The short history of tea
Tea became the part of everyday life in countless cultures.
The history of tea dates back to three thousand years. According to the legends, the benefits of tea were first discovered by a Chinese emperor, Shen-Nung (to whom the discovery of medicine and agriculture are attributed as well) accidentally, so to speak. They began to use tea gradually, more as seasoning or as a food ingredient. The cult of tea was established under the Han dynasty (206-220 AC), it was first used as a medicine, and a poet named Lu-Yu founded the ritual of drinking tea, in which he found special harmony.
Slowly, tea houses began to appear: first, wandering vendors sold tea, later tiny teahouses were built. When Marco Polo arrived in China, teahouses were already a characteristic part of local culture. Interestingly enough, the great discoverer did not appraise tea too high but he considered it as "the drink of women an the old" (as did later Mao Tse Tung).
To boil or to infuse?
During the centuries, the science of preparing tea gradually got more and more elaborate. Under the Ming dynasty, they used a tea kettle instead of an earthen dish for boiling water. They put the tea leaves into that or into cups made of china, and they poured hot water onto them instead of boiling.
Tea began to gather more and more mysterious theories around itself. Chinese Taoist monks believed that tea does not only make the mind more sharp, but also starts one up on the journey towards wisdom, and elevates the soul. These monks were the ones who developed the ritual of drinking tea into a real ritual incorporating elements of religious rites.
Tea became more and more well-known in the 12th and 13th centuries, but this did not distract from the mystic respect surrounding it. Drinking tea was encompassed by special rituals even in the most humble families, and parents took great care to teach their children the proper preparation and consumption of tea.
Tea arrives at Europe
Although the written description of drinking tea comes from an Indian travellers' book from 1588, tea actually did not reach Europe before the 17th century. The first cargo was imported from Macao to Amsterdam by the Dutch East India Company. Not long afterwards England also joined the business. However, the domestication of tea was unsuccessful for a long time - even the shipment of the especially delicate tea seed proved to be impossible. Later a botanist named Ward designed special cases for them to allow to plant the legendary tea in European soil.
At first, France was suspicious towards the Eastern drink, but tea conquered Louis XIV's court too in a short time. Although only aristocracy had access to tea, they were the ones who spread it to a wider audience. The British embraced the ritual of drinking tea much earlier than the French, still the first public tea salons were opened in France in the beginning of the 1900's.
Five o' clock tea
Although the French opened separate tea salons, tea was already present in a certain Thomas Garraway's coffee house as early as 1657. The fact that women were also welcome among the guests of the first teahouse in London that opened in 1706 was part of the cultural effects of tea, since women had not been allowed in the legendary coffee houses. Between 1700 and 1800, mostly due to the abrogation of taxes on tea in 1783, tea consumption in England was multiplied by fifteen. The 18th century saw the opening of "tea gardens" which took a completely perspective on tea consumption: the local residents frequented them with their families, and another specialty of English cuisine, the sandwich also made a debut in the tea gardens.
In the 19th century, the institution of tea connected with afternoon snack at four P.M. became widely known, this was postponed to five o' clock in the 20th century. It is said that the idea comes from a certain duchess Bedford, who in 1840 introduced afternoon tea in workplaces and homes alike as an important, relaxing ritual. Traditional five o' clock tea is still held in the Buckingham Palace, as in countless English homes.