About Tea

Origination
Legend has it that the Chinese Emperor Shen Nong discovered tea in the year 2737 BC. Shen Nong was also a renowned scientist and patron of the arts. It was this skilled ruler and his far-sighted edict to boil water as a hygienic precaution that led to discovering the benefits of boiling the leaves of the tea bush (the leaves of which accidentally fell in his pot) while visiting a distant region of his realm.

Indian and Japanese legends attribute the discovery to Bodhidharma the devout Buddhist priest who founded Zen Buddhism. In either case, the great benefits of tea drinking have been known for literally thousands of years.

Tea received almost instant imperial sponsorship in Japan and spread rapidly from the Royal Court and monasteries to the other sections of Japanese society. Tea was elevated to an art form resulting in the creation of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The Tea Ceremony requires years of training and practice to graduate in the art … yet the whole of this art, as to its detail, signifies no more than the making and serving of a cup of tea. The supremely important matter is that the act be performed in the most perfect, most polite, most graceful, most charming manner possible.

1500 AD – 1910 AD
Tea was introduced to Portugal in the late 1500s and into the Holland and England in the early 1600s as a result of the superior naval and sea-faring capabilities that these nations had at the time. These capabilities gave them the ability to break into the Chinese and East Indian trade routes that enabled the spice and tea trading to flow. Tea was introduced to America by Peter Styvesant who brought the first tea to the colonists in the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (later to be re-named New York by the English) in 1650. Later, when the English acquired the colony they discovered this small settlement consumed more tea at that time than all of England put together.

It was not until 1670 however, that English colonists in Boston became aware of tea, and it was not publicly available for sale until around 1700. By 1720 tea had become very popular and was a large part of the trade between England and the colonies. In order to pay for the expensive war that the English had fought against the French to gain control of the colonies, King George 111 decided to put stiff taxes on tea, newspapers and legal documents. The colonists rebelled by dressing as Indians, boarding a British vessel in the Boston Harbor and dumping the tea into the water (the Boston Tea Party). In retaliation the English closed the port of Boston and the Royal Troops occupied the city. The leaders of the colonies met and the revolution was declared resulting in America getting its independence. So tea is a very important part of American History.

America began direct trade with China soon after the Revolution was over in 1789. The first three American Millionaires, T H Perkins, Stephen Girard and John Jacob Astor all made their fortunes in the China tea trade. America’s newer, faster clipper ships out-sailed the slower heavier tea vessels of the British that had dominated the trade until then. This forced the English navy to update their fleet. By the mid 1800s the world was involved in a global clipper race as nations competed with each other to claim the fastest ships. England and America were the leading rivals. Each year the tall ships would race from China to the Tea Exchange in London to bring the first tea for auction.

It was during this period that the Scottish Botanist Robert Fortune obtained some of the closely guarded tea seeds from China and made notes on tea cultivation. After many failures and much trial and error the British were successful in producing some of the best tea plantations in the world in India and other parts of Asia that they had colonized. The great English tea marketing companies were founded and production mechanized as the world industrialized in the late 1880s.

In 1904 the United States held the World’s Fair in St. Louis, and a tea merchant and plantation owner called Richard Blechynden came to exhibit his trade. He had intended to give away hot tea samples to the fair visitors, but as it was so very hot, no one was interested. In order not to waste his tea he dumped a load of ice into the brewed tea and served the first Iced Tea, … this became the “hit” of the World Fair, and it has remained popular every since.

Four years later, Thomas Sullivan of New York developed the concept of bagged tea. He was a tea merchant who carefully wrapped each sample of tea to deliver to the restaurants for their consideration. He noticed how they brewed the tea in the bag to avoid the mess the tea leaves would make … he then realized the marketing opportunity that had been presented and made tea bags the convenience that it is for us today.

British Tea
The reason the British are known for their tea, is not because they grow or blend teas in England, but because it was the British who started the tea growing plantations in India and Ceylon. Mostly however, it is because of the tea time ritual created by the Duchess of Bedford (1788- 1861). Prior to the introduction of tea, the British had two main meals, breakfast and dinner. Anna, the Duchess, experienced a “sinking feeling” in the late afternoon and started to partake in a teatime that gave her the “lift” that she needed. The Duchess would invite friends to join her between 4pm and 5pm in her rooms at Belvoir Castle for a light meal that included small cakes, sandwiches, assorted sweets and, of course, tea. This idea was quickly picked up by other social hostesses of the time and a common pattern of service soon immerged, with the company and conversation being the most important factor.

High Tea
High tea in America can be a misnomer. Most people mistakenly refer to afternoon tea as high tea because they think it sounds lofty and regal. High tea is a meal that the working class families during the second half of the Victorian Period, (the industrial revolution), would come home to eat, tired and worn out from their day’s work.

The table would be set with dinner foods that would include meats, bread, cheeses, pickles and potatoes – typical would be Shepherd’s Pie, Welsh Rarebit, Steak and Kidney Pudding etc. The meal was served family style and it was called “High Tea” because of the fact that it was served on the high dinning table as opposed to the lower tea table.

Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea was named such as it was usually taken in the late afternoon at around 4 – 5pm and it was sometimes called “Low Tea” as it was usually taken in the sitting room, parlor, or withdrawing room where low tables were placed beside the sofas and easy chairs. Since this wasn’t a meal, but rather like a snack to ward off hunger, finger foods were more practical. This gave one the opportunity of a small bite with the ability to carry on one’s conservation. This is a most important factor as tea time is not merely to gain nourishment, but to take time to relax, converse and enjoy the company of dear friends.

Tea Time Today
As the tea room became increasingly more popular, the grand Victorian drawing room teas were changed, in order to accommodate the masses. Many tea rooms, especially those in hotels, serve tea from three to five o’clock. You will find many tea houses offering tea times beginning mid-morning and continuing throughout the day. When you frequent a tea shop you will notice that there are three basic types of afternoon tea.

• Cream Tea – Tea, Scones, Jam and Cream
• Light Tea – Tea, Scones and sweets
• Full Tea - Tea, savories, scones, sweets and dessert. (This is our Hearty High Tea)

Cultivation
The Tea plant, Camellia Sansis, is a cultivated variety of the tree originating from the region between India and China. The tea leaves are mostly hand plucked. When the plant is plucked two leaves and a bud are cut. An experienced plucker can pluck up to 30 kg of tea leaves per day. To make one kg black tea, approximately 4 kg tea leaves are needed. One tea plant produces about 70 kg black tea a year. In a warm climate the plant is plucked for the first time after 4 years and will produce tea for at least 50 years. A suitable climate for cultivation has a minimum annual rainfall of 45 to 50 inches (l, 140 to 1,270 millimeters). Tea soils must be acid; tea cannot be grown in alkaline soils. A desirable pH value is 5.8 to 5.4 or less.

BlackTea
The favored tea of the British, these very robust and flavorful teas include the Darjeeling and Assam varieties.

Like coffee plants, tea likes hot days, cool nights and plenty of rain, and also like coffee, most high quality tea is grown in mountainous regions. During the growing season, tea is harvested every seven days. Only the two tender uppermost leaves and terminal buds are plucked by hand. After this gentle beginning, the leaves are left in a hot room to wither, then put into a machine that rolls the leaves and releases their juices. These juices react with the air (oxidation) giving black teas the fermentation, color and flavor we love. The tea is then dried in ovens (fired) and graded according to size.

Black teas contain one third less caffeine to coffee or cola, yet they reduce fatigue, maintain mental alertness, stabilize fluid levels and are fat and calorie free. Black teas make up 98% of the international tea trade. A newly published clinical trial showed that five servings of black tea per day reduced LDL cholesterol by 11.1 percent and total cholesterol by 6.5 percent in mildly hypercholesterolemic participants.

Scented and spiced teas are made from black tea. "Scented teas look just like any other tea," says FDA chemist and tea expert Robert Dick, " because the scent is more or less sprayed on. They're flavored with just about anything peach, vanilla, cherry. The spiced teas, on the other hand, usually contain pieces of spices cinnamon or nutmeg or orange or lemon peel so you can see there's something in there." 

Red Tea
Red tea is an herb that does not come from a tea bush at all. This wonder herb called Rooibos originates from South Africa and is full of polyphenols and flavanoids …and is totally caffeine free. It is known to relieve stomach and digestive problems, boost the immune system and supplements our daily needs for calcium, manganese, and fluoride. In inhibits the aging process.

White Tea
This tea is hand plucked from the high mountain region of China. It is the rarest of the teas and being the least processed it retains the highest levels of disease preventatives. White tea has more antioxidants than any other tea and the health benefits are most powerful. It is made from only the small buds of the bush before the leaf matures and is thus the most expensive as well.

Green Tea
Green Teas do not go through the fermenting process and consequently have a milder and slightly bitter taste. Being a tea that contains large quantities of powerful polyphenols and having the capability of being infused with exotic flavors, Green tea is one of the most popular in today’s market. Green Tea reduces high blood pressure and is believed to inhibit LDL (low density Lipoproteins), sometimes referred to as “bad Cholesterol”.

In the past, most of the research regarding tea and health focused primarily on cardiovascular health benefits. Recently, the prestigious Mayo Clinic conducted a study and discovered that a component in green tea helps to kill leukemia cells.