duty on the tea had occasioned the war." The Boston Tea Party was an act of protest by American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed many crates of tea from the British East India Company ships in Boston Harbor. The incident, which took place on Thursday, December 16, 1773, has been seen as the breaking point of the disapproval of the British and helping to spark the American Revolution.

Australia

See also: Tea in Australia

The Aboriginal Australians drank an infusion from the plant species leptospermum (a different plant from the tea plant or camellia sinensis). Upon discovering Australia, Captain Cook noticed the aboriginal peoples drinking it and called it tea. Today the plant is referred to as the "ti tree."

Through colonisation by the British, tea was introduced to Australia. In fact, tea was aboard the First Fleet in 1788. Tea is a large part of modern Australian culture due to its British origins. Australians drink tea and have afternoon tea and morning tea much the way the British do. Additionally, due to Australia's climate, tea is able to be grown and produced in northern Australia. In 2000, Australia consumed 14,000 tonnes of tea annually. Tea production in Australia remains very small and is primarily in northern New South Wales and Queensland. Most tea produced in Australia is black tea, although there are small quantities of green tea produced in the Alpine Valleys region of Victoria.

In 1884, the Cutten brothers established the first commercial tea plantation in Australia in Bingil Bay in northern Queensland. In 1883, Alfred Bushell opened the first tea shop in Australia in present-day Queensland. In 1899, Bushell's sons moved the enterprise to Sydney and began selling tea commercially, founding Australia's first commercial tea seller Bushell's Company.

Sri Lanka

Tea Garden in Sri Lanka

See also: Tea production in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is renowned for its high quality tea and as the fourth biggest tea producing country globally, after China, India and Kenya, and has a production share of 9% in the international sphere. The total extent of land under tea cultivation has been assessed at approximately 187,309 hectares.

The plantations started by the British were initially taken over by the government in the 1960s, but have been privatized and are now run by 'plantation companies' which own a few 'estates' or tea plantations each.

Ceylon tea is divided into 3 groups as Upcountry, Mid country and Low country tea based on the geography of the land on which it is grown.

Africa and South America

Africa and South America have seen greatly increased tea production in recent decades, the great majority for export to Europe and North America respectively, produced on large estates, often owned by tea companies from the export markets. Almost all production is of basic mass-market teas, processed by the Crush, Tear, Curl method. Kenya is now the third largest global producer (figures below), after China and India, and is now the largest exporter of tea to the United Kingdom. There is also a great consumption of tea in Chile^{[citation needed]}. In South Africa, the non-Camellia sinensis beverage rooibos is popular. In South America, yerba mate, a tisane, is popular.

Europe

The only European plantation is Chá Gorreana, located in Ribeira Grande, São Miguel island, Azores (Portugal).