Drinking Tea History

“Honest Tea seeks to provide bottled tea that tastes like tea a world of flavour freshly brewed and barely sweetened. We seek to provide better-tasting, healthier teas the way nature and their cultures of origin intended them to be. We strive for relationships with our customers, employees, suppliers and stakeholders which are as healthy and honest as the tea we brew.” (Honest Tea Mission Statement)

Saberi, H. (2010). Tea Comes to the West. In Tea:A Global History. [Adobe Digital Editions Version]. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/

Tea became a mainstream drink in Asia around 100 BCE. It then became a mainstream drink in Europe around 1610 CE.

Tea: Tea began as a luxury drink, and then trickled down to become the beverage of the working man. The story of tea is the story of imperialism, industrialization, and world domination. According to Chinese tradition, the first cup of tea was brewed by the emperor Shen Nung. Before tea was a beverage, it was used for medicinal purposes and foodstuff. Tea became a daily drink in China around the third century A.D. As the Industrial Revolution of 18th and 19th centuries gained steam, tea provided some of the fuel. Factory workers stayed alert during long, monotonous shifts thanks to welcome tea breaks. The beverage also had unintended health benefits for rapidly growing urban areas. Chewing leaves and rubbing them on wounds were ways that tea was used for medicinal purposes.

In the late sixteenth- century Europe adopted a caffeinated warm drink for the first time this included chocolate, tea and coffee. Tea fills the senses with a bittersweet scent. This herb came from china by ship. Unlike cider and beer tea was new to the English-speaking world (49). Starting in the eighteenth- century Europe trading companies began to market green and black tea (51). Before this time period tea was very rare in the west region of British north America. Only the wealthy could originally afford tea and sugar. Tea was also used as a source of herbal medicine rather than traditional methods. This herb was also expensive because it shipped across great distances and allowed the East India Company to charge higher prices and labor added an extra charge. This resulted in tea becoming a luxury item in the colonies (53). The Townshend’s act in 1767 put a tax on tea which Americans responded that parliament could not tax without their consent. This frustrated the colonist because it put their love for tea at risk, so they responded to parliament by aiming at British merchants and manufactures

The Tea that reach America from china inspired new addictions, new trade connections and new forms of luxury, new social critiques and simmering provincial inferiority. Many caffeinated drinks had come before the tea however this was a new drink to the English-speaking world. Nevertheless, this drink did not come without its own problems (50).

I have found you at last hiding behind the tree. Our little game, of hide-and-seek, is over.

The origins of tea are rooted in China (Food Timeline). According to legend, the beneficial properties of tea were first discovered by the Emperor Shen Nung in the year 2737 B.C. He drank only boiled water for hygienic purposes, and one day while he drank a breeze rustled the branches of a tree and a few leaves fell into his cup. Creating the first cup of tea. It is challenging to know whether or not the emperor was real or just a part of the spiritual and cultural development of ancient China. China was not unified as an empire until the third century, so it is unlikely emperors existed back then. One thing that is known is that tea was popular in China thousands of years ago. The first written reference of tea is in the third century B.C. A famous surgeon recommended the beverage to patients to increase concentration and alertness. Tea was first written as “tu” in ancient texts. This caused a good deal of confusion because the same Chinese character was used for both tea and Chinese sow thistles. Between 206 B.C. and A.D. 220 a Han Dynasty emperor ruled that when referring to tea, the characters should be pronounced as “cha”. From here on, tracing tea’s history became easier because tea acquired its own individual character (Food Timeline).

Tea became popular for British royalty because of Catherine of Braganza. Catherine was a devout tea drinker and married Charles II. With that marriage came a dowry that included a chest of tea. This was popular with upper class England because

By the end of the 1700’s tea was the biggest drink in the British Empire. Tea started as a drink for the wealthy, but eventually became a drink for all classes. The massive profits that were being made off of selling tea lead to its political power in the British Empire. The political power that was gained with tea wasn’t for the drink itself was for the company selling the tea: the East India Tea Company. The East India Tea Company was selling tea all over the world and was at some points, bringing in as much profits as Britain was in taxes. Its overwhelming growth led to the company obtaining what they wanted with the government. The company had a serious amount of influence in parliament. The East India Tea Company helped tea secure its footing and once it started there was no stopping. Tea was able to create a power shift, for it made a fortune for the East India Tea Company and all this money led to power. It lead to power

It also served as a food stuff, until it became a drink. According to Monks ( Buddhist) tea help with meditation, so it play an important part in Buddhism. Tea was used socially, people in both China and Japan, also in England would gather together for tea parties. While at these tea parties, people would have enjoy a cup of tea which helped the mind to stimulate intellectual conversations and debates. People drank a lot of tea because it help prevent waterborne disease. It served as a the main trade for China and Japan.

Tea, known to Asia as a luxury used for medicinal purposes, became a way of life for Europeans. It served as a huge asset towards the growth of Europe and Britain’s status as a world power.

Specific Detail: To persuade my audience that drinking tea can bring a lot of benefits to our lives instead of drinking coffee.

Knowing Chinese tea culture thoroughly is a wise way for people to explore the Chinese society and culture. As a traditional drink, it has been planted and consumed for over five thousands years. The climate of China is perfect for growing tea, which leads to large quantities and good quality of tea. According to the line diagram, “Dynamics of manufacture of tea in China, thousand tons” there were about 1,200 thousands tons of tea manufactured in 2008, which made China the biggest tea manufacture country in the world. As we can see, tea has a special position in Chinese society. Due to its popularity, Chinese tea gradually raises international interest, and leads China to be a more influential country in the

To talk about the heath benefits that tea provides you first need to know what kinds of teas there are, because they all help our bodies in different ways.