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The way tea is enjoyed differs all around the world:
• In the UK, the US and Canada, tea is a common purchase at
the supermarket. In these countries the packaging, format and
flavour of the tea bag are really important. The ceremony of
tea drinking is less important now – tea is usually made with
a tea bag in a mug or a cup.
• In France, tea is treated with
greater ceremony and the French would never serve tea with
milk when entertaining!
• In India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh, one is more likely to find tea granules sold loose
in packets, these granules are then often boiled up with
water, milk, sugar and spices.
• Green teas have been an
important part of Oriental drinking cultures for centuries,
but in recent years their popularity has been spreading across
the world as people search for new taste experiences.
• Fruit and herbal infusions
(which actually don’t contain any tea at all!) are growing in
popularity – reputed to have health giving properties,
consumers are drinking them in keeping with a healthy
lifestyle. Rooibos tea from a plant in South Africa (sometimes
known as Redbush or red tea) is also becoming a favourite
among consumers, particularly when combined with other
flavours such as vanilla.
• Iced tea has always been
popular - but you can now purchase it ready to drink and mixed
with fruit juices. This cold soft drink appeals to younger
drinkers who are looking for an alternative to fizzy drinks.
Consumption of these drinks are highest in Asia, followed by
the US and Canada.
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Origin of Tea (World-wide)
The legend
According to Chinese legend, the idea of drinking tea was
discovered by the Emperor Shen Nung who lived around 2700 BC.
He used to boil all his drinking water and one day when he was
sitting under a wild tea tree some leaves fell into the
boiling pot. He loved the pleasant and relaxing flavour and
began to plant tea for his newly discovered brew.
Other people experimented with Shen Nung’s brew and found the
flavour could be improved by drying the leaves before brewing.
A steady stream of traders, explorers, mariners and priests in
many countries began to recommend tea as a drink and take it
with them to new parts of the world.
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Origin of Tea (In Great Britain)
Tea made it’s first appearance in Britain in 1650, brought by
the explorer Thomas Garway. Tea was taxed by the Government
and these taxes were the main factor leading to the Boston Tea
Party, which in turn contributed to the start of the American
War of Independence (1775-1783).
The tax on tea was abolished by William Pitt the Younger in
1784 and it was not long before tea was being traded freely.
Tea clippers, previously built as fighting ships, began to
operate commercially. The first of these, the 750 ton Rainbow,
was launched in New York in 1845. In Britain over 25 clippers
were built with the Cutty Sark being the last and most famous.
Clipper races from the Canton River in China to the Thames
docks, then to the auction rooms in Mincing Lane, were soon
not only popular sporting events but also a viable proposition
as "first home" cargoes could fetch as much as an extra 6d
(2.5p) a pound and a cash bonus for the captain and his crew.
Meanwhile, tea's popularity continued to grow and spread.
Around 1840, Anna, Duchess of Bedford, introduced the habit of
drinking afternoon tea and "Tea Gardens" sprung up in the
(then) London suburbs of Marylebone and Vauxhall, to which
everyone, rich and not so rich, flocked.
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Origin of Tea (In Russia)
In the eighteenth century tea was known only in the main
cities of Russia although gradually the herb became more
widely available and 19th century Russia adopted tea as a
national beverage to ward off the cold, to cement friendship
and to enjoy with family and friends.
Each of the Republics in this region has its own tea
tradition, in Central Asia the chaikhanas where the tea
ceremony is part of business meetings, social gatherings and
meals. The Turkmen people make tea with camels milk, The
Uzbeks with black pepper, honey and milk. The tradition of the
Russian Samovar, in many ways mirroring the tea drinking
tradition is Russia, is fascinating.
Guests and family invited to tea participated in an elaborate
tea ‘ceremony’ with samovar placed usually to the left of the
hostess, the lady of the house or her eldest daughter in her
absence. The tea would be poured in equal volume to all the
guests, and accompanied by cakes and lemon or fruit jams which
would be added to taste.
Illustrating the strong tea tradition in Russia and its
neighboring republics, Jacques Boucher de Perthes in his 1859
publication, ‘Travels in Russia’, relates - ‘The use of tea is
so widespread in Russia that, at a single café-restaurant in
Moscow …. Thirty three pounds of tea is consumed on an average
day, which makes nine hundred and ninety pounds per month and
eleven thousand eight hundred and eighty pounds per year!’
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Origin of Tea (In India)
By the early 1800s, Britain was drinking its way through 9
million cups of tea a year at the heyday of the East India
Company. During this time, China was the only supplier of tea
to the western world. But, following the revision of its
charter in 1834, the East India Company's monopoly of the tea
trade between China and Britain came to an end. It was
therefore natural that the British, through the East India
Company, should concentrate on growing tea in India. Seeds
from Chinese tea plants were planted in India. This was a
significant step for the evolution of tea as a crop. During
this time, an important discovery had already been made in
India which would transform the situation, a variety of tea
was found in Assam, and plantations of both China and Assam
tea plants were set up.
In 1815 it was noticed that the people of Assam drank a tea
from locally growing plants, but identification of these as
tea plants proved inconclusive. In 1823, a Major Robert Bruce
had also learnt of the existence of tea in Assam and sent
samples to the East India Company's Botanic Gardens at
Calcutta, who declined to confirm that the samples were tea.
Lieutenant Charlton, who was on service in Assam in 1831, sent
plants to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society in
Calcutta with the observation that the leaves were drunk as an
infusion in Assam, and that they tasted of Chinese tea when
dried. Charlton's plants were also denied official
recognition.
It was not until Christmas Eve of 1834, when Charles Alexander
Bruce, Robert Bruce's brother, sent samples to Calcutta, that
the true identity of the plant was finally confirmed to be
tea, or more accurately, Assam tea. It is now known
botanically as Camellia sinensis var. assamica. Subsequently
there was huge controversy between Charlton and Charles
Alexander Bruce as to which of them was the first to
'discover' tea in India.
It was found that a tea could be manufactured from Assam tea
which was in some ways superior to China tea. Tea planting
became popular and there was great demand for land and seed.
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