HISTORY OF TEA

Tea is nearly 5,000 years old. It is said that tea was accidentally discovered in 2737 BC by Chinese Emperor Shen Nung who was also a renowned herbalist. As legend goes, Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree when some tea leaves accidentally blew into the Emperor’s pot of boiling water. The aroma from the infusion was so enticing that the Emperor decided to try and a new beverage was born. 

It is impossible to know whether there is any truth in the story.  But tea drinking certainly became established in China many centuries before it had even been heard of in the west. Tea is believed to have been introduced into India around 500AD and to Japan around 803-805AD. In the 1600’s, tea became highly popular throughout Europe and the American colonies. Anna, Duchess of Bedford, is credited with creating Afternoon Tea in 1840, when she began taking tea with a light snack around 4pm to ward off “that sinking feeling.” The U.S. played an important role in the history of tea, inventing the tea bag and iced tea, both in 1904.