This is my second post about the most popular drinks in the world, following the last post on coffee. It was a tough decision to choose which one should be written first but apparently coffee won by a small margin just based on personal tastes.. Anyhow, it would not be fair not to pay tea its due respect by a post on this blog. So here it is...
History of tea, a drink on top of the list of the most consumed in the
whole world, dates back to 2750 BC. Chinese myths tell us that the first sip of
tea was an accidental one by Emperor Shen Nung.
While the Emperor, who only could drink boiled water because of his
health problems, was sitting as always boiling water under a wild tea tree in
the palace garden, a few leaves of tea found their way into the boiling water
with some help from the wind. The Emperor, who accidentally became the first
man in history to taste boiled tea, was more than content with the experience
and thus “tea” was discovered. Although historians decline to agree with the
myth for various reasons, the widely accepted version is as above.
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| Tea picking in China (photocredit:www.epochtimes.com) |
There are no written sources available on tea up until 300 BC. As of
the date however, we come by a lot of written documentation. For example, a
book by a Chinese Doctor dwells on the effects of tea such as concentration
building. The Chinese character for tea was pronounced “tu” in the beginning,
but as of 2 AD, “cha” replaced it. That is where the pronunciation “chai” of
today stemmed from.
Until 3 AD, tea was generally prepared from fresh green leaves and
mostly used for purposes of healing. In line with rising demand, growing tea
took on an organised form and drying and processing systems began to develop.
By 4th and 5th century AD, tea was no more a drink
consumed only by the aristocracy but a drink served at restaurants. The
popularity of tea itself helped develop its adjoined sectors. By 4th
and 5th century, production of tea cups and tin containers for tea
keeping were booming.
It was the golden ages of tea during the period of the Tang Dynasty
(6-8 century AD); tea consumption was high in every walk of society. In the same
period, preparation and serving of tea turned into a detailed ceremony.
Emperors of the Tang Dynasty cared highly for tea growing and processing.
Strict rules were laid out for the protection of tea quality at the time.
Lu Yu (733-804) wrote the first book on tea known in history. In his
book titled “Cha Chang”, he elaborated on numerous subjects concerning tea.
During the Tang Dynasty, tea leaves were first processed through steam
baths and later mashed and stuck to each other with the help of plum juice. In
the final phase, the paste was molded and dried in the ovens. People used to
buy tea in molds and melt them on the fire to use for boiling in powder form.
Production of tea in molds stopped at the time of the Song Dynasty
(920-1279). Molds were turned into tea powder beforehand during the period
that followed and the powder was boiled in water. The same tea powder could
usually be used for boiling approximately for seven times and with full taste
too.
Up until the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the whole tea
production in China was green tea only. The Ming Emperors altered the way tea
was dried in molds and they developed a new technique of drying tea leaves in
their original form, just like we do with today’s leaf teas. The new method
brought a new understanding to tea processors; however the fact that tea
treated this way lost its aroma much quicker resulted in the creation of new
tea variations. Hence the black tea and teas with flower-aromas. Initially,
people thought that green and black tea came from different plants. But the
truth is black tea comes from the same tea plant as green tea. Black tea is
just fresh-air dried green tea leaves taking on a copper color because of
fermentation and later treated in ovens in order to stop this natural decaying
process. At the time, exporting tea to Europe began. Though it was green tea in
the first place, later green tea was gradually replaced by black tea.
It was the Chinese who introduced tea to Japan, a rather highly
respected authority on the subject, though not as old. The first-known tea
drinking in the history of Japan is when Emperor Shomu of China served tea for
100 Buddhist monks in 729. The Japanese who knew nothing of tea started to grow
it as of 803 thanks to seeds coming in from China and they did a remarkable job
out of it to our day. Suffering from the strained relations between the two
countries in the period from 9th to 11th century, tea
lost its popularity in Japan. However it was not totally forgotten since monks
never gave up drinking tea. As of 12th century, the betterment of
neighbour-country relations helped render tea its popularity back in Japan.
Buddhist believes and drinking tea developed to give birth to “Cha-no-yu”, the
world-famous Japanese tea ceremonies. These ceremonies are essential elements
of the Japanese philosophy and aesthetic integrity. They revolve around four
main principles; and they are social events which best represent Japanese
harmony (between man and nature), respect (for others), purity (of heart and
mind) and peace.
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| Japanese Tea Ceremony (photocredit:www.wikipedia.org) |
It still remains a mystery whether it was the Dutch or the Portuguese
who introduced tea to European countries in the beginning of 17th
century. Both countries were actively trading in the Chinese Sea at the time.
After the Portuguese shipped in the tea to the port of Lisbon, a Dutch firm
called “Dutch East India Company” used to distribute it to North European
countries and to France. Tea became a popular drink first in Netherlands.
However it could not rock coffee off its throne in Italy, France and Germany
where it actually did become a widely consumed drink. At the end of 17th
century, tea had become a daily habit only in Russia and England.
Czar Alexis of Russia received tea as a present from China in 1618.
That was the first time that tea reached Russia and it succeeded in keeping up
its popularity to this day. A tea purchase deal between Russia and China dates
back to 1689.
According to official records, the British were introduced to tea in
1658. Thomas Garraway put out for the first time a tender for tea sale in his
shop in London between 23-30 September 1658. More than a few buyers lined up in
front of his shop thanks to his ad in the paper which read “A brand new special
drink from China, full of health”. The very event that triggered the popularity
of tea in England was the marriage in 1662 of King Charles II to the Princess
of Portuguese, Catherine, who was a tea addict. Tea became an indispensable
drink of the British aristocracy and is still one of the most preferred. As of
1670, tea rooms started to open primarily in London and all over England.
Thomas Twining opened up a tea room in 1706 in London and thus his tea company,
the foundation of which was laid in those days, continued to this day forward
as one of the largest tea companies.
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| A perfect cup of tea (photocredit:www.dreams.metroeve.com) |
A very famous tea brand of today, “Lipton”, was founded by Thomas
Lipton and thanks to tea imported from Ceylon, finding its way to our tea cups,
grew to be one of the biggest tea companies.
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| Turkish Tea (photocredit:www.istanbul7hills.com) |
The word “chai”(original pronunciation of tea in Turkish and Russian)
stems from “cha” as I have already mentioned at the beginning. “Cha” from
Mandarin Chinese and “te” from Chinese Amoy dialect are the origins for words
meaning tea in many countries.
For closing up, here is a famous Algerian recipe, cooked with tea:
Ingredients (4 servings):
1 kg lamb meat
60 gr. butter
¼ lt. water
1 cinnamon stick
150 gr. almond, peeled
200 gr. powder-like thin sugar (you can use the blender to make sugar thinner)
3 table spoons of orange flower juice (or 9 table spoons of fresh orange juice)
350 gr. red plums (seeds removed)
1 tea pot (1/3 Lt) brewed green tea
60 gr. butter
¼ lt. water
1 cinnamon stick
150 gr. almond, peeled
200 gr. powder-like thin sugar (you can use the blender to make sugar thinner)
3 table spoons of orange flower juice (or 9 table spoons of fresh orange juice)
350 gr. red plums (seeds removed)
1 tea pot (1/3 Lt) brewed green tea
Cut the lamb in large cubes. Add butter and salt, roast the meat in a deep pan till
it is dark brown. Drain and take the meat
out of the pan (leave the remaining butter in the pan). Next add the water, cinnamon, almonds, sugar and orange
juice to pan with butter. Let cook at high heat and add the lamb next. Cover
the pan and let cook at very low heat for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, let the plums soak in the warm green tea. Pour the mixture
to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes at very low heat. You may garnish with parsley and serve...
Bon Appétit!
