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A Tea Timeline
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HISTORY OF TEA – TIMELINE 2737 B.C. – Leaf falls into pot of boiling water in China. 800 AD – Zen Buddhist Monks take the Camellia Sinensis plant to Japan and help the Japanese to cultivate this crop. The Zen of Tea (Wabi-Style Ceremony) is born. Taking tea in the garden is revered as a way to commune with nature. "In my own hands I hold a bowl of tea; I see all of nature represented in its green color. Closing my eyes I find green mountains and pure water within my own heart. Silently sitting alone and drinking tea, I feel these become a part of me." Soshitsu Sen Grand Master XIV Urasenke School of Tea Late 1600’s – Tea finally replaces ale as the British breakfast beverage of choice. By the 1800’s Great Britain is consuming over ½ of all the tea that China can produce. The Four O’Clock Tea party is well underway with delectable sweets and fine china. Tea sandwiches are invented. Tea is often kept under lock & key as part of the family valuables. Demand for tea links Britain with India and their wonderful ASSAM tea variety. 1773 – For the love of tea!! When the King of England tries to levy a tax on tea shipments to the Colonists, the Boston Tea Party leads to the Revolutionary War. If it weren’t for tea, would we still be a colony? 1898 - Lipton’s Brisk Tea Blend is born and makes tea available at a more constant price. 1890 (approx) – The first successful crop of U.S. grown tea is harvested in Summerville, SC This plantation folded in 1915 with the land and plants eventually being sold to Sir Thomas Lipton. Lipton would create a new hybrid and plant the crop on Wadmalaw Island near Charleston, SC. in 1963. 1903 – Dismayed that beverage sales of hot tea are going poorly on a hot day, an American invents ICED TEA (at the St. Louis State Fair). |
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