Origins Drink Tea

The Chinese have been drinking tea for 5,000 years. The origin of tea in the beginning is still a legend. The most famous legend is the story of the Emperor Shen Nung (pronounced: 'Shay-Nung'). The discovery of tea have placed him squarely in the history, namely in the year 2737 BC.

For thousands of years, Chinese people drink tea for health and enjoyment. No one knows what causes they are interested in, and shiny green leaves of Camellia sinensis, but popular legend can give knowledge to us.

One day, when Emperor Shen Nung would take boiling water, some leaves from a tree that fell the wind and fell in the pot of boiling water. The Emperor wanted to know and decided to taste the cooking water that does not resemble the drink. The Emperor found the cooking water was delicious and refreshing body.

Legend of India connects the discovery of tea with the monk Bodhidharma. The monks were exhausted after ending his hermitage for 7 years. In desperation she chewed a few leaves that grow nearby, which immediately flush again.

India today is the largest tea producer in the world, but there is no record of the history of tea drinking in India prior to the nineteenth century. Experiments of Bodhidharma chewing tea never disseminated to the general public at the time.

Another mythology of Japan regarding the imprisoned monks, Bodhidharma, explaining how she threw a heavy eyelids to the ground in frustration not being able to stay awake. Tea tree growing where he dumped her eyelids. The leaves of the tree's new growth miraculously heal kepenatannya.

Tea is not originally from Japan, the mythology does not provide an explanation for the sudden existence in Japan. The reality is less diverse: in the early nineteenth century, a monk from Japan who came home from wandering, named Dengyo Daishi brought tea seeds from China.

Method for making a pot of tea with open which was introduced by Emperor Shen Nung was evident after such a long running time. It takes 4,000 years before the method of making tea as we know it today developed.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Chinese nation began to make tea with boiling water. With a little adaptation, where traditional wine pouring from the Chinese who use the cover to be a perfect pot of tea.
Definition of "Tea"

'Tea' with all the variations in the spelling and pronunciation of the world comes from a single source. 'Te', meaning 'tea' in China Amoy dialect. China national language of the word tea, 'cha', also produced some derivative words in the world.

Tea into Europe in the early seventeenth century. Compared excess tea in terms of treatment, the Europeans prefer the aroma of coffee. Only a minority among a few of the nobility, who popularized tea.
The entry to the European Tea

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, merchants from the Dutch and the Portuguese first introduced tea to Europe. Portuguese merchant ship from the port to send to China, Macau, while the Dutch merchants brought from Indonesia to Europe.

New drinks that come along with a cargo of silk and spices does not experience instant success. Europeans tasting tea, but they prefer the aroma of coffee. Meanwhile, British traders wait until the year 1652 before starting to trade tea.

The Russians are beginning tea enthusiasts. Tea they consumed came overland from China using a chariot drawn by camels. When the tea lovers in Russia increases, the line camel carrying the elongated tea.

At the end of the eighteenth century, several thousand camel drawn carts, approximately 200-300 trains at one time crossed the Chinese border. The railway across Siberia replace camel drawn carts, but the romantic journey leaving the memory of a popular soft blend of China black tea known as Russian Caravan.
Progress Through Royal Tea

In the seventeenth century in Europe, none of which helped the sales of tea in addition to customers of the royal family.

A special tea ceremony in 1662, when King Charles II of England married Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese national and a princess tea fans. Catherine started the tradition of drinking tea in the palace, using a transparent bowl and a pot of tea made in China - and soon the other courtiers to follow his way.

At that time the price of tea is considered expensive, but now it is becoming common. Instantly tea became fashionable and exclusive. According to the viewpoint of the nobility, it was something interesting.

In the 17th century, in Europe, tea is a practical product that has great usability. Most of the water is not drinkable. For those who want to avoid the disease, the options are not encouraging: a cup of boiling water, or beer that is strong enough to kill bacteria.

In the UK and some other countries, where beer is a common beverage for breakfast, tea became another welcome alternative. Eventually become satiation tea warm and refreshing, full of flavor, and is safe to drink.

In the 18th century, in a wealthy family, drinking tea is a major event in celebration. The tea leaves are highly valued are often stored in a locked safe, where there is only one key.

Once or twice a week, the hostess will unlock it and serve tea to treat the family, or to give the impression to the special guests.

Tea served with porcelain that has good quality, which indicates the level of wealth, but to add to the meaning of the celebration. It is also an opportunity for women to show off their skin pale and delicate bone structure than Chinese porcelain. Two of these attributes is a measure of the purity of a woman at the time.

Social life in the early to mid-18th century shift from habits such as coffee shops replaced by tea gardens. Tea garden to be like heaven: the trees on the roadside, lanterns illuminate walkways, music, dancing, fireworks, and delicious food accompanied with a delicious cup of tea.

The tea gardens are not only a fun, but also a place for social gatherings. In this exotic place, the royal family and ordinary people can walk together.

Tea consumption increased dramatically during the beginning of the 19th century. Mode and price reductions that are difficult to build a market filled with goods suppliers. To break the monopoly of China's tea trade turned to India to fill the gap.
The entry "Tea" Into India

When tea consumption increased at the beginning of the 19th century, the East India Company's search for new sources of supply. Since the Chinese monopoly on tea penamanan, the solution is to plant tea everywhere.

The first experiment with tea seeds from China managed in Assam, northeast India. But the experiment was not successful, although the same seeds grow well in Darjeeling, northern India.

Later in 1820, the botanists found the local plants have not been identified. They send a leaf sample to London for analysis. Examples of these leaves immediately recognizable as a tea - a plant that was not originally known in India - then the Indian tea industry was born.