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Tea has found
a permanent place in the lives
and hearts of diverse peoples
the world over, and spread cheer
and camaraderie for over 4500
years. Poets and philosophers
have lavished praise on it, and
perhaps no other beverage has
been the object of such ritual
and ceremony across the planet.
Today, over 3 billion cups of
tea are consumed every day
across the globe, making it the
most popular and cheapest drink
in the world after water. Its
fragrance, flavour and gentle
aroma generate a sense of
pleasure, well-being, and
fellowship across the world,
round the clock.
There is a mystique about the
origin of tea. It is commonly
believed that Tea was discovered
by accident by the Chinese
Emperor Shen Nung in 2737 BC.
While boiling water, some leaves
had accidentally fallen into the
water. When the Emperor drank
the water with the tea leaves in
it, he found that it quenched
his thirst and that it had
invigorating qualities.
It is known that the first tea
ever was green and that, in
spite of ancient tea customs,
black tea did not exist until as
late as 780 B.C. Although it is
hard to believe, nobody knows
for sure where black tea
originated. It is assumed that
black tea came from China and it
is probable that it was created
while fermenting green tea in
the search for new and refined
variations - they certainly knew
how to ferment. It remained,
however, of little importance
until it was rediscovered and
cultivated in India. China and
India are the only two countries
with indigenous tea plants.
Tea is much like wine. It is the
way it is produced, when it is
harvested and the shape of the
leaf that give tea its
characteristic flavour. Soil and
climate also help to form its
character. Exquisite teas are
grown where both special
climatic conditions and highly
developed methods of cultivation
meet. There are only a handful
of countries in the whole world
that can meet this criteria :
India with Assam and Darjeeling,
Ceylon, China, Japan and Kenya. |
