First tea tax imposed in China. Chinese poet-scholar Lu Yu writes the first book of tea, titled Ch'a Ching (The Classic of Tea) in timely alignment with Taoist beliefs. Tea likely originated in the Yunnan region during the Shang dynasty as a medicinal drink. “Initially there were lots of complaints about this ration, but over time, most Australians coped by just drinking weaker brews,” Peter said, adding that not all Australians coped well. The first known Taiwanese cultivation and export of domestic tea takes place. Clipper ships are outdated by the development of faster steamers. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Hua Tuo. With the Industrial Revolution and the transition from hand production methods to machines, merchants like Sir Thomas Lipton demanded high-speed packaging to facilitate world-wide distribution. The Trans-Siberian Railroad is completed, ending camel caravan trade between Russia and China. Tea is introduced to Russia, when the Chinese embassy visits Moscow, bringing a chest of tea as a gift for the Czar Alexis. Alternatively use it as a simple call to action with a link to a product or a page. The popularity of tea wanes in France, in favor of coffee, wine and chocolate. Europeans learn about tea when a Venetian author credits the lengthy lives of Asians to their tea drinking. Cutty Sark clipper built – the last merchant ship to be so built. The debate over tea's health benefits versus detriments heightens when a Dutch doctor praises its curative side while French and German doctors call out its harmful side. Marco Polo, Magellan, Alvar Nunez Cabeza, Niccolo Da Conti et al., containing the first mention of tea in Euro lit. The Chinese would become addicted to the supply of opium, ensuring a constant supply of cheap tea to the English. Producing two-million tea bags a day from a single machine required the tea leaf to be crushed and replaced by a lower grade referred to as fannings and dust. The Japanese Shogun Ashikaga-Yoshimasa builds the first tearoom at his palace in Kyoto. A plant fungus ruins the coffee crop in Ceylon and spreads throughout the Orient and the Pacific, giving a hefty boost to tea drinking. History of tea in China History of tea in Europe History of tea in India History of tea in Japan Tea timeline The colonists, resenting the monopoly that England has over them, begins to smuggle tea in from Holland. Tea is brought to Canada by the Hudson Bay Company. This movement eventually inspired the word “teetotaling”. First attempt at tea cultivation in the United States. The East India Company starts the first tea plantations in Assam, India. The first tea from Indian soil and imported Chinese tea plants is sold. Elizabeth I founded the John Foundation, with the intention of promoting trade with Asia. Tea is the common name of the Camellia sinensis plant which possesses cooling and astringent flavor. 1657 — Tea is first sold publicly in England at Garway's Coffee House in London 1658 — First advertisements of tea in a newspaper appear in London 1659 — London newspaper records that tea, coffee, and chocolate are sold "almost in every street" such as the shops in the famous Exchange Alley section of London (see map to the right) Tea bags were developed for commercial production, initially from gauze and then later from paper. The first tea is sold as a health beverage in London, England at Garway's Coffee House. In 1600 Queen Elizabeth I gave a charter to the East India Trading company, a compnay that would help shape the history of tea and play a part in the world's history as well. To escape the emptiness of the world…. Tea gardens become popular haunts for fashionable Londoners. The History of Tea. They would eventually break England’s tea monopoly with their faster sailing ships, and they paid gold, not Opium for tea. The paper teabag is developed by the Tetley tea Company, thus transforming tea-drinking habits around the world. He even holds tea-tasting tournaments in the court. In order to fill Russia's tea demand, traders and three hundred camels travel 11,000 miles to and from China, which takes sixteen months. The book covers detailed ancient Chinese tea cultivation and preparation techniques. A Chinese dictionary cites tea for the first time as Erh Ya. Last of the London Tea Auctions held. The Temperance Movement is founded as a result of rampant alcoholism brought on by the Industrial Revolution. King George III agrees to the Boston Port Bill, which closes the Boston Harbor until the East India Company is reimbursed for its tea. A Dutch trader introduces tea to the Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (a small settlement in North America). Such "tea parties" are repeated in Philadelphia, New York, Maine, North Carolina, and Maryland through 1774. The Adulteration of Food, Drink, and Drugs Act deems the sale of adulterated drugs or other unlabeled mixtures with foreign additives that increase weight as punishable offenses. Turkish traders bargain for tea on the border of Mongolia. 700’s Tea became popular medicine during the Tang Dynasty Period. This was leading to the commoditisation of tea. Tea wholesaler Henry Charles Harrod takes over a London grocery store and grows it into one of the world's largest department stores. Benjamin Ginsberg, Russian immigrant to Southern Africa became interested in Roobois and started its commercial development. The Japanese emperor serves powdered tea, named hiki-cha from the Chinese character, to Buddhist priests. Persian traveler Chaggi Memet (Haji Mohamed): “He told me that all over Cathay they made use of another plant or rather of its leaves. Tea with milk is mentioned in Madam de Sévigné's letters. The “tea heretics” (doctors and university authorities) of Holland argue over the positive and negative effects of tea, while the Dutch continue to enjoy their newfound beverage. It was initially used as medicine in ancient China, where people chewed on fresh leaves for their refreshing and invigorating effect before they learned to brew it in water … The English East India Company brings the gift of tea to the British king and queen. Tea was successfully marketed in Russia, when a Mongolian ruler donated to Tsar Michael I four poods (65–70 kg) of tea. English tea drinking hits a rate of 2 pounds per capita annually, a rate that increases by five times over the next 10 years. Thomas Johnstone Lipton opens his first shop in Glasgow, using American merchandising methods he learned working in the grocery section of a New York department store. One summer day while visiting a distant region, he and the court stopped to rest, and his se… “There wa… In one of her famous letters to her daughter she reminds her to offer milk with the tea when entertaining guests. The Suez Canal opens, shortening the trip to China and making steamships more economical. But believe it or not, there was a time before tea-drinking, and we’re going to tell you all about it. Then he sprouted wings, ---A Social History of Tea, Jane Pettigrew [National Trust Enterprises:London] 2001 (p. 48-51) New York tea importer Thomas Sullivan inadvertently invents tea bags when he sends tea to clients in small silk bags and they mistakenly steep the bags whole. This added strategic impetus to the already-strong monopoly of the John Foundation. The history of tea spreads across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. Yes, tea is that powerful. And those people of Cathay do say if in our part of the world, in Persia, and the country of the Franks, people only knew of it, there is no doubt that the merchants would cease altogether to buy rhubarb.”. Australians were forced to survive off roughly three cups of weak tea each day, until 1950. Scottish grocer Thomas Lipton buys numerous tea plantations in Ceylon, goes on to revolutionize tea production, and introduces Lipton brand tea, using orange pekoe and pekoe leaves, with the slogan: “Direct from the tea gardens to the teapot”. The history of tea is long and complex, spreading across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. Now viewed as a valuable commodity, the first Chinese teas are sold at auctions in Europe. The first Indian tea bushes are “discovered” growing wild in the Assam region of India by British Army Major Robert Bruce. 2737 BC: TEA IS DISCOVERED. An alternative theory is that the original shape may have come from Islamic coffee pots. The Dutch bring back green tea from Japan (although some argue it was from China). The English East India Company monopolizes British tea imports after convincing the British government to ban Dutch imports of tea. The Dutch procure tea and Chinese clay teapots from Portuguese traders in Macao, and establish a trading relationship with the Japanese. Some historians believe Marco Polo encountered tea in his travel, other historians point out that his writings fail to mention tea at all. During this ceremony, one takes a garden path into a portico, enters upon hearing the host's gong, washes in a special room, and then enters a small tearoom that holds a painting or flower arrangement to gaze upon. So, in an attempt to summarize two millennia of tea-based history a colleague of mine and I have put together a timeline of major events from the supposed original cuppa to the state of the British tea industry today – with not a little violence, greed, and fury thrown in for good measure. It first became known to western civilization through Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the early 16th century. British workers are given tea breaks throughout the day as this is thought to improve their productivity. Now called Kuang Ya in the Chinese dictionary, tea and its detailed infusion and preparation steps are defined. British Prime Minister Robert Walpole reduces British import taxes on tea. Sen Rikyu, known as the “father of tea” in Japan, codifies the tea ceremony. For 50 years, India is unsuccessful. Nations have defined themselves by the tea trade and culturally by their tea ceremonies. The book provided a timeline of tea's influence on social history through war, trade and culture - offering enough details to keep me intrigued, but not so much that I got bored. The English East India Company brings the gift of tea to the British king and queen. 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