I love my coffee in the morning, but in the afternoon I prefer a nice, soothing cup of tea. When I was young, I would accompany my mother downtown for a little Saturday shopping. The large department store restaurants all served an afternoon tea. Some days they would have a little fashion show to enjoy while sipping tea & munching on dainty sandwiches and sweets. For a little girl, it was a joy that I will never forget.
When traveling, we would occasionally find ourselves passing a fancy hotel, and if the timing was right, we would drop in for afternoon tea. My favorites were tea at the Plaza in New York City and Rumpelmayer's in the old St. Moritz Hotel.
When in London, it is a must to pass on lunch and instead indulge in this lovely tradition. It is a wonderful way to stop, relax and enjoy a little indulgence.
Below is a history of tea that I came across awhile back. I found it interesting, although I'm not sure how reliable it is. Regardless, I thought it would be a fun thing to share.
History
and Tradition of Tea
Legend,
and most sources, credit the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung (28th century BC) with
the discovery of tea. A fastidious man, he always had his drinking water
boiled, convinced that this would protect him from the prevalent diseases of
the time.
One
day, while making a tour of the provinces, Shen Nung requested that his
servants boil some water for him. They made a fire using branches from a
nearby camellia bush. Some of the ends of the branches escaped the fire
and extended upward. Caught by a passing breeze, a few leaves were
released from the branches' hold and floated down into the heating water. The
emperor's attention was caught by the aroma that arose from the
pot. Intrigued, he drank some of the broth. Immediately captivated by
the taste and refreshing quality of the brew, the emperor knew he had
discovered something of great importance.
The
Chinese were familiar with camellia leaves, which they used in vegetable
relishes and quite probably as part of medicinal compounds. But until the
emperor's discovery, the leaves had never been considered an ingredient of a
hot, refreshing drink. News of the emperor's discovery spread quickly
throughout China, and soon everyone was trying the beverage. Before
long, tea (known as Ch'a) became an important part of Chinese culture.
As
the centuries passed and trade with the West opened up, the status of tea
increased. Tea was introduced to continental Europe during Elizabethan
times, but did not reach English shores until the years 1657-1660. It was
the Dutch who first brought tea to the continent. The Russians also knew
about it before the English, as did the Portuguese. And it was a Venetian,
Gian Battista Ramusio, who was the first European to write about tea.
When tea was finally introduced to the English populace, it was a very hard
sell. Enormously expensive and advertised for its medicinal purposes, tea
was very slow to catch on in the British empire. The turning point came
when King Charles II ascended the throne. King Charles drank tea
throughout the day, delighting in the delicate taste and fragrant aroma for
which green teas are appreciated. His habit was adopted first by the rest
of the court and then by the entire country. Tea was sipped in homes, in
taverns and in pleasure gardens by the aristocracy, as well as their
servants.
Tea also enjoyed immense popularity in the American Colonies until the late
eighteenth century. But when King George III decided to use tea as a
source of revenue and raise the import tax on tea sent to the Colonies, the
independent-minded Americans rebelled.
The Boston Tea Party of 1773, when colonists dressed as Indians dumped a ship
load of tea into Boston Harbor, was one of the events that propelled the
Colonies toward independence, and probably led to a marked preference for
coffee in the United States.
Afternoon
tea was invented by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford (1783-1857), one
of Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting. In her day, the upper crust ate a huge
breakfast, little lunch, and a very late dinner. Every afternoon, the duchess
experienced a "sinking feeling." One afternoon she instructed
her servants to serve tea and little cakes in her boudoir. The experience was
so delightful that Anna repeated it every afternoon thereafter.
Soon others followed the Duchess' lead, and in just a few decades the custom of
"taking tea" in the afternoon had become well established. At
first the practice was limited to the upper classes, but it eventually became
so popular that tea shops and tea-rooms began opening for the enjoyment of the
general public.
America's
Part in the History of Tea
The
United States can claim two distinct contributions when it comes to tea, both
dating from the early twentieth century.
In 1904, visitors to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis sweltered
in a heat wave and shunned the hot brew offered by Indian tea growers. An
Englishman named Richard Blechynden, who represented the tea growers, tried
pouring tea over ice in order to entice fair visitors. The result was iced
tea, which now accounts for 80 percent of the tea drunk in the United
States.
The teabag began as the brainstorm of a New York tea merchant named Thomas
Sullivan in 1908. He decided to provide samples to his customers in small silk
pouches. Sullivan's customers soon discovered that the pouches could be put
directly (and conveniently) in teapots, and soon orders were pouring in for tea
packaged in "those little bags." Before long, teabags had become a
widely accepted means of packaging tea.
