Origins & History of Tea

There are many legends and myths surrounding the discovery of tea, including one which says the first tea plants grew from the severed eyelids of a religious leader. Unlikely as this sounds, we don't actually know how people discovered the drink. Tea plants are native to Asia, mainly the East and South, and it is believed that China was the first country to consume tea - with records of this back to the 10th Century BC. In 59 BC Wang Bao published the first ever book detailing how to prepare tea. Tea production in China was  labourious and lengthy process, and it was mostly done in poorer regions.

Tea was introduced to Japan around 600 BC by Buddhist monks. It became an important religious symbol and a tool in ceremonies. It also became a drink of royal class when the Japanese Emperor decided he liked it and encouraged its growth and production. Tea was revered in Japan and it was believed to have many medicinal properties. The oldest tea specialty book in Japan, written by Eisai, begins, "Tea is the ultimate mental and medical remedy and has the ability to make one’s life more full and complete." I would agree with this statement. My life would be much less without tea.  
Green tea became very important to Japanese culture. In the 15th century the Japanese Tea Ceremony was introduced from China. It was a semi - religious social custom, practiced mostly by the upper class. In 1738, Soen Nagatani produced sencha, literally roasted tea. This was a kind of unfermented green tea. It is still the most popular green tea in Japan to this day. At the start of the 20th century, manufactured tea started to become more popular, gradually replacing handmade tea.

When tea was first introduced in Europe by the Portuguese and Spanish explorers it was mainly used as a medicine, particularly in Germany, but as time went on people began to drink it more and more. Also in the United States coffee is far more popular than tea, but still some black tea is consumed. Iced Tea is also very popular, which is cooled sweetened tea served chilled. After the American Revolution tea consumption actually dropped considerably, since the Boston Tea Party was one of the main events which triggered the War of Independence.