According to legend, the origins of tea began when Shen Nung, an emperor who ruled China 5,000 years ago, discovered the brew during a visit to a distant region of his realm. Shen Nung had issued an edict in his empire that all drinking water was to be boiled for health precautions. During this trip, the emperor and his retinue stopped to rest. His servants brewed water for the emperor and leaves from a nearby bush drifted into the cup of hot water. Out of curiosity, the emperor drank the resulting dark liquid and found it satisfying.
Whether this legend is true or not, most historians agree that the brew we know as tea today has its origins in ancient China. In 800 A.D., Lu Yu, a Buddhist monk disillusioned with his training, rebelled and subsequently went into seclusion. During this time, Lu Yu extensively wrote down the various methods of tea cultivation and preparation. The emperor during that period was so impressed with Yu's work that the monk was deified as a saint.
Another Buddhist priest, Yeisei, travelled to imperial Japan and introduced the empire to the concept of tea as a vehicle to enhance meditation. Because of this, Yeisei became known in Japan as "The Father of Tea". The popularity of the brewed drink spread throughout the country and became intrinsically associated with Zen Buddhism. Eventually, the drink would be elevated to an art form resulting in the ritual Japanese Tea Ceremony, an art form observed by Irish-Greek historian Patrick Lafcadio Hearn who lived among the Japanese and was re-christened Koizumi Yakumo. The tea ceremonies would eventually evolve into ceremonial tea houses hosted by traditional geishas.
Rumors about the brewed drink began to filter outside Asia, but early travelers were confused as to its value or even its appearance. This confusion cleared up when the Portuguese Jesuit priest Jasper de Cruz wrote about his personal encounter with the drink. The Portuguese established trade routes with China, and then began to export tea leaves to Lisbon. Dutch traders transported the leaves to France and Holland. The drink was particularly popular at The Hague and because of its inflated cost, was initially a luxury that only the rich could afford. The tea craze spread throughout Europe, and as sales expanded, prices decreased to a point where the average citizen could enjoy the brew. Russia's introduction to the Asian drink occurred in 1618 when the Chinese embassy in Moscow presented chests of tea to Czar Alexis. Initially only enjoyed by Russian royalty and the wealthy, the price of tea had decreased significantly by the time of Catherine the Great's death in 1796, and the drink spread throughout Russian society.
Tea arrived in the colonies and in Great Britain around the same time. Around 1650, Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of The New Netherland (New York) brought the first tea to American shores (although some historians claim that French botanist Andre Michaux was the first one to introduce tea leaves to American when he imported them along with other plants). The first samples of tea reached England between 1652 and 1654 and subsequently replaced ale as the national drink. In America, the exorbitant taxation on tea as well as on other items by the King of England resulted in the famous tea party rebellion in Boston in 1773, where the male citizens, dressed as Native Americans, threw hundreds of pounds of tea into the Boston harbor.
In the 1800's, English and American cookbooks provided recipes on how to serve tea iced cold. Some of the oldest recipes for iced teas, known as punches, were made from green tea instead of the traditional black tea. In certain recipes, various liquors were added. In the South, tea enthusiasts found their iced tea more pleasant to drink when they added sugar and in some cases, lots and lots of sugar.
In the early 20th century, American tea merchant Thomas Sullivan noticed that many restaurants brewed their tea in bags to avoid the messiness of tea leaves. Sullivan took this idea and developed the concept of "bagged tea".
All teas derive from the same basic plant, Camellia Sinesis. The plant is cultivated worldwide in both tropical and non-tropical regions. Although there are over 3,000 varieties, tea is divided in five basic categories:
Black tea is withered which leads to oxidation. Once the water is fully evaporated, the leaves absorb more oxygen. The characteristic brown and black leaves result. The taste is more robust than other brands and when brewed, the tea produces a higher level of caffeine.
Green tea is also allowed to wither. The resulting oxidation is then stopped by rapidly heating the leaves. The taste of this tea is more subtle and is less caffeinated.
Oolong tea (also known as wulong tea) undergoes partial oxidation only. It's caffeine content and flavoring is between that of black and green teas. Many describe the taste as that of fresh fruit.
White tea is the most delicate and most subtle. Unlike the others, it has a natural sweetness. Hand processed using the youngest shoots, the tea goes through no oxidation and produces very low amounts of caffeine.
Puerh is more indigenous to China and has an earthy flavor. More prized for its medicinal properties, the aged black tea was illegal in the U.S. until 1995. It's taste is strong and peaty. The closely guarded process for the tea is unknown outside of China.
Today, tea has evolved into a multimillion dollar industry. Billions of drinkers worldwide continue to appreciate the various flavors and textures of a drink that originated as an "accident" 5,000 years ago.
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