Information about Tea

Tea is such an English thing and many of us now prefer adding nutritional honey to our tea which makes this a great healthy beverage.

Even though tea originated in China the British have a former King, Charles 11, who married a passionate tea drinker who in turn helped this popular beverage become very fashionable. She was called Catharine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess.

A bit of a trendsetter in her day she soon introduced her passion of drinking tea to the Royal court and visitors. This popularity quickly spread amongst the wealthy and the East India Tea Company, quick to spot an ever increasing market started to export their tea.

Coffee shops were becoming quite established at this time and introduced this new exciting drink to their menus. Little did they realize the benefits of drinking tea which include the many vital minerals, essential vitamins, and zinc properties it contains.

Honey nutrition enhances this beverage further and as it is sweeter than sugar we use less of it to sweeten our tea whilst doing nothing to harm the taste or health benefits.

The history of tea however begins in China. Legends tell us in 2737 BC, the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled some drinking water. The wind was blowing leaves around and a tea leaf landed in the water.

Hmmm, thought Shen Nung when he tasted this, "this is rather nice" he was an herbalist who dabbled in plants and herbs and by sheer accident they had invented what was probably the first ever cup of tea.

Under the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD), tea became established as the national drink of China. This does appear strange to those who enjoy their great British cuppa because we have been drinking this for more than 350 years.

In the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) tea was also popular as tea containers have been discovered buried for hundreds of years in tombs. However, in the eight century a book was written called the Tea Classic or Ch'a Ching when the writer Lu Yu realized that tea had indeed become a firm favorite.

Legend also has it that an Indian Prince who converted to Buddhism in the sixth century decided to go to China spreading the word about his religion, much as I do about spreading the word about the benefits of honey. He didn't believe that you should sleep for too long and was furious with himself when upon wakening he had done just that.

In a rage he cut off his eyelids and threw them to the ground, they supposedly became the first tea bush. However this is only legend! If he had been drinking tea in high quantities (not recommended) the caffeine it contains would probably have helped him stay awake a little longer.

Not long after this tea was first introduced to Japan. Japanese Buddhist monks stated to travel to China to study. They discovered tea drinking there and introduced tea into Japan where their tea drinking habits are now a vital part of Japanese culture, as seen in the development of the Tea Ceremony.

We in the Western world have the Dutch to thank mainly for our now widespread tasty drink, the cup of tea. The Portuguese in the sixteenth century had already established trading in the East and the Dutch jumped on the band-wagon so to speak.

They established tea trading to Western cultures after it had become an extremely popular drink in Holland. It was still considered to be a drink that only the wealthy could enjoy because of the high taxation on tea. 

Britain, who has always been a little suspicious of continental trends still had a long way to go before they became known as a tea drinking country.

The great British Cuppa had not yet been born! It is assumed that weary sailors would bring gifts of tea back with them from their travels around the 1600s.

It seems the first dated reference to tea in Great Britain is from an advert in a London newspaper, Mercurius Politicus, from September 1658. It was announced that 'China Drink, called by the Chinese, Tcha, alias "Tee" was on sale at a coffee house.

The first coffee house had been established in London in 1652, and tea was still very unfamiliar to most people, in fact it was seen as something of a curiosity. Little did they know then how the Great British Cuppa would become an institution. "Put the kettle on" would be heard in just about every household!

There was a huge debate in the eighteenth century concerning the taxation of tea, and furious arguments as to whether drinking tea was good or bad for people's health. Luckily for us medical and scientific research means we now know that drinking three to four cups of tea a day helps maintain our health. But this information was not available to tea drinkers 250 years ago.

Wealthy "speakers" in particular started rumors that tea drinking among the working classes would lead to weakness and a couldn't care less attitude! Hmmm, they wouldn't get away with that today!

During the First World War, when the British government took over the importation of tea to Britain in order to ensure it be available at an affordable price the taxes which were high were considered to be unreasonable as tea had become a mood enhancer. Unfortunately during the Second World War, tea was rationed from 1940 until 1952.

Now the Great British Cuppa is enjoyed freely in just about every country and corner of the world. From Bone China tea cups in posh London hotels to mugs and tea bags in everyday kitchens and huge metal flasks on many a building site.

The health benefits of tea and the nutrition of honey as a sweetener is just an every day occurrence even though their combined history is rich and varied their prices today are quite reasonable and an essential on just about every British food shopping list.

Who would have thought it, a Portuguese princess started the tradition of the Great British Cuppa!