Chapter 6 | Tea & Coffee
Origin of Tea
The first actual written reference to tea may have been a 5th Century B.C. poem entitled “The Lament of the Discarded Wife.” In this poem, Confucius referred to a certain type of plant that is now generally assumed to be tea. However, the first officially confirmed written record of tea, or “cha” as the Chinese call it, can be found in the biography of a Chinese government official, who died in 273 A.D.
Whatever tea’s origins, we do know that by the 6th Century A.D. tea drinking and tea cultivating were commonplace in China. Early tea drinkers used the beverage to cure a wide range of digestive and nervous ailments. A tea poultice was also used to alleviate pain and swelling of joints. In some remote areas, farmers used compressed blocks of tea as currency, a kind of “black gold” that could be traded for food and livestock. In 780 A.D., the Chinese government introduced the first tea tax, bearing witness to tea’s widespread use, not only as a medicinal remedy but also as a refreshing drink.
By this time, tea had spread to Japan where, during the next few centuries, tea drinking evolved into a serene and highly stylized ritual, commonly known as the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
Tea didn’t reach Europe until 1610, when the Dutch began to import it from China. When tea first arrived in the Netherlands, it often cost the equivalent of $100 per pound. Hostesses from the best families in Holland had tea parties, where 50 or more cups were served to each guest along with cakes and pipe tobacco for smoking. At these ostentatious gatherings, people added sugar and saffron to their tea, while loudly sipping the drink from the saucer.
By the late 17th Century, tea had become popular in England. Intellectuals, politicians and other members of the upper classes drank tea, which was still expensive, in London coffeehouses. In the early 18th Century, Thomas Twining, a coffeehouse owner, took advantage of this trend, and opened a store that sold tea by weight. This business, Twinings of London, survives today and is now managed by Sam Twining, a ninth generation member of the family. Thanks in part to this one family’s marketing ability, it wasn’t long before English people from all walks of life were drinking their “cuppa” tea.
Tea came to America with English settlers who emigrated to the 13 colonies. For many years, America associated tea with the tyranny of the British, and very little tea was consumed in the U.S. Americans had their cup of coffee instead. Ironically enough, it was an Englishman who was responsible for increasing tea’s popularity in the States. In the summer of 1904, Richard Blechynden, an English colonist living in Calcutta, traveled to St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Representing teas grown in the Far East, Blechynden hoped to popularize hot tea as a substitute for coffee in America.
Brutally hot weather conspired against Blechynden, however, and the Fair’s visitors flocked to the cold-refreshment stands for lemonade and Coca-Cola. Not to be outdone, the enterprising Brit filled tall glasses with ice cubes and poured hot tea into them. This cool refreshing drink turned into an instant sensation. Today, 80% of all the tea drunk in America(about 200 million pounds) is made into iced tea.
Blechynden’s “invention” of iced tea was soon followed by the development of the tea bag, originally made of silk, by American Thomas Sullivan. This made tea drinking more convenient, and when tea bags became available in a form of much cheaper paper filters, tea regained its earlier popularity in the States. Today, the U.S. ranks seventh in total tea consumption in the world, behind India, Russia, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Japan, and Pakistan. However, while the people of Qatar drink 8.2 pounds of tea per person each year-the highest rate in the world- Americans sip only 0.8 pounds per person, leaving the U.S. 33rd worldwide on a per capita basis.
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