|
Tea :
 Tea is nearly 5,000 years old and
was discovered, as legend has it, in 2737 b.c. by a Chinese
emperor Legend, Chinese Emperor Shen Nung . A fastidious man, he
always had his drinking water boiled, convinced that this would
protect him from the the prevalent diseases of the time.
One day, while making a tour of the provinces, Shen Nung requested
that his servants boil some water for him. They made a fire using
branches from a nearby camellia bush. Some of the ends of the
branches escaped the fire and extended upward. Caught by a passing
breeze, a few leaves were released from the branches' hold and
floated down into the heating water. The emperor's attention was
caught by the aroma which arose from the pot. Intrigued, he drank
some of the broth. Immediately captivated by the taste and
refreshing quality of the brew, the emperor knew he had discovered
something of great importance.
The Chinese were familiar with camellia leaves, which they used in
vegetable relishes and quite probably as part of medicinal
compounds. But until the emperor's discovery, the leaves had never
been considered an ingredient of a hot, refreshing drink. News of
the empe ror's discovery spread quickly throughout China, and soon
everyone was trying the beverage. Before long, tea (known as Ch'a)
became an important part of Chinese culture.
As the centuries passed and trade with the West opened up, the
status of tea increased. Tea was introduced to continental Europe
during Elizabethan times, but did not reach English shores until
the years 1657-1660. It was the Dutch who first brought tea to the
continent. The Russians also knew about it before the English, as
did the Portuguese. And it was a Venetian, Gian Battista Ramusio,
who was the first European to write about tea.
When tea was finally introduced to the English populace, it was a
very hard sell. Enormously expensive and advertised for its
medicinal purposes, tea was very slow to catch on in the British
empire. The turning point came when King Charles 2 ascended the
throne. King Charles drank tea throughout the day, delighting in
the delicate taste and fragrant aroma for which green teas are
appreciated. His habit was adopted first by the rest of the court
and then by the entire country. Tea was sipped in homes, in
taverns, and in pleasure gardens by the aristocracy as well as
their servants.
Tea also enjoyed immense popularity in the American Colonies until
the late eighteenth century. But when King George 3 decided to use
tea as a source of revenue and raise the import tax on tea sent to
the Colonies, the independent-minded Americans rebelled. 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, two major American
contributions to the tea industry occurred. In 1904, iced tea was
created at the World's Fair in St. Louis, and in 1908, Thomas
Sullivan of New York developed the concept of tea in a bag..
Also Check out Imperial Tea Products :
|
|
|
