History of Tea
Tea
is nearly 5,000 years old. According to legend, tea was
discovered in 2737 B.C. by a Chinese emperor, when some tea leaves
accidentally blew into his pot of boiling water. In the
seventeenth century, tea became popular throughout Europe, and the
American colonies, shaping American culture and customs. American
school children learn about the famous Boston Tea Party protesting the
British tea tax - one of the acts to the Revolutionary War.
Two major tea discoveries mark the twentieth century. In 1904,
iced tea was introduced at the World's Fair in St. Louis to help cool
visitors from the extreme summer heat. In 1908, Thomas Sullivan
of New York developed the concept of the tea bag, which made tea more
readily available to consumers.
There are three basic kinds of tea - black, green, and oolong. In
the US, the most commonly consumed is black tea, and yields a
full-flavored, ambered brew. Some of the popular black teas
include English Breakfast, Darjeeling, and Orange Pekoe.
Green tea has not been oxidized. It has a more delicate taste and
is light or golden in color. Green tea is favored in the Orient
and is gaining popularity in the US due in part to recent scientific
studies linking green tea drinking with reduced cancer risks.
Oolong tea, popular in China, is partly fermented and is a cross between black and green tea in color and taste.
Flavored teas are black teas that have been scented with a flavoring
material. Herbal teas and tisanes contain no true tea leaves and
are caffeine free. Herbal teas are created from the blending of
flowers, berries, leaves and roots of several different plants.
And some herbal teas are not a blend, but are an herb; these include
roobios, chamomile, and spearmint