Sources : http://english.teamuseum.cn/ViewContent8_en.aspx?contentId=372 http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-tea/ http://www.china.org.cn/learning_chinese/Chinese_tea/2011-07/15/content_22999489.htm http://www.teavivre.com/info/the-history-of-chinese-tea-in-general/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tea_in_China https://www.yoyochinese.com/blog/learn-mandarin-chinese-tea-culture-why-is-tea-so-popular-in-china http://www.china-travel-tour-guide.com/about-china/chinese-tea.shtml http://www.sacu.org/tea.html http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-on-the-tea-party-20100928 http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/china/guidesources/chinatrade/ http://www.dilmahtea.com/ceylon-tea/history-of-ceylon-tea http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/585115/tea https://tregothnan.co.uk/about/tea-plantation/a-brief-history-of-tea/ http://www.teavana.com/tea-info/history-of-tea http://wissotzky.ru/about-tea_history.aspx http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/tea/ http://www.twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/history-of-twinings https://qmhistoryoftea.wordpress.com http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/ss/tea.htm https://www.bigelowtea.com/Special-Pages/Customer-Service/FAQs/General,-Tea-Related/What-is-the-history-of-tea http://www.revolutiontea.com/history-of-tea.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_in_the_United_Kingdom http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-mirza-grotts/the-history-and-etiquette_b_3751053.html http://britishfood.about.com/od/AfternoonTea/ss/Afternoon-Tea-Recipes.htm http://teainengland.com http://www.victorianteashop.co.uk/history.html http://www.confused.com/news-views/infographics/the-history-and-customs-of-high-tea http://www.amazing-green-tea.com/english-tea-time.html http://www.bailbrookhouse.co.uk/dining/afternoon-tea/the-history-of-afternoon-tea http://www.stphilipscare.com/the-history-of-afternoon-tea.pdf http://www.ascasonline.org/articoloMAGGI128.html Tea History The people’s drink Despite Britain being a culture obsessed by class or ‘station’, tea had shaken off its exclusive label by the mid eighteenth Tea is often thought of as being a quintessentially British drink, and we have been drinking it for over 350 years. But in fact century to become to favourite beverage of all classes. Whilst it was still enjoyed throughout the palaces and stately homes the history of tea goes much further back. of Britain, it could be found on the breakfast and dinner tables of poorer classes and throughout places of work. It even The history of tea is fascinating and offers great insight into the history of our world. Since tea was first discovered in China, formed part of a worker’s wages, and is used as an enticing extra when included in the ticket price of London’s visitor at- it has traveled the world conquering the thirsts of virtually every country on the planet. Tea is the most popular beverage in tractions. Tea has become the drink we know and love today; to wake us in the morning, to get us through the working day, the world as well as one of the healthiest. If you have ever wondered where tea comes from and how we got to the point and to calm and refresh us during the evening. To enjoy alone, or in company as part of an elegant and extravagant feast, where tea is served in virtually every corner of the world, steep a hot cup of tea and explore the history of the simple tea or the simplest of suppers. Quite simply, it is the drink that fuels Britain. leaf over the centuries! Tea at Tregothnan One legend claims that the discovery of tea occurred in 2737 BC by the Emperor of China. For several hundred years, people drank tea because of its herbal medicinal qualities. By the time of the Western Zhou Dynasty, tea was used as a We have to thank the unique micro-climate that benefits the South-West corner of England for the success of our tea plan- religious offering. During the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), tea plants were quite limited and only royalty and the rich tation; the same climate that makes Cornwall the garden capitol of Europe. Drawing on almost 200 years of experience in drank tea not only for their health but also for the taste. As more tea plants were discovered during the Tang Dynasty (618 growing Camellias, we’ve been producing tea here at Tregothnan since 2006 when we created our best-selling Classic blend. – 907), tea drinking became more common among lower classes and the Chinese government supported planting of tea Today, the range extends to four black teas including our exclusive Single Estate, one green tea and a growing list of home- plants and even the building of tea shops so everyone could enjoy tea. grown herbal infusions. We are proud to be the only producer actually growing tea in the UK; putting the English into Eng- lish tea. Find out more about the range of Tregothnan English tea and herbal infusions. Also during the Tang Dynasty, tea spread to Japan by Japanese priests studying in China. Similar to the Chinese adoption of tea, tea was first consumed by priests and the rich for its medicinal properties. Tea is often associated with Zen Buddhism in Japan because priests drank tea to stay awake and meditate. Soon, the Buddhists developed the Japanese Tea Ceremo- Tea trading and consumption ny for sharing tea in a sacred, spiritual manner. The Emperor of Japan enjoyed tea very much and imported tea seeds from China to be planted in Japan, making tea available to more people. Another great impetus to tea drinking resulted from the end of the East India Company’s monopoly on trade with China, in 1834. Before that date, China was the country of origin of the vast majority of the tea imported to Britain, but the end of The growth of tea in Europe the its monopoly stimulated the East India Company to consider growing tea in China. India had always been the centre of the Company’s operations, where it also played a leading role in the government. This led to the increased cultivation So at this stage in the history of tea, Europe was rather lagging behind. In the latter half of the sixteenth century there are of tea in India, beginning in Assam. There were a few false starts, including the destruction by cattle of one of the earliest the first brief mentions of tea as a drink among Europeans. These are mostly from Portuguese who were living in the East tea nurseries, but by 1839 there was sufficient cultivation of tea of ‘marketable quality’ for the first auction of Assam tea in as traders and missionaries. But although some of these individuals may have brought back samples of tea to their native Britain. In 1858 the British government took over direct control of India from the East India Company, but the new adminis- country, it was not the Portuguese who were the first to ship back tea as a commercial import. This was done by the Dutch, tration was equally keen to promote the tea industry and cultivation increased and spread to regions beyond Assam. It was who in the last years of the sixteenth century began to encroach on Portuguese trading routes in the East. By the turn of a great success, production was expanded, and by 1888 British tea imports from India were for the first time greater than the century they had established a trading post on the island of Java, and it was via Java that in 1606 the first consignment those from China. of tea was shipped from China to Holland. Tea soon became a fashionable drink among the Dutch, and from there spread to other countries in continental western Europe, but because of its high price it remained a drink for the wealthy. The end of the East India Company’s monopoly on trade with China also had another result, which was more dramatic though less important in the long term: it ushered in the era of the tea clippers. While the Company had had the monop- The roots of tea in Britain oly on trade, there was no rush to bring the tea from China to Britain, but after 1834 the The tea clipper Thermopylaetea trade became a virtual free for all. Individual merchants and sea captains with their own ships raced to bring home the tea Britain, always a little suspicious of continental trends, had yet to become the nation of tea drinkers that it is today.Since and make the most money, using fast new clippers which had sleek lines, tall masts and huge sails. In particular there was 1600, the British East India Company had a monopoly on importing goods from outside Europe, and it is likely that sailors competition between British and American merchants, leading to the famous clipper races of the 1860s. The race began in on these ships brought tea home as gifts. But the first dated reference to tea in this country is from an advert in a Lon- China where the clippers would leave the Canton River, race down the China Sea, across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape don newspaper, Mercurius Politicus, from September 1658. Catherine of Braganza - she made tea fashionable in BritainIt of Good Hope, up the Atlantic, past the Azores and into the English Channel. The clippers would then be towed up the Riv- announced that ‘China Drink, called by the Chinese, Tcha, by other Nations Tay alias Tee’ was on sale at a coffee house in er Thames by tugs and the race would be won by the first ship to hurl ashore its cargo at the docks.