A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEA

ZX
T
ea is a beverage made by steeping processed leaves,

buds or twigs of the tea bush Camellia sinensis

in hot water for a few minutes. The processing

can include oxidation (fermentation), heating, drying and

the addition of other herbs, flowers, spices and fruits.

THE CHINESE
The Chinese were the first civilized culture to drink tea,
cultivate tea, mix tea and philosophy, religion, art, and
poetry, and the first to write about tea. They were the first to
process green, oolong, and black teas and the first to tax teas
and to use tea as money.

At first, tea was consumed for its perceived medicinal value,

but by 500 A.D. at the latest it was consumed more for enjoy-
ment than health.

780 AD - Lu Yu, an educated eccentric with a colorful his-

tory, wrote the Ch’a Ching, which was the first book about
tea and it became a major Taoist religious work as well.

During the next 400 years, tea and tea culture blossomed
in China. New ways of preparing tea, serving tea, and
storing tea were invented. Then, a terrible thing happened.
The Mongols invaded, causing not only much destruction
of life and property, but also the destruction of Chinese
culture, which was in full bloom.

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 THE JAPANESE

The Japanese Tea Ceremony of today is one of the deep

cultural gifts of the cultural rebirth, and shows how deep
tea flows in both the spirit of the Japanese, and how much
the history of tea influences the present Japanese mindset.

Shomu, the Japanese Emperor, gave tea as a gift to 100

Buddhist monks who attended a Buddhist conference at his
palace in 729 A.D.

This growth of tea culture grew until the tenth century,

when political and military turmoil became increasingly
severe. But as in China, when things became violent, the
focus moved from things cultural and beautiful to more
practical matters.

Then in 1191, Japan’s tea hero arrived. Eisai, a Buddhist

monk, returned to Japan from China. He simultaneously
introduced Zen Buddhism to Japan and started a cultural
renaissance centered on tea. He wrote the first Japanese
book about tea, mixing the Zen Buddhist religion with tea
and tea culture.

The most important product of the tea renaissance was the

Japanese Tea Ceremony. Developed and perfected in the
1400’s and 1500’s, the Japanese Tea Ceremony is a very sim-
ple ritual with subtle, deep layers of meaning rooted in both
Zen Buddhism and the Japanese culture and ways of think-
ing. All distractions are put aside and the participant has
the opportunity for deep reflection and self-actualization.

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 TEA IN THE WESTERN WORLD

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.

In 1651, England established sea navigation regulations,

prohibiting foreign tea imports, and began purchasing teas
directly from China. In 1700, the English East India Com-
pany recorded the importation of half fermented tea. In
1720, England had the exclusive right to import Chinese tea
(green and half fermented).

It was the Portuguese and Dutch traders who first imported

tea to Europe, with regular shipments by 1610. Curiously,
it was the London coffee houses that were responsible for
introducing tea to England. One of the first coffee house
merchants to offer tea was Thomas Garway, who owned an
establishment in Exchange Alley. He sold both liquid and
dry tea to the public as early as 1657. Tea gained popular-
ity quickly in the coffee houses, and by 1700 over 500 coffee
houses sold it.

After water, tea is the most commonly consumed beverage

in the world. There are approximately 1,500 different vari-

eties of tea, all offering interesting and varied style’s, taste

and colour. The character of tea, like wine, is influenced by

the elevation of the garden, the soil, wind conditions and

temperature and, of course, the quality of the plucking.

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 TEA CUSTOMS
Afternoon tea is said to have originated with one person;
Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford. In the early 1800’s she
launched the idea of having tea in the late afternoon to
bridge the gap between luncheon and dinner, which in fash-
ionable circles might not be served until 8 o’clock at night.
This fashionable custom soon evolved into high tea among
the working classes, where this late afternoon repast became
the main meal of the day.

Unlike tea drinkers in Asia, who emphasized purity in

both the form and content of the tea ceremony, Western tea
drinkers like to mix things up by adding milk or lemon and
sugar, and by blending fruit and floral flavors with tradi-
tional black tea. Earl Grey tea, for instance, is black tea
infused with bergamot orange oil--an additive that was first
used to flavor snuff and gin. Herbal teas, also known as
“tonic herbals,” have become increasingly popular in mod-
ern times. They are not made from the actual tea plant at
all, but from various flavorful or medicinal plants, like gin-
seng or chamomile.

The oldest tea specialty book in Japan, Kissa Yojoki ;

(how to stay healthy by drinking tea) was written by Eisai.
The two-volume book was written in 1211 after his second
and last visit to China. The first sentence states, “Tea is the
ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability
to make one’s life more full and complete”. The preface
describes how drinking tea can have a positive effect on
the five vital organs, especially the heart. It discusses tea’s
medicinal qualities which include easing the effects of
alcohol, acting as a stimulant, curing blotchiness, quenching
thirst, eliminating indigestion, curing beriberi, preventing
fatigue, and improving urinary and brain function.

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 TYPES OF TEA

There are five types of true tea: black tea, oolong tea,

green tea, white tea, and Pu-erh. The term herbal

tea usually refers to infusions of fruit or herbs.

White Tea: Young leaves (new growth buds) that have

undergone no oxidation; the buds may be shielded from
sunlight to prevent formation of chlorophyll.

Green Tea: The oxidation process is stopped after a

minimal amount of oxidation by application of heat; either
with steam, a traditional Japanese method; or by dry cooking
in hot pans, the traditional Chinese method. Tea leaves may
be left to dry as separate leaves or rolled into small pellets to
make gun-powder tea. The latter process is time-consuming
and is typically done only with pekoes of higher quality. The
tea is processed within one to two days of harvesting.

Oolong: Oxidation is stopped somewhere between the

standards for green tea and black tea. The oxidation process
will take two to three days. Oolong teas should have a strong
brew yet a touch of sweet, floral aftertaste.

Red Tea/Black Tea: The tea leaves are allowed to

completely oxidize. Because of this, the taste of black tea is
generally stronger and will contain more caffeine than other
types. here are many grades of black tea dependent on the way
it’s produced, where it comes from, the year it was produced,
and on and on. India is well known for its black teas. Two
excellent teas from India are Assam Tea and Darjeeling Tea.
One important factor in determining the quality of tea from
India is the size of the leaf used. These teas can be made
from the smallest broken leaf parts all the way to the whole
leaves. Tea processed from the largest whole leaves are the
rarest and of the highest quality.

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Pe-erh: During the aging process, the tea undergoes a
second, microbial fermentation. Pu-erh tea is from China
and goes through extended oxidation and processing where
it is formed into bricks or discs. Looking at the various types
of tea, it doesn’t appear to take long to process them but
the aging of Pu-erh can range from one to four years and
requires hours to steep or boil.

Blended teas are a mixture of these teas and are the ones
you’ll most often find in tea bags.

Yellow Tea: Either used as a name of high-quality tea

served at the Imperial court, or of special tea processed
similarly to green tea, but with a slower drying phase.

The degree of processing determines whether a tea will be

green, black or red. Green teas are the least processed. They
are simply steamed quickly before packaging. Black and
red teas are partially dried, crushed and fermented. The
length of fermentation, which causes the leaves to blacken,
determines whether the tea will be red or black. Regardless
of the processing method, all teas contain polyphenols.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF TEA

Tea is a natural source of caffeine, theophylline, and
antioxidants, but it has almost no fat, carbohydrates, or
protein. Tea contains catechins, a type of antioxidant. In
fresh tea leaf, catechins can be up to 30% of the dry weight.
Catechins are highest in concentration in white and green
teas while black tea has substantially less due to its oxidative

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preparation. Tea also contains the stimulants caffeine (about
3% of the dry weight and typically 40 mg per cup of prepared
tea), theophylline and theobromine, the latter two being
present in very small amounts.

To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking

green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine.
However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there
are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight
ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight
ounces of coffee.

Fights Cancer & Heart Disease

Tea contains antioxidant compounds of polyphenols that
help the body fight harmful free radicals. It is believed that
harmful free radical can lead to cancer and heart disease.
Tea also contains flavonoids that restricts the build up
of cholesterols and help with blood vessel functionality.
Polyphenols, like other antioxidants, help protect cells from
the normal, but damaging, physiological process known as
“oxidative stress.” Although oxygen is vital to life, it’s also
incorporated into reactive substances called free radicals.
These can damage the cells in our body and have been
implicated in the slow chain reaction of damage leading to
heart disease and cancer.

Protects Teeth & Strengthens Bones

Polyphenols found in tea may reduce plaque, which lowers
your chance of cavity and gum disease. Tea also contains
fluoride that helps protect against tooth decay. Fluoride
is extracted from the soil by the tea plant. This identified
mineral also strengthens bones and prevents osteoporosis.

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Improves Digestion
The polyphenols in tea help with digestion of fatty food by
increasing the flow of digestive juices.

Prevents Food Poisoning

The catechins in tea are a powerful sterilizing agent, which
kills germs and bacteria. Tea prevents food poisoning
by fighting against stomach diseases caused by harmful
bacterias.

Makes You Look and Feel Younger

Studies suggested that the high concentration of antioxidants
in tea have an anti-aging effect.

Strengthens the Immune System

Vitamin C in green tea helps to treat the flu and the common
cold. Moreover, the polyphenols in tea have shown to increase
the number of white blood cells in our immune system.

Prevents Dehydration
Tea is a good source of fluid intake that replenishes lost body
liquid. Doctors recommend that it is vital to drink at least
1.5 liters of fluid a day. Tea is low in calorie and it is a great
thirst quencher.

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In measuring the catechin content of a variety of green and
black teas that were brewed for about 3 minutes each, Henning
and colleagues found levels as high as 217 milligrams for
Celestial Seasonings Green Tea, 201 milligrams for Lipton
Green Tea, 164 milligrams for Bigelow Darjeeling Blend
(black tea) and 157 milligrams for Uncle Lee’s Green Tea.

On the lower end, they found 53 milligrams of catechins in

Stash Premium Green Tea Decaf, 46 milligrams in Twinings
Earl Grey Black Tea, 38 milligrams in Bigelow Constant
Comment (black tea) and just 10 milligrams in Bigelow
Constant Comment Decaf.

And when it came to the two iced tea mixes studied, results
showed that both Lipton Lemon Iced Tea and Snapple Peach
Iced Tea had no measurable catechin content at all.

SOURCES

http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea
http://www.stashtea.com/facts.htm
http://www.gol27.com/HistoryTea.html
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/tea-in-britain.htm
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columnnn/nn000621.html
http://www.healthcastle.com/tea.shtml
http://www.enjoyingtea.com/healbenoftea.html
http://www.heartcenteronline.com/myheartdr/News_about_the_heart/
Antioxidant_levels_of_common_teas_vary_widely.html
http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/tea_history.html
http://greentealovers.com/greenteahistorywest.htm
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/tea-in-britain.htm
http://pearlriver.com/v2/newsletter/tea/tea_western.html
http://www.blissborne.com/tea-library/asian-tea-history.aspx