A Brief History of Tea

 

Introduction

We recently came across this fascinating summary of the history of tea.  If you're like we are, you are interested in "all things tea".  As such, we decided to re-print it.  We hope that you find it as intriguing as we do!

A Brief History of Tea:

2737 BC

The Second Emperor, Shen Nung, known as the Divine Healer first discovered tea in China.

350 AD

The first description of drinking tea is written in a Chinese dictionary.

400 - 600 AD

The demand for tea rose steadily. Rather than harvest leaves from wild trees, farmers began to develop ways to cultivate tea. Tea was commonly made into roasted cakes, which were then pounded into small pieces and placed in a china pot. After adding boiling water, onion, spices, ginger or orange were introduced to produce many regional variations.

479 AD

Turkish traders bartered for tea on the Mongolian border.

618 - 906 AD

Tang Dynasty. Powdered Tea became the fashion of the time. Nobility made it a popular pastime. Caravans carried tea on the Silk Road, trading with India, Turkey and Russia.

780

Poet Lu Yu wrote the first book of tea, making him a living saint, patronized by the Emperor himself. The book described methods of cultivation and preparation.

805

The Buddhist monk Saicho brought tea seeds to Japan from China.

960 - 1280

Sung dynasty. Tea was used widely. Powdered tea had become common. Beautiful ceramic tea accessories were made during this time. Dark-blue, black and brown glazes, which contrasted with the vivid green of the whisked tea, were favored.

1101 - 1125

Emperor Hui Tsung wrote about the best ways to make whisked tea. A strong patron of the tea industry, he had tournaments in which members of the court identified different types of tea. Legend has it that he became so obsessed with tea he hardly noticed the Mongols who overthrew his empire. During his reign, teahouses built in natural settings became popular among the Chinese.

1191

Eisai Myoan, the monk who brought Zen Buddhism Japan, returned from a trip to China with tea seeds, which he planted on the grounds of his temple near Kyoto. Eisai experimented with different ways to brew tea, finally adopting the Chinese whisked tea.

1206 - 1368

Yuan Dynasty. Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan conquered Chinese territories and established a Mongolian dynasty in power for more than a century. Tea became an ordinary drink, never regaining the high status it once enjoyed. Marco Polo was not even introduced to tea when he visited.

1211

In Japan, Eisai wrote a small book on tea, elevating its popularity further.

1368 - 1644

Ming Dynasty. People again began to enjoy tea. The new method of preparation was steeping whole leaves in water. The resulting pale liquid necessitated a lighter color ceramic than was popular in the past. The white and off white tea-ware produced became the style of the time. The first Yixing pots were made at this time.

1422 - 1502

A Zen priest named Murata Shuko, who had devoted his life to tea, created the Japanese tea ceremony. The ceremony is called "Cha No Yu," which means "hot water for tea."

1637

The British East India Company reached China.

1644

The East India Company established themselves in the port of Amoy.

1657

Tea was first sold in England at Garway's Coffee House in London. The East India Company operated out of several sites in the City of London, the first in Philpot Lane, Fenchurch, then it took a lease on Lord Northampton's mansion, Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate and then in 1658 another move before it finally leased Lord Craven's House in Leadenhall Street.

Under the terms of a charter granted by Elizabeth I, The East India Company owned all trading rights and controlled the sale of those imported goods back to Britain.

1689

Traders with three hundred camels traveled 11,000 miles to China and back in order to supply Russia's demand. The trip took sixteen months.

1687

Tea began to make a regular appearance in the East India Company auctions with imports from China and India.

1697

In Taiwan, settlers of Formosa's Nantou County cultivated the first domestic bushes. Dutch ships carried the tea to Persia, the first known export of Taiwanese tea.

1706

The first auction dedicated to tea took place in Craven House, which became known as East India House. These East India Company auctions were held quarterly. Such early auctions were "Sold by the Candle," a system whereby a candle was marked off in inches, it was lit when the bidding began, the hammer was brought down as the first inch line was reached and so on down the candle for each lot.

1710

Wealthy American Colonists developed a taste for tea.

1773

The Tea Act of 1773 giving the East India Company control of trading in the Americas imposed the same taxes and levies on the colonists as paid by the British. Objection led to an act of rebellion known as the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, which is commonly viewed as a first step towards the American War of Independence. Under cover of night, colonists dressed as Native Americans boarded the East India Company ships in Boston Harbor. They opened chests of tea and dumped their contents into the water. This was repeated in other less known instances up and down the coast.

1776

England sent the first opium to China. Opium addiction in China funded the escalating demand for tea in England. Cash trade for the drug increased until the opium wars began in 1839.

China was the main source of eighteenth century. Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), Central and Eastern African countries were sending teas to the London Auction.

1833

The East India Company enjoyed its monopoly for two and a half centuries. Independent merchants campaigned for change and modernization, which was achieved in 1833.

1835

The East India Company established experimental tea plantations in Assam, India.

1834

An imperial edict from the Chinese Emperor closed all Chinese ports to foreign vessels until the end of the First Opium War in 1842.  Royal Assent was given to the Bill who rescinded the charter given to the East India Company; this came into force on 22nd, April 1834. The brokers began to look for new premises and found a dancing studio in Exchange Alley, City of London. In November 1834 the tea auctions were moved again to the newly built London Commercial Salesrooms, Mincing Lane and remained there until 30th January 1937 when they moved down the lane to Plantation House.

 

1840's

Clipper ships, built in America, sped-up the transportation of tea to America and Europe, livening the pace of trade. Some ships could make the trip from Hong Kong to London in ninety-five days. Races to London became commonplace; smugglers and blockade runners also benefited from the advances in sailing speeds.

1869

A deadly fungus wiped out the coffee crop in Ceylon, shifting preference from coffee to tea.

1869

The Suez Canal opened, making the trip to China shorter and more economical by steamship.

1870

Twinings of England began to blend tea for consistency.
Tea companies began to blossom in Britain by the late nineteenth century blending, branding and packaging were giving the public a wide variety of choice.

1900

Trans-Siberian railroad made transport to Russia cheaper and faster. Java became an important producer as well.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the London Tea Auction had grown in importance. Most working days of the week were allotted to a particular country's sale with minor suppliers being herded together on convenient days.

1908

Thomas Sullivan invented tea bags in New York, sending tea to clients in silk bags, which they began to mistakenly steep without opening.

1910

Sumatra, Indonesia grows and exports tea. Soon thereafter, tea is grown in Kenya and other parts of Africa.

1918

A National Tea Control was brought in, tea was split into three grades and sold at a fixed retail price of two shillings and eight pence, the equivalent of three and a half modern pence.

1919

The London Tea Auction resumed on 5th May 1919.

1928

Kenya begins sending regular consignments.

1920 - 1930

The tea trade suffered a slump like most other industry in Britain. However the tea trade found export markets to fill the gap.

1940

As Britain recovered, so did the UK tea trade, but again the economy collapsed with World War II. In 1940 tea was rationed, this remained until October 1952.

 

1952

The London Tea Auction resumed and took place in Plantation House until it moved to Sir John Lyon House on 8th, February 1971. Since then the tea trade has seen the introduction of the off shore auction, tea sold by the container whilst on route for the UK and the growth of the producer countries' own auctions due to increased volumes.

 

Summary and Conclusion

As we mentioned, we are interested in "all things tea".  At epicureanfoods.com, we have carefully assembled an ever-growing portfolio of fine teas, sourced from some of the world's most famous tea houses.  We encourage you to browse our selection - perhaps you will find something that you haven't seen before or that you'd love to try again!

 

Phyllis and Greg Sprout began their company, epicureanfoods.com, in July 1993.  They specialize in supplying hard-to-find gourmet foods, fine wines, gift baskets and other non-food gourmet items to discriminating customers across North America.  Their combined 50+ years in the fine food and fine wine businesses uniquely enable them to assess the wide variety of gourmet & specialty foods, fine wines and non-food gourmet items available on the market today.  They offer only those items that they deem to be superior to comparable competitive products and that represent superb value to the consumer.   They also have a thriving wholesale division of their company which services gourmet shops, gift shops and gift basket companies across North America.  They can be reached at phyllisandgreg@epicureanfoods.com