Did You Know?
The Legendary Origins of Tea
The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, Shen Nung, an early emperor was a skilled ruler, creative scientist and patron of the arts. His far-sighted edicts required, among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from the near by bush fell into the boiling water, and a brown liquid was infused into the water. As a scientist, the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. And so, according to legend, tea was created.
This myth maintains such a practical narrative that many mythologists believe it may relate closely to the actual events now lost in ancient history.
The Chinese Influence
Tea consumption spread throughout the Chinese culture reaching into every aspect of the society. In In 800 AD Lu Yu wrote the first definitive book on tea, the Ch'a Ching. This amazing man was orphaned as a child and raised by scholarly Buddhist monks in one of China's finest monasteries. However as a young man he rebelled against the discipline of priestly training. His fame as a performer increased with each year, but he felt his life lacked meaning. Finally, in mid-life, he retired into seclusion for five years. Drawing from his vast memory of observed events and places, he codified the various methods of tea cultivation and preparation in ancient China. The vast definitive nature of his work projected him into near sainthood within his own lifetime.
Patronized by the Emperor himself, his work clearly showed the Zen Buddhist philosophy to which he was exposed as a child. It was this form of tea service that Zen Buddhist missionaries would later introduce to imperial Japan.
Tea Comes to Europe
Because of the success of the Dutch navy in the Pacific, tea became very fashionable in the Dutch capital, The Hague. This was due in part to the high cost of the tea (over $100 per pound), which immediately made it the domain of the wealthy. Slowly, as the amount of tea imported increased, the price fell and the volume of sale expanded. Initially available to the public in apothecaries along with such rare and new spices as ginger and sugar, by 1675 it was available in common food shops throughout Holland. As the consumption of tea increased dramatically in Dutch society, doctors and university authorities argued back and forth as to the negative and positive benefits of tea. Known as ‘tea heretics’, the public largely ignored the scholarly debate and continued to enjoy their new beverage, though the controversy lasted from 1635 to roughly 1657. Throughout this period France and Holland led Europe in the use of tea. As the craze for all things oriental swept Europe, tea became part of the way of life. The social critic Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, the Marquise de Seven, makes the first mention in 1680 of adding milk to tea. During the same period, Dutch inns provided the first restaurant service of tea. Tavern owners would furnish guests with a portable tea set complete with a heating unit. The independent Dutchman would then prepare tea for himself and his friends outside in the tavern's garden. Tea remained popular in France only for fifty years or so, being replaced by a stronger preference for wine, chocolate, and exotic coffees.
Tea Comes to America
By 1650 the Dutch were actively involved in trade throughout the Western world. Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to America, to the colonists in the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York by the English). Settlers here were confirmed tea drinkers. And indeed, on acquiring the colony, the English found that the small settlement consumed more tea at that time then all of England put together.
The Tea Bag & Ice Tea are Invented
America stabilized its government, strengthened its economy, and expanded its borders and interests. By 1904 the United States was ready for the world to see its development at the St. Louis World's Fair. Trade exhibitors from around the world brought their products to what was America's first World's Fair. One such merchant was Richard Blechynden, a tea plantation owner. Originally, he had planned to give away free samples of hot tea to fair visitors. But when a heat wave hit, no one was interested. To save his investment of time and travel, he dumped a load of ice into the brewed tea and served the first ‘iced tea’. Along with the Egyptian fan dancer, it was the hit of the Fair. Four years later, Thomas Sullivan of New York developed the concept of ‘bagged tea’. As a tea merchant, he carefully wrapped each sample delivered to restaurants for their consideration. He recognized a natural marketing opportunity when he realized the restaurants were brewing the samples in the bags to avoid the mess of tealeaves in the kitchens.
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