The History of Tea Drinking
The use of tea as a beverage probably dates to the remotest antiquity but not among nations (with exceptions of China) whose literature is available.
Confucius speaks of tea drinking 500 years before Christ. It is not mentioned by any of the classical writers. It was not until the organization of the East Indian Company that tea was brought into England.
In regard to this use in America the only thing that seems to be certain is that it was not brought over in the Mayflower.
It is stated by authority that the first merchant who put on sale in England was named Garway.
By 1660 tea was pretty well known in England among the wealthy and fashionable. By 1664 it was on sale at the coffee houses. Even in 1664 the cost was excessive shillings a pound being the price.
While the first use of this leaf was as a medicine a German named Olearius recognized its value as a beverage as early as 1633.
But many there were who vilified it calling it an “impertinent novelty and the sellers of its immoral and mercenary persons.”
In Boston, tea was on sale by 1690 and in 1691 there were two houses besides those kept by Daniel Vernon and Benjamin Harris.
By 1712 it was advertised in the Boston News Latter and you could buy it from Zabdiel Bolton at his apothecary shop.
The favorite variety was green but the advertisement reads “green and ordinary.” Bohea was favorite and by 1725 it could be purchased in apothecary tobacco and drygoods shops,, as well as those devoted to “small ware.”.
From a commercial point of view the China tea trade began about 1678 by the East Indian Company carrying to England about 5,000 pounds of tea as a speculation.
This quality supplied London for many years before it was finally disposed of.
The exports of tea from China reached a maximum about 1886, when a total of about 300,000,000 pounds were exported.
From 1886 there has been a gradual decline in the amount exporter largely due to the growing popularity of India teas.
The History of Tea Drinking
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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