Tea–A Brief “History”

“The extraordinary story of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy begins very simply, it begins with a man. An Earthman, to be precise. Who no more knows his destiny, than a tea leaf knows the history of the East India Company.” – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I start with that quote, for two reasons:

1. I really like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
2. The quote itself contains something about tea.

It’s true though, about tea… Tea’s history is so incredibly complex, in both the discovery of it, and its commercialism. In today’s posting, I will try to give a (brief) about tea, where it originally came from, and where it’s ended up. I will skip a lot, as that will be reserved for future postings. 🙂

Tea comes from a single type of “bush,” the Camellia sinensis. This bush can grow into a full-fledged tree, but is best used for cultivation in “bush” form. It’s first recorded uses come from around the time of the 10th century B.C., by the ancient Chinese. So, one could say–it’s been around awhile. In fact, it’s 2nd only to water in worldwide consumption.

By 600 A.D., tea had been introduced to Japan, by the Sui Dynasty, and by 760, tea drinking had a far reach… And by this time, tea “bricks” were being used as currency.

Fast forward about 1000 years, to the forming of the East India Company, and the spread of tea from the far East, to it now being part of everyday Western Civilization.

The British saw tea as a profitable venture, thus setting up the E.I.C, after the marriage of King Charles II to a Portuguese princess called Catherine of Braganza. Tea drinking was limited primarily to the Aristocrats (of course), and their love for tea (actually, sweet tea) was fueled by their owning of sugar plantations in Africa & the West Indies.

Today, tea can be found nearly in every restaurant, as sweet tea is quite popular in the south, as well as with artificial sweeteners.

Tea has many, many health benefits, which has most likely been a major contributing factor over the many, many years of its existence–all of which, we can owe to the Chinese.

Many use teas for the naturally occurring anti-oxidants, vitamins (C, E & K), caffeine, polysaccharides (complex carbs), and not to mention tea’s immune-strengthening capabilities (can help prevent intestinal disorders, as well as protection for cell membranes). Tea is well known for normalizing bloodpressure, prevention of coronary heart diseases and diabetes by reducing the blood-glucose activity. Both green and black tea varieties contain a number of antioxidants, mainly anti-carcinogenic and anti-tumor properties.

There are several, several different varieties of tea, from the blacks (Ceylon, Darjeeling, yunan-jigs, Irish & English breakfasts, Earl Grey’s, to name a few), greens (herbals, gunpowder, decaffeinated, etc.) reds, whites & the hybrids, that satisfy any & every palate. The great thing about tea? Each & every variety (save for the herbals), comes from the same type of bush. No tea bush produces only green, or only black… each does it all!

Each type of tea requires different temperatures & steep times to be “perfect,” in this blog I plan to line out as many types of tea–from the blacks to the reds & whites–that I can, supply & price permitting, as well as products that can be used to fully enjoy your tea, from loose-leaf to “bag & string,” cup-infused with a tea-ball, or open-air infuser.

I will also give a brief background of each type of tea, as each one has been discovered & utilized differently!

There’s a lot of really cool stuff that goes on with tea, and I look forward to providing all the information I can!