about tea: history
The Legendary Origins of Tea

The history of tea extends so far into the past that its very origins are shrouded by legend. It is said that Emperor Shen Nung, who ruled China in 2700 BC, used to enjoy relaxing in his garden with a cup of hot water. It was during one of these respites that a tea leaf happened to float down from a nearby bush, and land directly in the Emperor's cup. The new drink quickly became the Emperor's favorite, and a taste for tea quickly spread throughout the aristocracy, and it wasn't long before tea was the favored drink throughout all of China.

It was in the 16th century that Portuguese missionaries were seduced by tea's flavor and the intricate customs which surrounding it. A demand for the drink quickly arose, and the Dutch East India Company began importing it into Europe.

It's most likely that it was the Japanese green teas which were first to arrive in the west, owing to Japan's liberal trade policies with the Dutch. Initially, tea was chiefly recommended to Europeans for its purported medicinal qualities; it was claimed by the Dutch that tea was a cure for nearly every disease imaginable.

Due to the expense of bringing tea halfway across the globe, it was initially consumed primarily by aristocrats and the rich. Over time the cost of tea fell enough for people from all walks of life to be able to enjoy it. By 1717 Thomas Twining's English coffee house became a tea shop; and unlike the ubiquitous London coffee houses of the era, the doors of Twining's were open to both men and women. Meeting friends over tea became a staple of British life, and afternoon tea became a lasting tradition that still continues today.

The Method

The methods used to make tea have remained nearly unchanged for thousands of years, owing in no small part to the delicate nature of the tea plant and its leaves. A large tea estate will typically employ hundreds of workers to hand pluck tea leaves, each with a large basket slung over her back to collect the tea. Plucking is a skilled art, and each plucker is paid not only by the weight of the leaves gathered but also the quality.

After the tea is plucked, it's processed in a variety of different ways in order to make different kinds of teas. Depending on how long the tea is allowed to oxidize (or ferment), the taste can vary greatly. Green teas are completely unfermented, preserving the tea's natural color and taste. Oolong tea is only allowed to ferment for a short period of time, while black teas are fermented for a day or longer. This simple process yields flavors which vary greatly, from vegetative greens to the fruited flavors of black teas, and everything imaginable in between.

Undoubtedly the most common method for making tea is the tea bag. First sold by New York merchant Thomas Sullivan in 1904, the earliest tea bags were made of hand-stitched silk. Today's tea bags are mechanically produced and utilize paper instead of silk offering, a wide array of tea bags to the consumer. Traditional tea bags are square, for example, while lately some companies have started producing round tea bags. Another popular variant on an old tradition are the brown, unbleached tea bags.

Most connoisseurs prefer to purchase their tea in loose leaf form and steep it manually. This is likely due to greater availability of finer teas outside the bag; the tea from the neighborhood supermarket is most likely a cheap blend. Interestingly, the last few years have seen a number of speciality tea bags available containing finer teas, creating a developing market to keep one's eye on.