The History of Tea

Podcast Transcript

Typically over 3000 years in the past, someplace in Southwestern China, a leaf from the Camellia sinensis plant could have by accident discovered its method right into a pot of boiling water.

Noticing that the leaf had turned the water a special coloration, some individual unknown to historical past drank the concoction and located that it was good.

That was the beginning of one thing which is at the moment a globe-spanning multi-billion greenback business that tens of millions of individuals bask in each day.

Be taught extra about tea, its origins, and the way it unfold around the globe on this episode of All the pieces All over the place Each day.

The origins of tea are shrouded in historical past. We don’t know who first found that the tea leaf may very well be used to make a beverage.

The present greatest estimate is that tea most likely originated in what’s at the moment the Yunnan province of China someday round 3000 to 3500 years in the past. One of many issues in relationship the origins of tea in China has to do with the truth that the Chinese language phrase for tea, Cha, solely started getting used within the eighth century.

There’s an historical Chinese language legend concerning the invention of tea. The mythological Emperor Shennong was about to drink a cup of boiled water as a result of he had made a decree that everybody within the kingdom needed to boil water earlier than consuming it.

Whereas his servants had been making ready the water, a leaf from a bush landed within the water, which triggered it to vary coloration. The emperor tasted the water and located that it not solely tasted good but in addition was invigorating.

The oldest archeological proof we’ve of tea consumption comes from the tomb of the Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, who died within the 12 months 141 BC. The tomb, present in Xi’an, China, discovered biomolecular markers of tea in historical plant compounds discovered within the tomb.

Unambiguous references in Chinese language textual content point out tea consuming within the 12 months 59 BC, however different texts make allusions to tea consuming going a lot earlier. The earliest consumption of tea was most likely as a medication slightly than as a beverage.

Earlier than I am going a lot additional, I ought to most likely clarify precisely what tea is.

Tea is a beverage produced from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. That is the one plant that may make a real tea. Tea crops are discovered natively within the area alongside the border of what’s at the moment northern Myanmar and Southwestern China.

Camellia sinensis could be thought-about a shrub or a bush, not a full-blown tree, though generally it’s referred to as a tea tree. The plant can develop in all kinds of areas the place there’s ample daylight, heat temperatures, and loads of rainfall. Tea crops normally do greatest at larger elevations.

Tea consuming, for probably the most half, was solely a observe in Southern China till in regards to the eighth century, outdoors of Chinese language emperors and different high-ranking officers.

It was in the course of the Tang Dynasty, across the eighth century, that the observe of tea consuming turned widespread all through China.

The Tang Dynasty author Lu Yu wrote the ebook Cha Jing, which interprets to the Tea Basic, which is the earliest identified work in regards to the topic of tea. Written across the 12 months 760, Lu Yu paperwork tea tradition, together with making ready, making, and rising tea.

In the course of the Tang Dynasty, tea was normally produced from tea bricks, which had been tea leaves compressed into blocks or bricks. Binding brokers similar to flour or blood had been usually added so they’d retain their form. Tea bricks had been a standard type of foreign money all through China presently, and so they had been simpler to move than free tea leaves.

In the course of the Track Dynasty, tea consumption modified as powered tea turned popularized. As an alternative of steaming tea leaves, which had been the tactic of preparation, they had been now usually roasted after which crushed right into a powder.

Simply as tea unfold all through China, it additionally was taken to close by international locations. Tea was believed to have been delivered to Japan within the seventh century by Buddhist monks, and the earliest proof of tea in Korea was within the seventh century as nicely. Nonetheless, it could have existed there a lot earlier.

Tea consuming in Japan was initially one thing solely consumed by Buddhist monks and ultimately unfold to the higher class in society. By the tip of the twelfth century, tea seeds had been delivered to Japan, and tea cultivation started within the nation.

Within the 14th century, tea competitions started the place contestants would attempt to distinguish teas grown in several areas, much like wine tastings at the moment.

Within the fifteenth century, elaborate tea ceremonies had been imported from China and given a singular Japanese interpretation. The founding father of the Japanese tea ceremony is taken into account to be Sen no Riky?, and the tea ceremony served a central position in diplomacy and political life.

After Riky? died, his kids carried on the observe, and the three main Japanese faculties of tea ceremonies at the moment can all be traced again to his kids.

Tea was identified outdoors of East Asia, nevertheless it wasn’t broadly consumed past the area. There’s a reference to tea by Ninth-century Arab merchants who ventured to China and tasted it.

Additionally, by the Ninth century, tea had reached Persia and Central Asia by way of the silk street, principally by way of the exportation of tea bricks.

Marco Polo talked about tea in his writings within the thirteenth century, the primary European to say tea.

Regardless of the exportation of restricted quantities of tea bricks, for all sensible functions, tea consumption was restricted to East Asia.

The factor that radically modified the tea business was its discovery by European merchants within the sixteenth century. The Portuguese established a buying and selling submit on the island of Macau in 1557, and tea turned widespread because it was introduced over by most of the Chinese language staff on the islands.

Within the early seventeenth century, the Dutch East India Firm started importing small quantities of tea to the Netherlands. Tea turned fashionable amongst European royalty as the brand new factor, and it additionally discovered a spot in coffeehouses in Europe.

Nonetheless, tea by no means actually turned the dominant drink in most European international locations. Espresso all the time tended to be extra widespread, save for some transient intervals when tea turned fashionable. There have been tea rooms that did spring up, and tea wasn’t exceptional, nevertheless it wasn’t dominant. Russia did principally embrace tea over espresso, nevertheless it was after Tsar Michael I first rejected tea in 1618 as a result of he didn’t prefer it.

Nonetheless, there was one nation that totally embraced tea: England.

The recognition of tea in England is credited to the spouse of King Charles II, Catherine of Braganza, from Portugal in 1662, though there’s a report of tea being served at a espresso home in London 5 years earlier.

Tea imports to England started slightly small, with solely two kilos of tea being recorded as imported in 1664, and people had been only a present for the king.

Nonetheless, the recognition of tea in England exploded. The British East India Firm started importing tea from China, which on the time held a monopoly on tea manufacturing.

Demand for tea in Britain exploded all through the 18th century. By 1801, the quantity of tea imported into Britain had reached 24 million kilos yearly—a 12 million fold leap in imports over a interval of 139 years.

Tea performed a task within the American Revolution when the British taxed American tea imports.

The Chinese language monopoly on tea and the dearth of want by the Chinese language for the importation of many Western merchandise produced an enormous commerce deficit between Britain and China. To rectify this, Britain started importing optimum to China, which resulted within the first Opium Battle, which started in 1839.

Finally, within the mid-Nineteenth century, Britain sought to interrupt the Chinese language monopoly on tea and started cultivating tea in Northern India.

This ultimately led India on a path that made it the biggest producer of tea on this planet.

The British additionally introduced tea manufacturing to different colonies they held around the globe, which had been appropriate for rising it. The largest tea-producing areas outdoors of India had been Sri Lanka and Kenya.

Within the Americas, tea consumption in the USA decreased dramatically after the revolution, however tea was dominant in Canada as a result of British ties till the second world struggle when espresso overcame tea.

Brazil, as a result of its ties with Portugal, turned the largest tea shopper in South America and was its largest tea producer as nicely.

Regardless of being one of many largest tea producers on this planet, tea in India wasn’t generally consumed by Indians till after independence. Tea producers wished to stimulate home demand and so started selling tea consumption internally.

Tea additionally turned very talked-about throughout the Muslim world all through the Nineteenth and twentieth centuries, competing with espresso as a non-alcoholic beverage. Right now half of the highest 10 international locations on this planet by way of per-capita tea consumption are predominantly Muslim international locations. The largest tea-consuming nation is Turkey.

China solely ranks twenty first.

Right now there are over 6 million metric tons of tea which is produced yearly. The biggest producing international locations, by a large margin, are China and India, adopted by Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

The worldwide tea business is now estimated to be near $100 billion {dollars} yearly.

Tea has additionally gone nicely past its consumption as a scorching beverage with steeped leaves. Ice tea and different sweetened tea-based drinks have grow to be widespread as mushy drink options.

Earlier than I finish, I ought to deal with a query that a lot of you may need. Earlier, I stated that there’s just one species of plant, Camellia sinensis, that may be a tea plant. (technically, there are two varietals of the identical species, however for all sensible functions, there’s one tea plant.)

You could be considering that if you go to the shop, yow will discover all kinds of teas. There are complete retailers that promote nothing however various kinds of teas. How can all of this come from one plant?

That is a wonderful query.

For starters, something referred to as natural tea isn’t actually a tea. It doesn’t use tea leaves from a tea plant. It could be referred to as a tea, nevertheless it actually isn’t a real tea. It’s merely ready in a method much like tea. It could be like roasting beans from a non-coffee plant and calling it espresso.

Likewise, chamomile tea doesn’t come from a tea plant however slightly comes from the chamomile flower. It tastes good, nevertheless it isn’t technically a tea. I had some incredible chamomile tea after I stayed in a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum in Jordan.

Past that, on this planet of true teas, there’s inexperienced tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea, and yellow tea. All of those completely different teas are as a result of how tea leaves are processed and the way lengthy tea leaves are allowed to oxidize.

Tea leaf oxidization is nothing greater than the pure strategy of reacting with oxygen, no completely different than what occurs to fruit if you depart it out.

Inexperienced tea is produced from minimally oxidized tea leaves, which preserves the pure inexperienced coloration of the tea leaves.

Yellow tea is the place the tea leaf is allowed to yellow earlier than being consumed.

White tea is the place the leaf has wilted, however it’s principally unoxidized.

Oolong tea is the place the leaves are wilted and partially oxidized.

Black tea is the place the leaves are totally wilted and totally oxidized. The leaves are sometimes so brittle that they’re crushed right into a powder.

Past black tea, there’s something generally known as Darkish tea, the place the leaves are allowed to ferment.

The oxidization course of could be stopped by the applying of warmth, which could be carried out by way of roasting, solar drying, baking, and even microwaving.

Past the completely different strategies of processing leaves, every area the place tea is grown will end in completely different flavors because of the inputs that went into its creation.

The tip result’s all kinds of teas, all produced from what’s mainly a single plant.

Right now tea is the biggest manufactured beverage on this planet, and its manufacturing equals that of all drinks mixed, together with espresso, mushy drinks, and alcohol.

All of it started 1000’s of years in the past as a result of some individual most likely had a leaf by accident fall into their pot of water.

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Right now’s overview comes from listener Brage Kopperdal over on Apple podcasts in Norway. They write:

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Takk skal du ha, Brage! I’m glad you benefit from the present. In case you are getting this a lot out of the present on the age of 12, you’ll have an enormous leg up over all the opposite youngsters in class. To be sincere, you’ll most likely have a leg up over most adults as nicely.

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