The Benefits Of Tea

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).

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.

“Moderation is the very essence of tea. Tea does not lend itself to extravagance.” Thus is said about tea by Lu Yu, the Tang dynasty author of the groundbreaking work ambitiously titled The Classic of Tea. One cannot understand the mindset surrounding tea during the Tang dynasty without knowledge of this monumental work. Lu Yu 's role in spreading tea culture throughout the Tang dynasty was vast to the extent that

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

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.

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).

They would work late hours, and become more susceptible to diseases. Thankfully, tea benefitted them in both of those ways; it would keep the workers awake, while helping to prevent diseases. Tea has caffeine in it, and it also has some medicinal qualities along with antibiotic factors to help prevent sickness. Tea served to be a profitable trade, which helped larger companies. Certain companies, such as the British East India Company, had a say in government due to its wealth. Officials of the British East India Company were so wealthy, they could just buy their way into

Tea was declared the National Drink of England in 1784. The eighteenth century saw the transformation of tea as an everyday necessity for the poor and working class of the British society. To meet the domestic demand at home, the British East India Company imported great volumes of tea from China. The tea import increased from an estimated 64 tons in 1711 to 6800 tons in 1791. Even heavy import tax could not deter an increasingly expanding domestic market for the Chinese tea. As tea drinking had become obsession with the British society, consumption of tea replaced home-brewed beer, gin, milk and traditional infusions of indigenous plants. This great transformation in the consumption pattern of British society led to the commodification of

High tea was introduced by Anna, the Duchess of Bedford in the 1800’s because she was usually hungry during the time between lunch and the evening meal so she ordered light beverages. She then began sharing her habit of having high tea with her friends. It was usually enjoyed by English upper-class families as the middle and lower class families can’t afford it. Eventually, the middle class had high tea as well. High tea became popular in the 1840’s and came out of England at around about the 1880’s. It came to us through social events. Nowadays high tea is found globally but isn’t commonly served but it is usually served a special treat.

Carp stated that around the early 1580’s, Europeans adopted tea for the first time.Coffee and chocolate were also introduced to Europe around this time. These beverages did not make an impact right away because the taste was very bitter. The beverages started to “boom” once sugar was added. The plant, camelia sinensis, produces all pure tea. All the tea that Americans and Europeans consumed came from Chinese soil until the nineteenth. Ever since, India, has the most well-known varieties of tea.

- First in its market to brew its tea from tea leaves as opposed to artificial powders.

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

Central Idea: To be as healthy as we can be, we need to be informed about what certain things, specifically tea, can do to help improve our bodies overall health.