WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:06.679 By now the house has gone quiet, the street, the dishwasher, 2 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:12.880 everything but you. I Can't Sleep plus keeps it that way, 3 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.960 the whole show with nothing in it but one voice 4 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:21.640 going gently on about otters or the organ trail until 5 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:24.839 you're not listening any more. It's a private feed you 6 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.320 tack into the app you already use and never think 7 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:31.559 of again. Get an AD free experience for five ninety 8 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:35.159 nine a month, and the first week costs nothing. Go 9 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.479 do I Can't Sleep dot supportingcast dot f M for 10 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:42.079 an AD free experience to day. You can also find 11 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:46.560 the link in the show notes. Welcome to the I 12 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:51.159 Can't Sleep Podcast, where I help you drift off one 13 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:56.759 fact at a time. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster, and 14 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:03.920 today's episode is about the history of tea. Thank you 15 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:11.280 Heather Lemora for sponsoring today's episode. The history of tea 16 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:19.200 spreads across many cultures throughout thousands of years. The tea plant, 17 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:24.959 Camellia senensis, is both native and probably originated in the 18 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:31.719 borderlands of China and northern Myamar. One of the earliest 19 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:36.239 accounts of tea drinking is dated back to China's Shang dynasty, 20 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:44.280 in which tea was consumed in a medicinal concoction. One 21 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:50.079 traditional method of preparing tea involves steeping loose tea leaves 22 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:53.920 in a tea pot and straining them into a cup, 23 00:01:55.400 --> 00:02:00.040 a practice that became common in Europe following the introduction 24 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:06.840 of tea by Chinese traders. An early credible record of 25 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:11.800 tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a 26 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:19.800 medical text written by Chinese physician Uato. It first became 27 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:24.639 known to the Western world through Portuguese priests and merchants 28 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:32.919 in China during the early sixteenth century. Drinking tea became 29 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:38.879 popular in Britain during the seventeenth century. To compete with 30 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:44.360 the Chinese monopoly on tea, the British East India Company 31 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:53.919 introduced commercial tea production to British India. Tea consumption likely 32 00:02:54.039 --> 00:03:00.159 began in Yunnan Province during the second millennium BC as 33 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:06.759 a medicinal concoction. From there, the use spread to Sichuan, 34 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:10.319 and it is believed that there for the first time, 35 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:15.840 people began to boil tea leaves for consumption into a 36 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:20.639 concentrated liquid without the addition of other leaves or herbs, 37 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:27.360 thereby using tea as a bitter yet stimulating drink, rather 38 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:36.439 than as a medicinal concoction. In Chinese legend, sometime around 39 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:43.719 two thousand seven thirty seven BCE, Emperor Shinang was drinking 40 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:48.039 a bowl of just boiled water because of a decree 41 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:53.759 that his subjects must boil water before drinking it. A 42 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:57.599 few leaves were blown from a nearby tree into his water, 43 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:04.080 changing the color, and the emperor took a sip of 44 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:08.199 the brew and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and 45 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:14.439 restorative properties. A variant of the legend tells that the 46 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:18.920 emperor tested the medical properties of various herbs on himself, 47 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.680 some of them poisonous, and found tea to work as 48 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:30.519 an antidote. Chinang is also mentioned in Lu Yu's famous 49 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:37.240 early work on the subject, The Classic of Tea. A 50 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:42.800 similar Chinese legend states that Chinang would chew the leaves, stems, 51 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:49.319 and roots of various plants to discover medicinal herbs. If 52 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.879 he consumed a poisonous plant, he would chew tea leaves 53 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:00.720 to counteract the poison. The Chinese have consumed tea thousands 54 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:06.639 of years. The earliest physical evidence known to dad found 55 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:11.360 in twenty sixteen comes from the mausoleum of Emperor Jing 56 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:16.519 of Han in Chi'an, indicating that ta was drunk by 57 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:21.680 Han dynasty emperors as early as the second century b c. E. 58 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:28.959 The samples were identified as t from the genus Camelia, 59 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:35.360 particularly via mass spectrometry and written records, suggests that it 60 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:41.079 may have been drunk earlier. People of the Han dynasty 61 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:45.399 used tea as medicine, though the first use of tea 62 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:52.079 as a stimulant is unknown. China is considered to have 63 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:57.199 the earliest records of tea consumption, with possible records dating 64 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:02.439 back to the tenth century b C. Note, however, that 65 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:06.720 the current word for tea in Chinese only came into 66 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:11.639 use in the eighth century a d. There are therefore 67 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:15.920 uncertainties as to whether the older words used are the 68 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:23.480 same as t. The word too appears in Shijing another 69 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:29.800 ancient texts to signify a kind of bitter vegetable, and 70 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:34.319 it is possible that it referred to several different plants, 71 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:43.040 such as so thistleed chicory, or smartweed, including tea. In 72 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:47.079 the Chronicles of Huayang, it was recorded that the Ba 73 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:54.360 people in Sichuang presented to to the Jo King. The 74 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:58.839 state of Ba and its neighbor Shu were later conquered 75 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.560 by the Chin, and according to the seventeenth century scholar 76 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:08.720 Gu yong Wu, who wrote in the riji Ulu, it 77 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:12.360 was after the Chin had taken Shu that they learned 78 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:19.319 how to drink tea. The first known reference to boiling 79 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:23.519 tea came from the Han dynasty work The Contract for 80 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:29.040 a Youth, written by Wang Bao, where among the tasks 81 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:33.000 listed to be undertaken by the youth, he shall boil 82 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.399 tea and fill the utensils, and he shall buy tea 83 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:42.959 at Wu Yong. The first record of cultivation of tea 84 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:48.480 also dated it to this period, when tea was cultivated 85 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:54.959 on Meng Mountain near Chengdu from the Tong to the 86 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:59.480 Qing dynasties. The first three hundred and sixty leaves of 87 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:04.199 tea grown here were picked each spring and presented to 88 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:10.000 the emperor. Even today, its green and yellow teas, such 89 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:17.079 as the Manging Ganlou tea, are still sought after. An 90 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.199 early credible record of tea drinking dates to two hundred 91 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:25.839 and twenty a d in a medical text Shi Lun 92 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:32.559 by Huatuo, who stated to drink bitter too constantly makes 93 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:40.039 one think better. Another possible early reference to tea is 94 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.440 found in a letter written by the Qin dynasty general 95 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:49.080 Lu Kun. However, before the mid eighth century Tong Dynasty, 96 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:56.279 tea drinking was primarily a Southern Chinese practice. It became 97 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:01.879 widely popular during the Tong Dynasty when spread to Korea, Japan, 98 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:07.840 and Vietnam. During the Tong Dynasty in China, tea was 99 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:14.080 prepared differently than it is today. Instead of steeping tea 100 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.080 leaves in hot water, the tea was boiled with various 101 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:23.200 ingredients such as ginger, onions, and spices to create a 102 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:28.200 savory broth. It was not until the Song dynasty that 103 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:36.399 the practice of steeping tea leaves in hot water became popular. Laojia, 104 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:42.200 the classical Chinese philosopher, was said to describe tea as 105 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:46.159 the frosts of the liquid jade and named it an 106 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:53.240 indispensable ingredient to the elixir of life. Legend has it 107 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:58.320 that Master Lao was saddened by society's moral decay, and 108 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:02.159 sensing at the end of the ynasty was near, he 109 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:06.879 journeyed westward to the unsettled territories, never to be seen again. 110 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:14.840 While passing along the nation's border, he encountered and was 111 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:20.679 offered tea by a customs inspector Namedhin she Y. She 112 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.720 encouraged him to compile his teachings into a single book 113 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:31.279 so that future generations might benefit from his wisdom. This 114 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:35.480 became known as the Dao de Jing, a collection of 115 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:44.519 Lauja's sayings. Tong dynasty writer Liu Yu's cha Jing, The 116 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.440 Classic of Tea, is an early work on the subject. 117 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:56.559 According to Cha Jing, tea drinking was widespread. The book 118 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:01.919 describes how tea plants were grown, the lee processed, and 119 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:07.639 tea prepared as a beverage. It also describes how tea 120 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:13.799 was evaluated. The book also discusses where the best tea 121 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:19.279 leaves were produced. Teas produced in this period were mainly 122 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:25.320 tea bricks, which were often used as currency, especially further 123 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:31.399 from the center of the empire, where coins lost their value. 124 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:35.720 These were made by compressing tea leaves into a dense, 125 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:42.120 round shape that was easy to transport and store. The 126 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.120 cakes were valued based on their weight, and they could 127 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.840 be traded for other goods or used to pay taxes. 128 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:58.799 During the Song dynasty, production and preparation of all tea changed. 129 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:04.120 The tea included many loose leaf styles to preserve the 130 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:09.320 delicate character favored by court society, and it is the 131 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.840 origin of to day's loose teas. In the practice of 132 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:20.399 brood tea, a powdered form of tea also emerged. Steaming 133 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:24.360 tea leaves was the primary process used for centuries in 134 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:30.159 the preparation of tea. After the transition from compressed tea 135 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:34.559 to the powdered form, the production of tea for trade 136 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:42.399 and distribution changed once again. The Chinese learned to process 137 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.399 tea in a different way. In the mid thirteenth century, 138 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:51.360 tea leaves were roasted and then crumbled rather than steamed. 139 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:58.240 By the Yuan and Ming dynasties, unfermented tea leaves were 140 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:04.679 first pan fried, then rolled and dried. This stops the 141 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:10.519 oxidation process, which turns the leaves dart and allows tea 142 00:13:10.600 --> 00:13:18.000 to remain green. In a fifteenth century Oolong tea, where 143 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:21.559 the tea leaves were allowed to partially ferment before pan 144 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:29.240 frying was developed. Western taste, however, preferred the fully oxidized 145 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:33.080 black tea, and the leaves were allowed to ferment further. 146 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:38.720 Yellow tea was an accidental discovery in the production of 147 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:44.039 green tea during the Ming dynasty, when apparently sloppy practices 148 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:48.039 allowed the leaves to turn yellow, which yielded a different 149 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:55.759 flavor as a result. Tea production in China historically was 150 00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:02.879 a laborious process conducted and distant and often poorly accessible regions. 151 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.120 This led to the rise of many apocryphal stories and 152 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:14.759 legends surrounding the harvesting process. For example, one story that 153 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:18.080 has been told for many years is that of a 154 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:24.240 village where monkeys pick tea. According to this legend, the 155 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:29.000 villagers stand below the monkeys and taunt them. The monkeys, 156 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:33.559 in turn become angry and grab handfuls of tea leaves 157 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:39.759 and throw them at the villagers. There are products sold 158 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.679 today that claim to be harvested in this manner, but 159 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:49.480 no reliable commentators have observed this firsthand, and most doubt 160 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:55.240 that it happened at all. For many hundreds of years, 161 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:59.840 the commercially used tea tree has been in shape more 162 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:06.120 a bush than a tree. Monkey picked tea is more 163 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:10.200 likely a name of certain varieties than a description of 164 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:17.200 how it was obtained. In thirteen ninety one, the Hongwu 165 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:21.399 Emperor issued a decree that only loose tea would be 166 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:26.879 accepted as a tribute. As a result, tea production shifted 167 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:33.279 from cake tea to lease leaf tea, and processing techniques advanced, 168 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.679 giving rise to the more energy efficient methods of pan 169 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:45.600 firing and sun drying, which were popular in Jiannan and Fujian, respectively. 170 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:51.879 The last group to adopt loose leaf tea was a Literati, 171 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:56.720 who were reluctant to abandon their refined culture of whisking 172 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:02.320 tea until the invention of oolong tea. By the end 173 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:07.120 of the sixteenth century, loose leaf tea had entirely replaced 174 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:13.879 the earlier tradition of cake and powdered tea. During the 175 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:18.440 Suay dynasty in China, tea was introduced to Japan by 176 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:25.399 Buddhist monks. Tea use spread during the sixth century AD. 177 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:29.720 Tea became a drink of the religious classes in Japan 178 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:34.679 when Japanese priests and envoys sent to China to learn 179 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:41.840 about its culture brought tea to Japan. Ancient recordings indicate 180 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:46.080 the first batch of tea seeds were brought by the 181 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:50.840 priest named Saicho in Ato five and then by another 182 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:55.879 named Kukai in eight o six. It became a drink 183 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:59.919 of the royal class. When Emperor Saga encouraged the gre 184 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:07.640 tea plants, seeds were imported from China and cultivation in 185 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:15.920 Japan began. In eleven ninety one, Zen priest Asi introduced 186 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:20.920 T seeds to Kyoto. Some of the T seeds were 187 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:25.519 given to the priest Mioi Shonen and became the basis 188 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:31.480 of ug T. The oldest teas specialty book in Japan, 189 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:38.279 Kisa Yojogi How to Stay Healthy by Drinking Tea, was 190 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:43.720 written by Asi. The two volume book was written in 191 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:47.839 twelve eleven, after his second and last visit to China. 192 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:55.279 The first sentence states T is the ultimate mental and 193 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:59.160 medical remedy and has the ability to make one's life 194 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:04.680 more full and complete. A Si was also instrumental in 195 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:09.519 introducing tea consumption to the warrior class, which rose to 196 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:17.240 political prominence after the Hayon period. Green tea became a 197 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:21.480 staple among cultured people in Japan, a brew for the 198 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:28.880 gentry and the Buddhist priesthood alike. Production grew and tea 199 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:34.359 became increasingly accessible, though still a privilege enjoyed mostly by 200 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:40.720 the upper classes. The tea ceremony of Japan was introduced 201 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:45.400 from China in the fifteenth century by Buddhists as a 202 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:52.039 semi religious social custom. The modern tea ceremony developed over 203 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:57.519 several centuries by Zen Buddhist monks under the original guidance 204 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:03.720 of the sen no Rikiu. In fact, both the beverage 205 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:07.519 and the ceremonies surrounding it played a prominent role in 206 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:16.720 feudal diplomacy. In seventeen thirty eight, sun Nagatani developed Japanese 207 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:23.039 sencha literally simmered tea, which is an unfermented form of 208 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:27.680 green tea. It is a most popular form of tea 209 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:33.440 in Japan Today. The name can be confusing because sencha 210 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:38.559 is no longer simmered. While sencha is currently prepared by 211 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:42.519 steeping the leaves in hot water, this was not always 212 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:48.759 the case. Sencha was originally prepared by casting the leaves 213 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:54.680 into a cauldron and simmering briefly. The liquid would then 214 00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:00.839 be ladled into bowls and served. In eighteen thirty five, 215 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:09.440 Kahei Yamamoto developed gyokuro literally jeweled do by shading tea 216 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:15.079 trees during the weeks leading up to harvesting. By the 217 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:20.000 twentieth century, machine manufacturing of green tea was introduced and 218 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:28.559 began replacing handmade tea. The first historical record documenting the 219 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:33.480 offering of tea to an ancestral god describes a rite 220 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:38.319 in six sixty one AD in which a t offering 221 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.559 was made to the spirit of King Tsuro, the founder 222 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:49.480 of the Gumgwang Keeya kingdom. Records from the Gauryo dynasty 223 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:53.880 show that ta offerings were made in Buddhist temples to 224 00:20:53.960 --> 00:21:00.559 the spirits of revered monks. During the Josun dynasty, the 225 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:07.519 royal Ye family and the aristocracy used tea for simple rights. 226 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:13.759 The day tea rite was a common daytime ceremony, whereas 227 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:20.279 the special tea rite was reserved for specific occasions. Toward 228 00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:24.759 the end of the Josun dynasty, commoners joined the trend 229 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:30.319 and used tea for ancestral rites, following the Chinese example 230 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:39.279 based on ju Cheese text formalities of family stoneware was common, 231 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:45.720 Ceramic more frequent, mostly made in provincial kilns with porcelain 232 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:52.799 rare imperial porcelain with dragons the rarest. The earliest kinds 233 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.920 of tea used in tea ceremonies were heavily pressed cakes 234 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:05.839 of black tea, evland of age purer tea. In China, however, 235 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:10.680 importation of tea plants by Buddhist monks brought a more 236 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:14.400 delicate series of teas into Korea, and the tea ceremony 237 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:24.480 gring tea, jacksol or jungno is most often served. However, 238 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:33.640 other teas such as biosorum chen, rachen ujan Okchen, as 239 00:22:33.640 --> 00:22:38.680 well as native chrysanthemum tea or mugwar tea may be 240 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:46.039 served at different times of the year. The earliest record 241 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:49.960 of tea in a more occidental writing is said to 242 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:54.160 be found in the statement of an Arabian traveler that 243 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:59.000 after eight seventy nine the main sources of revenue and 244 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:05.720 canton were the duties on salt and tea. Marco Polo 245 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:10.279 records the deposition of a Chinese minister of finance in 246 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:15.839 twelve eighty five for his arbitrary augmentation of the tea taxes. 247 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:23.640 In fifteen fifty seven, Portugal established a trading port in Macau, 248 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:29.720 and word did the Chinese drink chaw spread quickly, but 249 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.519 there is no mention of them bringing any samples home 250 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:38.599 In the early seventeenth century, a ship of the Dutch 251 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:42.799 East India Company brought the first green tea leaves to 252 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:49.440 Amsterdam from China. Tea was known in France by sixteen 253 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.079 thirty six. It enjoyed a brief period of popularity in 254 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:59.680 Paris around sixteen forty eight. The history of tea in 255 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:03.240 r Ushe could also be traced back to the seventeenth century. 256 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:08.279 Tea was first offered by China as a gift to 257 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:15.279 Tzar Mikhael First in sixteen eighteen. The Russian ambassador tried 258 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.440 the drink, he did not care for it and rejected 259 00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:25.960 the offer, delaying tea's Russian introduction by fifty years. By 260 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:30.039 sixteen eighty nine, tea was regularly imported from China to 261 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:34.799 Russia via a caravan of hundreds of camels, traveling the 262 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:39.359 year long journey, making it a precarious commodity at the time. 263 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:46.200 Tea was appearing in German apothecaries by sixteen fifty seven, 264 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:52.000 but never gained much esteem except in coastal areas such 265 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:58.680 as aust Friesland. Tea first appeared publicly in mainland Britain 266 00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:03.440 during the sixteen fifty where was introduced through coffee houses. 267 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.759 From there it was introduced to British colonies in America 268 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:17.000 and elsewhere. Tea taxation was a large issue. In Britain, 269 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:21.559 tea smuggling thrived until the repeal of tea's tax in 270 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:27.599 seventeen eighty five. In Holland, tea drinkers had to pay 271 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:34.480 for an annual license per person. Tea was first introduced 272 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:39.759 to Europe by Italian traveler Giovanni Battisto Ramusio, who in 273 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:44.799 fifteen fifty five published Voyages and Travels containing the first 274 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:51.000 European reference to tea, which he calls Chai katai. His 275 00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:55.200 accounts were based on second hand reports in the polities 276 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:03.200 of the Gulf of Aden, Yemen and Somolia. Portuguese priests 277 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:07.279 and merchants in the sixteenth century made their first contact 278 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:11.119 with tea in China, at which time it was termed cha. 279 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:18.599 The first Portuguese ships reached China in fifteen sixteen, and 280 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:24.759 in fifteen sixty Portuguese missionary GASPARDA Cruz published the first 281 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:31.440 Portuguese account of Chinese tea. In fifteen sixty five, Portuguese 282 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:36.680 missionary Luyomeida published the first European account of tea in Japan. 283 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:44.880 Commercial production of tea was first introduced into India by 284 00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:48.759 the British in an attempt to break the Chinese monopoly 285 00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:55.680 on tea. The British, using Chinese seeds plus Chinese planting 286 00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:00.359 and cultivating techniques, launched a tea industry by all offering 287 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.559 land in a psalm to any European who agreed to 288 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:10.119 cultivate tea for export. Tea was originally only consumed by 289 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:15.079 Anglicized Indians. It was not until the nineteen fifties that 290 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:19.599 ta grew widely popular in India through a successful advertising 291 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:25.119 campaign by the India Tea Board. Prior to the British, 292 00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:30.640 the plant may have been used for medicinal purposes. Some 293 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:34.640 ciged the sungeevani plant as the first recorded reference of 294 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:40.640 tea use in India. However, scientific studies have shown that 295 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:44.559 the sungeevine plant is in fact a different plant and 296 00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:49.079 is not related to tea in a psalm. There is 297 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:52.960 evidence of pre modern medicinal use of tea among the 298 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:59.640 Singfo and Comtea tribes. However, commercial production of tea in 299 00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:02.599 India did not begin until the arrival of the British 300 00:28:02.680 --> 00:28:07.440 East India Company at which point large tracts of land 301 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:14.079 were converted for mass tea production. India was the top 302 00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:18.559 producer of tea for nearly a century, but was displaced 303 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:21.559 by China as the top tea producer in the twenty 304 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:27.920 first century. Indian tea companies have acquired a number of 305 00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:35.839 iconic foreign tea enterprises, including British brand Tetley. Most of 306 00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:39.720 the Indian tea garden owners have focused on exports to 307 00:28:39.799 --> 00:28:44.079 markets like Europe and Russia, while very few have focused 308 00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:48.880 on building their own brands, such as Makaibari, Dharmsala Tea 309 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:55.519 Company and a few others. While India is the largest 310 00:28:55.559 --> 00:28:59.920 consumer of tea worldwide, the per capita consumption of tea 311 00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:03.480 in India remains a modest seven hundred and fifty grams 312 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:09.559 per person annually. Recently, consumption of green tea has seen 313 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:14.119 a great ubsurge across the Cities and regions such as 314 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:18.279 Kongra which were known for their green tea production historically, 315 00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:22.119 have seen a resurgence of their green teas in the 316 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:28.720 domestic market. Taiwan is famous for the making of Oolong 317 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:35.200 tea and green tea, as well as many Western styled teas. 318 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:42.440 Bubble tea or jen Ju naichad is black tea mixed 319 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:47.960 with sweetened condensed milk and tapioca. Since the island was 320 00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:53.160 known to Westerners for many centuries as Formosa short for 321 00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:59.400 the Portuguese Illa Formosa or Beautiful Island, tea grown in 322 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:06.400 Taiwan iss often identified by that name. As an attempt 323 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:10.960 to circumvent its dependence on Chinese tea, the East India 324 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:16.839 Company sent Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to China to purchase 325 00:30:16.920 --> 00:30:21.000 and bring out of China tea plants, which were then 326 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:26.400 taken to India. With the exception of a few plants 327 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:31.440 which survived in established Indian gardens, most of the Chinese 328 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:35.759 tea plants Fortune introduced in the northwestern provinces of India 329 00:30:36.119 --> 00:30:42.400 perished due to the British preference and fashion for a strong, 330 00:30:42.599 --> 00:30:46.480 dark tea brew, which was discovered to be best made 331 00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:49.839 from the native varieties of tea plant in India a 332 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.839 some subspecies. It proved more important for the development of 333 00:30:54.880 --> 00:31:01.559 production there. However, the technology knowledge that was brought from 334 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:05.400 China was instrumental in the later flourishing of the Indian 335 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:11.359 tea industry. In Assam and Sri Lanka from nineteen forty 336 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:16.440 to nineteen fifty two, tea was rationed, but coffee was exempted. 337 00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:23.200 The drinking of tea in the United States was largely 338 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:27.119 influenced by the passage of the Tea Act and its 339 00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:34.240 subsequent protests during the American Revolution. Tea consumption sharply decreased 340 00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:38.720 in America during and after the Revolution, when many Americans 341 00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:44.039 switched from drinking tea to drinking coffee, considering tea drinking 342 00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:51.160 to be unpatriotic. The American specialty tea market quadrupled in 343 00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:54.279 the years from nineteen ninety three to two thousand eight, 344 00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:58.640 now being worth six point eight billion dollars a year. 345 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:06.039 Specialty tea houses and retailers also started to pop up 346 00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:07.240 during this period.