The Tea Story:

2737 B.C. The second emperor of China, Shen Nung, discovers tea when tea leaves blow into his cup of hot water or so the story goes. 350 A.D. A Chinese dictionary cites tea for the first time as Erh Ya. 400-600 Demand for tea as a medicinal beverage rises in China and cultivation processes are developed. Many tea drinkers add onion, ginger, spices, or orange to their teas. 400 Now called Kuang Ya in the Chinese dictionary, tea and its detailed infusion and preparation steps are defined. 479 Turkish traders bargain for tea on the border of Mongolia. 593 Buddhism and tea journey from China to Japan. Japanese priests studying in China carried tea seeds and leaves back. 618-907 T'ang Dynasty Tea becomes a popular drink in China for both its flavor and medicinal qualities. 648-749 Japanese monk Gyoki plants the first tea bushes in 49 Buddhist temple gardens. Tea in Japan is rare and expensive, enjoyed mostly by high priests and the aristocracy. 725 The Chinese give tea give its own character cha. 729 The Japanese emperor serves powdered tea (named hiki-cha from the Chinese character) to Buddhist priests. 780 First tea tax imposed in China. Chinese poet-scholar Lu Yu writes the first book of tea titled Cha Ching (The Classic of Tea) in timely alignment with the Taoist beliefs. The book covers detailed ancient Chinese tea cultivation and preparation techniques. 805 Buddhism and tea devotion spreads further. The Japanese Buddhist saint and priest Saicho and monk Kobo Daishi bring tea seeds and cultivation and manufacturing tips back from China and plant gardens in the Japanese temples.

960-1280 Sung Dynasty Chinese tea drinking is on the rise, as are elegant teahouses and teacups carefully crafted from porcelain and pottery. Drinking powdered and frothed tea or tea scented with flowers is widespread in China while earlier flavorings fall by the wayside. Zen Buddhism catches on in Japan via China and along come tea-drinking temple rituals. 1101-1125 Chinese Emperor Hui Tsung becomes tea obsessed and writes about the best tea-whisking methods and holds tea-tasting tournaments in the court. While tea minded, so the story goes, he doesnt notice the Mongol take over of his empire. Teahouses in garden settings pop up around China. 1191 Japanese Buddhist abbot Eisai, who introduced Zen Buddhism to Japan, brings tea seeds from China and plants them around his Kyoto temple. 1206-1368 Yuan Dynasty During the Mongol take over of China, tea becomes a commonplace beverage buy never regains its high social status. 1211 Japanese Buddhist abbot Eisai writes the first Japanese tea book Kitcha-Yojoki (Book of Tea Sanitation). 1280 Mongolia takes over of China and since the Emperor of Mongol isnt a tea guy, tea drinking dies down in the courts and among the aristocracy. The masses continue to indulge. 1368-1644 Ming Dynasty At the fall of the Mongol take over, all teas green, black, and oolong is easily found in China. The process of steeping whole tea leaves in cups or teapots becomes popular. 1422-1502 The Japanese tea ceremony emerges onto the scene. First created by a Zen priest named Murata Shuko, the ceremony is called Cha-no-yu, literally meaning "hot water tea" and celebrates the mundane aspects of everyday life. Teas status elevates to an art form and almost a religion. 1484 Japan's shogun Yoshimasa encourages tea ceremonies, painting, and drama. 1589 Europeans learn about tea when a Venetian author credits the lengthy lives of Asians to their tea drinking. 1597 Tea is mentioned for the first time in an English translation of Dutch navigator Jan Hugo van Linschooten's travels, in which he refers to tea as chaa.

End of 1500s Japanese tea master Sen-no Rikyu opens the first independent teahouse and evolves the tea ceremony into its current simple and aesthetic ritual. During this ceremony, one takes a garden path into a portico, enters upon hearing the hosts gong, washes in a special room, and then enters a small tearoom that holds a painting or flower arrangement to gaze upon. The tea master uses special utensils to whisk the intense powdered tea. Tea drinkers enjoy the art or flowers and then smell and slurp from a shared teabowl. Europeans hear about tea again when Portuguese priests spreading Roman Catholicism through China taste tea and write about its medicinal and taste benefits. 1610 The Dutch bring back green tea from Japan (although some argue it was from China). Dutch East India Company market tea as an exotic medicinal drink, but its so expensive only the aristocracy can afford the tea and its serving pieces. 1618 Chinese ambassadors present the Russian Czar Alexis with many chests of tea, which are refused as useless. 1635 Tea catches on in the Dutch court. A German physician touts a warning about the dangers of tea drinking. 1637 Wealthy Dutch merchants wives serve tea at parties. 1650-1700 Tea parties become quite trendy among women across the social classes. Husbands cry family ruin, and religious reformers call for a ban. 1650 The Dutch introduce several teas and tea traditions to New Amsterdam, which later becomes New York. 1657 The first tea is sold as a health beverage in London, England at Garway's Coffee House. 1661 The debate over teas health benefits versus detriments heightens when a Dutch doctor praises its curative side while French and German doctors call out its harmful side. 1662 When Charles II takes a tea-drinking bride (Catherine Braganza of Portugal), tea becomes so chic that alcohol consumption declines. 1664 English East India Company brings the gift of tea to the British king and queen. The British take over New Amsterdam, name it New York, and a British tea tradition ensues.

1666 Holland tea prices drop to $80-$100 per pound. 1669 English East India Company monopolizes British tea imports after convincing British government to ban Dutch imports of tea. 1670 The Massachusetts colony is known to drink black tea. 1680s Tea with milk is mentioned in Madam de Svigns letters. The Duchess of York introduces tea to Scotland. 1690 The first tea is sold publicly in Massachusetts. 1697 The first known Taiwanese cultivation and export of domestic tea takes place. Late 1600s Russia and China sign a treaty that brings the tea trade across Mongolia and Siberia. 18th Century The controversy over tea continues in England and Scotland where opponents claim its overpriced, harmful to ones health, and may even lead to moral decay. 1702-14 During Queen Annes reign, tea drinking thrives in British coffeehouses. 1705 Annual tea importation to England tops 800,000 pounds. 1706 Thomas Twining serves up tea at Toms Coffee House in London. 1717 Toms Coffee House evolves into the first teashop called the Golden Lyon. Both men and women patronize the shop. 1723 British Prime Minister Robert Walpole reduces British import taxes on tea. 1735 The Russian Empress extends tea as a regulated trade. In order to fill Russias tea demand, traders and three hundred camels travel 11,000 miles to and from China, which takes sixteen months. Russian tea-drinking customs emerge, which entail using tea concentrate, adding hot water, topping it with a lemon, and drinking it through a lump of sugar held between the teeth.

1765 Tea easily ranks as the most popular beverage in the American colonies. 1767 The Townshend Revenue Act passes British Parliament, imposing duty on tea and other goods imported into the British American colonies. A town meeting is held in Boston to protest the Townshend Revenue Act, which leads to an American boycott of British imports and a smuggling in of Dutch teas. 1770 Parliament rescinds the Townshend Revenue Act, eliminating all import taxes except those on teas. 1773 In protest of British tea taxes and in what becomes known as the Boston Tea Party, colonists disguised as Native Americans board East India Company ships and unload hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor. Such tea parties are repeated in Philadelphia, New York, Maine, North Carolina, and Maryland through 1774. 1774 A furious British Parliament passes the Coercive Acts in response to the American tea party rebellions. King George III agrees to the Boston Port Bill, which closes the Boston Harbor until the East India Company is reimbursed for its tea. 1775 After several British attempts to end the taxation protests, the American Revolution begins. 1778 Before the indigenous Assam tea plants is identified, British naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, hired by the East India Company, suggests that India grow plant and cultivate imported Chinese tea. For 50 years, India is unsuccessful. 1784 Parliament further reduces the British import taxes on tea in an effort to end the smuggling that accounts for the majority of the nation's tea imports. 1785 11 million pounds of tea are brought into England. 1797 English tea drinking hits a rate of 2 pounds per capita annually, a rate that increases by five times over the next 10 years. 1815-1831 Samples of indigenous Indian tea plants are sent to an East India Company botanist who is slowly convinced that they are bona fide tea plants. 1826

 English Quaker John Horniman introduces the first retail tea in sealed, lead-lined packages. 1830 Congress reduces U.S. duties on coffee and tea and other imports. 1833 By an act of the British Prime Minister Charles Grey (the second Earl Grey and the namesake of the famous tea), the East India Company loses its monopoly in the trade with China, mostly in tea. 1835 The East India Company starts the first tea plantations in Assam, India. 1837 The first American consul at Canton, Major Samuel Shaw, trades cargo for tea and silk, earning investors a great return on their capital and encouraging more Americans to trade with China. 1838 The first tea from Indian soil and imported Chinese tea plants is sold. A small amount is sent to England and quickly purchased due to its uniqueness. 1840s American clipper ships speed up tea transports to America and Europe. 1840s and 50s The first tea plants, imports from China and India, are cultivated on a trial basis in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). 1840 Anna the Duchess of Bedford introduces afternoon tea, which becomes a lasting English ritual. 1849 Parliament ends the Britain's Navigation Acts, and U.S. clipper ships are allowed to transport China tea to British ports. Tea wholesaler Henry Charles Harrod takes over a London grocery store and grows it into one of the world's largest department stores. 1850 Londoners get their first peak at a U.S. clipper ship when one arrives from Hong Kong full of China tea. U.S. clipper ships soon desert China trade for the more profitable work of taking gold seekers to California. 1856 Tea is planted in and about Darjeeling, India. 1859 Local New York merchant George Huntington Hartford and his employer George P. Gilman

give the A&P retail chain its start as the Great American Tea Company store. Hartford and Gilman buy whole clipper shipments from the New York harbor and sell the tea 1/3 cheaper than other merchants. 1866 Over 90 percent of Britain's tea is still imported from China. 1869 The Suez Canal opens, shortening the trip to China and making steamships more economical. In a marketing effort to capitalize on the transcontinental rail link fervor, the Great American Tea Company is renamed the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. A plant fungus ruins the coffee crop in Ceylon and spreads throughout the Orient and Pacific, giving a hefty boost to tea drinking. 1870 Twinings of England begins to blend tea for uniformity. 1872 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. 1875 A new British Sale of Food and Drugs Law calls adulteration hazardous to personal health and increases its legal consequences to a heavy fine or imprisonment. 1876 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. 1890 Thomas Lipton buys tea estates in Ceylon, in order to sell tea at a reasonable price at his growing chain of 300 grocery stores. Late 1800s Assam tea plants take over imported Chinese plants in India and its tea market booms. Ceylons successful coffee market turns into a successful tea market. 1904 Englishman Richard Blechynden creates iced tea during a heat wave at the St Louis World Fair. 1904 Green tea and Formosan (Taiwanese) tea outsells black tea by five times in the U.S. 1908 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. 1909 Thomas Lipton begins blending and packaging his tea in New York.

1910 Sumatra, Indonesia becomes a cultivator and exporter of tea followed by Kenya and parts of Africa.

Sources: www.inpursuitoftea.com www.246.dk/teachronology.html (web link no longer valid) McCoy, Elin and John Frederick Walker, Coffee and Tea, G.S. Haley Company, Inc., 1998.

What is Tea?
Tea is basically the dried and processed leaves of only one species of plant called camellia sinensis. Interestingly enough, herbal teas or herbal infusions are not really teas, but simply dried leaves and/or flowers from various other plants and herbs. Even though all teas come from only one species, there are three major varietals: The China Small leaves and generally thrives at higher altitudes. The India (or Assam) Larger leaves and generally thrives at lower altitudes. The Hybrid Kind of in-between the Chinese and Indian. Earlier, I talked about the processing of the camellias leaves. There are four main methods of processing and each produces a different type of tea. These four main types are: White Tea Green Tea Black Tea Oolong Tea

A Tea for Everyone:

Sometimes, tea is sold as a blend of some combination of the four main types listed above. Teas can also be flavored with oils or scented with flower petals during the processing stage. They can also be combined with fruits and spices. One of my favorites is chai tea which is black tea brewed with various spices. Finally, let's not forget refreshing iced tea!

What is White Tea?

White tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is the least common of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black). White teas are the least processed of any tea and therefore taste the most like fresh leaves or grass. They also have the lowest amount of caffeine and most likely have the highest antioxidant properties.

What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created. In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out. Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to the air resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long.

The Processing of White Tea:

First of all, white tea starts with just the tightly rolled buds of the White tea does not go through any oxidation at all. In order to prevent oxidation, white teas are immediately fired or steamed after letting them wither (air dry) for a period of time. There is no rolling, breaking, or bruising of any kind. The dried buds have a silver-like appearance because the tiny white hairs of new growth are still present. This is probably why the most popular white tea (at least in the US) is called Silver Needle.

My Suggestions:
Here is a quality Chinese white tea from Adagio Teas.

Silver Needle

"White tea from China. Silver Needle is among the most revered of Chinese teas, produced in the Fuding and Zhenhe districts of its Fujian province. Gathered only in the few days of early spring, the preparation of this tea is governed by strict requirements to ensure a premium product. This dedication to perfection is evident in the cup, which is sweet and

delicate with a clean, airy fragrance. Our ""Sublime Needle"" is a Special Grade (Bai Hao) version of this exquisite tea." If you are new to white teas and would like to try a few different examples, I would suggest this White Sampler .

What is Green Tea?

Green tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is one of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black). Green teas, like white teas, are closer to tasting like fresh leaves or grass than the black or oolong. They are also lower in caffeine and have higher antioxidant properties.

What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created. In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out. Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long.

The Processing of Green Tea:

The processing of green tea is similar to that of white tea in that it does not oxidize. After the leaves are plucked, they are (sometimes) laid out to wither for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water evaporate. Then, in order to neutralize the enzymes thus preventing oxidation, the leaves are steamed or pan fried. Next the leaves are rolled up in various ways and tightness. After that, a final drying takes place. Since no oxidation took place, the tea has more of a green appearance. From there, it goes off to be sorted, graded, and packaged.

What is Black Tea?

Black tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is one of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black).

Black teas are the most consumed of the four types of teas. They are the highest in caffeine, but still have antioxidant properties, just not quite as much as others.

What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created. In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out. Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long.

The Processing of Black Tea:

The processing of black tea requires a full oxidation of the leaves. After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to wither for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water evaporate. Then the leaves are rolled in order to crack up the surface so that oxygen will react with the enzymes and begin the oxidation process. The leaves are left to completely oxidize, thus turning the leaves to a deep black color. After that, a final drying takes place. From there, it goes off to be sorted, graded, and packaged

What is Oolong Tea?

Oolong tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way. It is one of the four types of teas (white, green, oolong, and black). Oolong teas are the most difficult of the four types of teas to process. The best way to describe oolong tea is that they are somewhere in between green and black tea. This is because they are only partially oxidized during the processing.

What is Tea Processing?

Processing tea is generally considered the art of tea. It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created. In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out.

Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. When the leaf is broken, bruised, or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long.

The Processing of Oolong Tea:

The processing of oolong tea requires only a partial oxidation of the leaves. After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to wither for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water evaporate. Then the leaves are tossed in baskets in order to bruise the edges of the leaves. This bruising only causes the leaves to partially oxidize because only a portion of the enzymes are exposed to air. Next, the leaves steamed in order to neutralize the enzymes and stop any oxidation. Oolong tea can have varying degrees of oxidation. Some are closer to black teas, and some are closer to green. After that, a final drying takes place. From there, it goes off to be sorted, graded, and packaged.

The Five Major Tea Regions

India
India is the largest tea-producing country in the world. Although India mostly grows black tea, its teas are widely known for their range and excellence. Main Teas of India: Black teas: Indian black teas are bright and lively with medium- to full-bodied flavors. Best known are Assam and Darjeeling. Darjeeling tea is ofter referred to as the "Champagne of Tea".

China
Chinese teas cover the most range of all tea-producing countries. China produces hundreds of varieties and styles of teas and categorizes them by leaf shape and size and the district name. Main Teas of China: Black teas: Chinese black teas are mild, sweet, and full-bodied with a range of smokiness. Best known are Keemun and Yunnan blacks. Green teas: Chinese green teas are clean and vegetal with a range of essences from nutty to smoky. Best known are Gunpowder, Lung Ching (Dragon Well), Hubei Silver Tip, Young

Hyson, Hyson, Chunmee, and Sowmee green teas. Oolong teas: Chinese oolong teas are fruity and fragrant. Best known are Ti Kwan Yin and Phoenix Mountain. Scented teas: Chinese scented teas boast the subtle flavors of flower petals or blossoms. Best known is Jasmine tea. See article on scented teas for more information.

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is one of the largest tea exporters worldwide, exporting mostly black tea to Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. Main Teas of Sri Lanka: Black teas: Sri Lankan black teas offer brisk and refreshing flavor with mild floral aromas. Best known are Ceylons, Pekoe, Orange Pekoe, Broken Pekoe, and Broken Orange Pekoe.

Japan
Japanese tea production is well organized and highly efficient, and it grows some of the worlds premium green teas, in which the flavors range from light to full bodied. Main Teas of Japan: Green teas: Japanese green teas are delicately to richly grassy flavored and always pale in the cup. Best known are Bancha, Sencha, Genmai Cha, and Shizuoka.

Taiwan
While Taiwan successfully produces many of the same teas as China, they are truly known for their exceptional oolongs and pouchongs. Main Teas of Taiwan: Oolong teas: Taiwanese oolong teas are fruit flavored with flowery aromas. The best known is superb Formosa oolong. Pouchong teas: Taiwanese pouchong teas are fresh and sweet with explosive floral fragrances. Pouchong teas serve as the base tea in scented teas.

Recent Tea Trends

Tea is for Trendsetter

While you might think of coffee as the trendsetting beverage, tea is actually growing faster. Older tea buzzwords were fair trade and organic, green tea and bubble tea. Recently, tea is hipper than ever and is showing up in places you wouldnt imagine. Here are some of the hottest up-and-coming tea trends:

Tea-Resistible Cocktails
In the trendiest big city nightlife spots, tea is making its way into the most innovative of libations. Bartenders are slipping green, black, and scented teas into all kinds of drinkables. With names like Green Tea De Lite, the Earl Grey marTEAni, and the Moroccan Mojito, tea is making its mark in cocktails.

A Tea for All Tearooms, Tea Lounges, Tea Bars

No matter the space or the place, the tea business is booming. Specialty tearooms, tea lounges, and tea bars where tea lovers can belly up to the bar for tasting sensations are popping up all over big cities. Tea cuppers set up tasting presentations so tea aficionados can learn about and appreciate firsthand fine, world-flavored teas.

Its the Specialtea

With all the buzz about the health benefits of tea, more and more tea drinkers are coming out of the woodwork, and theyre demanding quality teas. Even hotels and fine restaurants are catching on and offering loose leaf teas and a selection of high-quality specialty teas. After all, theres nothing worse than an amazing meal coupled with a bad cup of tea.

Sweetening the Pot

So theyre serving specialty teas, setting up exquisite afternoon tea and tea ceremonies, and pairing great dishes with the perfect teas. However, this latest fervor for tea goes beyond the finger sandwich. Many chefs and restaurants are experimenting with tea on their menus. Think green-tea vinaigrette, tea-scented rice, powdered green tea sprinkled over fine desserts. The inspirations are endless.

Artsy Teas
As you gaze into a cup of this tea, youll be impressed by its gorgeous artfulness that resembles the fine works of Mother Nature.

The tea leaves have actually been hand sewn in what steeps open into a full and beautiful flower shape, something like a peony or a radiant sea anemone in your cup. Not only are they eye-catching, but theyre usually quite delightful as well.

Major HotTeas
A few of the trendiest types of tea of late are white tea (similar to an exquisite green tea in flavor but double or more the price), Yerba Mate (a South American caffeine boost with the health benefits of tea), and rooibos or red tea (a caffeine-free South African herbal tea with antioxidant values of green tea). Watch for more on these as their popularity soars

Certified Teas: Good for the Body and Soul

Certified teas launched onto the market in a direct response to the recent environmentally conscious and socially responsible food and drink movement. Even your grocery store has to certifiably tell you which foods are grown or produced chemical and pesticide free now. Tea drinkers, on the coattails of coffee drinkers, are now not only demanding chemical and pesticide-free teas, but they also take pride in buying teas from organizations who take care of their tea farmers. Two of the most commonly known programs are Organic Tea Certification and Fair Trade Tea Certification.

Organic Teas:
Decades of chemical farming may have just about played themselves out. Consumers are starting to stand up and demand safe, quality goods for their dollar. Such farming methodology adversely affects agricultural sustainability, productivity, and quality, farm worker health, and ultimately our health as we ingest chemically grown crops into our bodies. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) put National Organic Standards into practice, which requires all organic products to be certified under certain guidelines by a USDA-approved independent agency (such as Quality Assurance International, Inc.) and labeled as such. So now certified organic teas are readily available on the market, and yes, avid tea snobs are willing to pay a little more for them. After all, its a benefit for your health and your taste buds and an insurance policy toward quality tea for years to come.

Fair Trade Teas:

Fair Trade certification is newer to the certified tea market than organic tea or at least its only recently advancing in popularity. Coupled with Organic certification, Fair Trade certification just ups socially conscious consumerism another notch. Fair Trade helps farming families in developing countries build successful working cooperatives and market their crops on the international circuit. Subsequently, the farmers can warrant a fair price for their goods and invest back into the farming cooperatives by means of improved healthcare, education, and housing and preserving sustainable growing methods. By empowering these groups, there is a higher guarantee of quality products as well. A healthy farmer with thriving land can come up with some incredible results! Fair Trade is truly a working partnership between tea farmers, tea traders, and tea drinkers. Supporters and buyers actively uphold its efforts. It creates a positive and functioning cycle that ultimately works for the betterment of human lives and the ecosystem and not to mention the long-term cultivation of great tasting tea! For more information on certified teas, see the links below.

Tea Dictionary
Basic Tea Definitions
Artisan teas: Often refers to premium, full-leaf white, green, and black teas that are hand-sewn into intricate blossoms or rosettes; they require no tea bag or strainer and bloom when steeped; sometimes referred to as flowering teas, peonies, or anemones. Assam: This state in India is the largest tea-producing district in the world and is best known for its variety of black teas. Black tea: The foremost tea sold worldwide. Prepared from green tealeaves that have been allowed to fully ferment and wither. Brews a reddish-orange or reddish-brown infusion. Blend: Two or more varietals of tea blended together. Caffeine: A stimulant contained in tea, which can boost the heart rate and alertness and, in elevated quantities, can lead to restlessness or insomnia. Ceylon: These black teas are from Sri Lanka, one of the largest tea exporters worldwide. Cha: The word for the Chinese and Japanese character referring to tea. Chai: A popular tea drink made from strong black tea, milk, sugar, and spices. Chanoyu: The Japanese tea ceremony, literally meaning "hot water tea," which celebrates the beauty and mundane aspects of everyday life. Darjeeling: This tea district in northeast India is best known for its brisk and floral black teas. Dust: The smallest and usually lower quality grade of tea commonly used in commercial teabags. Earl Grey: A black tea scented with citrus oil from the Bergamot orange. English breakfast tea: A brisk and lively black tea, traditionally Keemuns from China and often including China congou blends and Ceylon blends. These teas are frequently served with milk and sugar. Fair trade teas: A tea that is certified by an international agency as having been grown on a farm that is part of a Fair Trade working cooperative. Fair Trade certification works to allow farmers to warrant a fair price for their goods and at the same time upholds specific standards for the wages and living and working conditions of its workers. Fair Trade coffees are labeled as such. Firing: The method of rapidly firing the tealeaf with hot air or in a hot pan in order to quickly cease fermentation and dry the leaf.

The Origins of Indian Tea

Long before the commercial production of tea started in India in the late 1830s, the tea plant was growing wild in the jungles of north east Assam . In 1598, a Dutch traveller, Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, noted in a book about his adventures that the Indians ate the leaves as a vegetable with garlic and oil and boiled the leaves to make a brew. In 1788, the British botanist, Joseph Banks, reported to the British East India Company that the climate in certain British-controlled parts of north east India was ideal for tea growing. However, he seems to have missed the fact that the plant was a native to Bengal and suggested transplanting tea bushes from China. But his idea was ignored. In 1823 and 1831, Robert Bruce and his brother Charles, an employee of the East India Company, confirmed that the tea plant was indeed a native of the Assam area and sent seeds and specimen plants to officials at the newly established Botanical Gardens in Calcutta. But again, nothing was done - perhaps because the East India Company had a monopoly on the trading of tea from China and, as they were doing very nicely, probably saw no reason to spend time and money elsewhere. But in 1833, everything changed. The company lost its monopoly and suddenly woke up to the fact that India might prove a profitable alternative. A committee was set up, Charles Bruce was given the task of establishing the first nurseries, and the secretary of the committee was sent off to China to collect 80,000 tea seeds. Because they were still not sure that the tea plant really was indigenous to India, committee members insisted on importing the Chinese variety. The seeds were planted in the Botanical Gardens in Calcutta and nurtured until they were sturdy enough to travel 1000 miles to the newly prepared tea gardens. Meanwhile, up in

Assam, Charles Bruce and the other pioneers were clearing suitable areas of land on which to develop plantations, pruning existing tea trees to encourage new growth, and experimenting with the freshly plucked leaves from the native bushes to manufacture black tea. Bruce had recruited two tea makers from China and, with their help, he steadily learnt the secrets of successful tea production. The conditions were incredibly harsh. The area was remote and hostile, cold in winter and steamy hot in summer. Tigers, leopards and wolves constantly threatened the lives of the workers, and the primitive settlements of the tea workers were subject to regular raids by local hill tribes. But they persevered and gradually the jungle was opened up, the best tea tracts cultivated under the light shade of surrounding trees, and new seedlings planted to fill gaps and create true tea gardens. Ironically, the native plants flourished, while the Chinese seedlings struggled to survive in the intense Assam heat and it was eventually decided to make subsequent plantings with seedlings from the native tea bush. The first twelve chests of manufactured tea to be made from indigenous Assam leaf were shipped to London in 1838 and were sold at the London auctions. The East India Company wrote to Assam to say that the teas had been well received by some "houses of character", and there was a similar response to the next shipment, some buyers declaring it "excellent". Having established a successful industry in Assam's Brahmaputra valley, with factories and housing settlements, the Assam Tea Company began to expand into other districts of north east India. Cultivation started around the town of Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas in the mid 1850s. By 1857, between 60 and 70 acres were under tea and, whereas the China variety of the tea plant had not liked the conditions in Assam, here at elevations of 2500 to 6000 feet, it grew well. The company pushed on into Terai and Dooars and even into the remote Kangra valley, 800 miles west of Darjeeling. In the south western tip of the country, experimental plantings had been made in 1835, while the first nurseries were being established in Assam, and by the mid 1850s tea was growing successfully alongside coffee. The climate of the Nilgiri Hills, or Blue Mountains, seemed to suit the plant, and the area under tea steadily expanded.

In 1853, India exported 183.4 tons of tea. By 1870, that figure had increased to 6,700 tons and by 1885, 35,274 tons. Today, India is one of the world's largest producers of tea with 13,000 gardens and a workforce of more than 2 million people.