-
According to Legend, Emperor Shen Nung was sitting under a tree while his servant boiled drinking water. Dried leaves from the Camellia Sinensis tree fell into the pot and infused with the water, creating the first tea infusion.
-
Containers of tea were found in tombs dating from the Han Dynasty.
-
Tea became firmly established as the national drink of China.
-
Whipped powdered tea became fashionable during the Song Dynasty, but unfortunately disappeared after the Yuan Dynasty.
-
Chinese people became accustomed to drinking steeped tea leaves.
-
Tea spread among Europe, mostly to Portuguese people who lived as traders and missionaries.
-
First to ship back tea to Europe as a commercial import were the Dutch. The first consignment of tea was shipped from China to Holland via Java.
-
The East India company began to import tea into Britian with a first order of 100 lbs. of China Tea, shipped from Java.
-
High taxes on tea brought about smuggling and adulteration of tea in Britian. People were unable to afford the expensive prices.
-
Tea smuggling and adulteration involved a higher volume of tea than legally imported amount.
-
A protest against tea duties that sparked the American war of Independence. This led to the USA becoming an independent nation instead of a group of British colonies.
-
Slashed taxes and made tea more affordable. Smuggling came to an end.
-
East India Company's monopoly on tea came to an end, resulting to growth of tea in British colonies.
-
A New York tea merchant, started to send samples of his tea to customers. He developed the first tea bags.
-
Tea bags were developed for commercial production.
-
Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world after water. China, India, and Kenya are top producing companies of Tea.