Tea Timeline

By SKO0003
  • 2737 BCE

    Tea is discovered

    It is believed that Shen Nung, the second emperor of china, discovered tea when tea leaves blew into his cup of hot water.
  • 350

    Written Down

    A Chinese dictionary includes tea for the first time. it is listed as 'Erh Ya'
  • 400

    Defined and Detailed

    Tea and it's preparation steps are defined as well as it's detailed infusion. Tea's name is also now known as Kuang Ya in the Chinese dictionary.
  • Period: 400 to 600

    Tea is in high demand

    Cultivation processes of tea were updated, as the demand for tea is high when it is used as a medical treatment.
  • 479

    Turkey gets involved

    Bargaining begins with Turkish traders on the borders of Mongolia
  • 593

    Tea travels between Japan and China

    Japanese priests bring tea leaves and seeds on their journey to and from china and japan. Buddhism is also introduced to japan while this happens
  • Period: 618 to 907

    Popularity Increases- T'ang dynasty

    due to it's flavour a medical qualities, tea became a very popular beverage.
  • Period: 648 to 749

    Tea is planted

    Gyoki a Japanese monk plants some of the first tea bushes in 49 Buddhist temple gardens. Tea is enjoyed mostly by high priests and the aristocracy as tea in Japan is rare and very expensive,
  • 725

    Tea is given a character

    China gives tea it's very own character, that is chía.
  • 729

    Powdered

    The Japanese emperor serves powdered tea, to Buddhist priests. the powdered rendition is named hiki-cha from the Chinese character.
  • 780

    First Tea Tax

    First tea tax is imposed in China. Lu Yu, a Chinese poet-scholar, writes the first book of tea, titled Ch'a Ching (The Classic of Tea) in timely alignment with Taoist beliefs. Lu Yu's book contains detailed ancient Chinese preparation and tea cultivation techniques.
  • 805

    Buddhism and Tea go further

    The Japanese Buddhist saint and priest, Saicho and Kobo Daishi, a monk, bring cultivation and tea seeds and manufacturing tips back from China and plant gardens in the Japanese temples.
  • Period: 980 to 1280

    Sung Dynasty- Tea drinking is on the rise

    Chinese tea drinking is on the rise, as are elegant tea houses and teacups crafted carefully from pottery and porcelain. Zen Buddhism became popular in Japan through China and tea-drinking temple rituals also developed. Drinking powdered and frothed tea or tea scented with flowers is everywhere in China, while earlier flavorings become less popular.
  • Period: 1101 to 1125

    Hui Tsung become tea obsessed

    Chinese Emperor Hui Tsung holds tea-tasting tournaments while in the court. He becomes completely tea obsessed and writes about the best tea-whisking methods. Teahouses in garden settings pop up around China. While distracted it is believed his passion for tea, prevented him from noticing the Mongol taking over of his empire.
  • 1191

    Tea planted in Kyoto Temple

    Japanese Buddhist abbot Eisai brings tea seeds from China and plants them around his Kyoto temple. He had also introduced Zen Buddhism to Japan
  • Period: 1206 to 1368

    Tea is a commonplace drink all over china

    During the Mongul takeover, tea lost it's high social status and became a commonplace drink.
  • 1211

    Book of Tea Sanitation.

    The first Japanese tea book Kitcha-Yojoki (Book of Tea Sanitation) is written by Japanese Buddhist abbot Eisai.
  • 1280

    Mongolia's influence

    Mongolia takes over China and the Emperor of Mongol doesn't like tea anywhere near as much as his predecessor, drinking tea dies down in the courts and among Chinese aristocracy. Large groups of people still keep drinking tea.
  • Period: 1368 to

    Tea found after Mongol's fail

    Mongol take over falls and all teas including green, black, and oolong are found in China. The process of steeping whole tea leaves in cups or teapots also becomes very popular
  • Period: 1422 to 1502

    Ca-no-yu Ceremony

    Tea's status elevates to an art form and almost a religion. The Japanese tea ceremony First created by a Zen priest named Murata Shukoe is created. the ceremony is called Cha-no-yu, meaning "hot water tea" and celebrates mundane aspects of daily life.
  • 1500

    end of 1500's

    when Portuguese priests spreading Roman Catholicism through China taste tea and write about its medicinal and taste benefits Europeans hear about tea again.
  • Period: 1555 to 1559

    In European Literature

    In an account of the 16th century the first mention of tea in European literature as “Chai Catai”
    Marco Polo’s writings fail to mention tea at all but some historians still believe he encountered tea in his travel

  • Italian travellers record tea

    Italian priest/poet/diplomat Giovanni Botero writes: ‘On the Causes of Greatness in Cities’, covering Chinese of tea drinking:
    - “The Chinese have a herb from which they press a delicate juice, which serves them instead of wine. It also preserves the health and frees them from all those evils that the immoderate use of wine doth breed in us.”
    Roman historical Indica records Japanese tea drinking.
    - “All they delight to drink is water almost boiling, mingled with the powdered chia.”

  • Europe becomes aware

    Europeans learn about tea for the first time when a Venetian author says the long lives of Asian people, is due to their tea drinking

  • Tea is mentioned in the english language

    Dutch navigator Jan Hugo van Linschooten's translates tea into the English language for the first time. it is mentioned as Chaa
  • Period: to

    Importation and trade

    Queen Elizabeth 1st, made the John Foundation. Purposed to promote trade with Asia. Chinese ceramics, silks, and exotic spices In Europe were in high demand.
    In 1601, the English East India Company was founded.
    Both of the organisations grew the trade of tea Asia and Europe
    1602 C.E
    Spanish missionary, Father Diego de Pantoja writes on Chinese etiquette -“When they ended their salutations they straightway cause a drink to be brought, water boiled with a certain herb which they much esteeme..”
  • Period: to

    Introduction and selling

    1657- Garway's Coffee House sells the first tea in England as a health beverage in London.
    1650- The Dutch introduce tea traditions and several teas to New Amsterdam.
  • Period: to

    1660-1669

    1669- After persuading British government to ban Dutch imports of tea the English East India Company monopolizes British tea imports
    1666- Holland tea prices drop to $80-$100 per pound.
    1664- The British take over New Amsterdam, name it New York and British tea traditions remain.The English East India Company brings tea as gifts to the British King and Queen.
    1662- When Charles II marries Catherine Braganza of Portugal (a tea-drinking bride), tea becomes so popular that alcohol was drunk less.
  • Period: to

    1690-1725

    1723- British Prime Minister Robert Walpole lowers British import taxes on tea.
    1707- Thomas Twining serves tea at Tom's Coffee House.
    The late 1600s- Russia and China sign a treaty to bring the tea trade across Mongolia and Siberia.
    1697- The first Taiwanese export and cultivation of domestic tea occurs
    1690- The first publicly sold tea in Massachusetts

  • Russian Tea Drinking

    1735- Russian tea-drinking customs rise, which involves using tea concentrate, adding hot water, topping it with a lemon, and drinking it through a lump of sugar held between the teeth. The Russian empress extends tea as a regulated trade. In order to fill Russia's tea demand, traders and three hundred camels travel 11,000 miles to and from China, which takes sixteen months.

  • Boston Tea Party

    1773- In protest of British tea taxes and what becomes known as the Boston Tea Party, colonists disguised as Native Americans, board East India Company ships and unload hundreds of chests of tea into the harbour. Such "tea parties" are repeated in Philadelphia, New York, Maine, North Carolina, and Maryland.
  • Period: to

    1774- 1789

    1778- British naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, suggests that India grow, plant and cultivate imported Chinese tea. India is unsuccessful for 50 years.
    1775- the American Revolution begins after several British attempts to end the taxation protests.
    1774- King George III agrees to the Boston Port Bill, which closes the Boston Harbor until the East India Company is reimbursed for lost tea. British Parliament passes the Coercive Acts reacting to the American "tea party" rebellions.
  • Period: to

    1835-1838

    1838- The first tea from Indian soil and imported Chinese tea plants is sold. A small amount is sent to England and quickly purchased due to its uniqueness.
    1837- The first American consul at Canton, Major Samuel Shaw, trades cargo for tea and silk, earning investors a great return on their capital and encouraging more Americans to trade with China.
    1835- The East India Company starts the first tea plantations in India
  • Period: to

    1840-1849

    1849- Tea wholesaler Henry Charles Harrod takes over a London grocery store and grows it into one of the world's largest department stores. Parliament ends Britain's Navigation Acts, and U.S. clipper ships are allowed to transport China tea to British ports.
    1840s and - The first tea plants, imports from China and India, are cultivated on a trial basis in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
  • Period: to

    1850-1859

    1859- Local New York merchant George Huntington Hartford and his employer George P. Gilman give the A&P retail chain a start as the Great American Tea Company store. They buy whole clipper shipments from the New York harbour and sell the tea 1/3 cheaper than other merchants
    1850- U.S. clipper ships soon desert China trade for the more profitable work of taking gold seekers to California. Londoners get their first look at a U.S. clipper ship when one arrives from Hong Kong full of Chinese tea.
  • Period: to

    1870-1890

    1859- Local New York merchant George Huntington Hartford and his employer George P. Gilman give the A&P retail chain a start as the Great American Tea Company store. They buy whole clipper shipments from the New York harbour and sell the tea 1/3 cheaper than other merchant
    1850- U.S. clipper ships soon desert China trade for the more profitable work of taking gold seekers to California. Londoners get their first look at a U.S. clipper ship when one arrives from Hong Kong full of Chinese tea.
  • Period: to

    1891-1905

    1904- Englishman Richard Blechynden creates iced tea during an intense heat wave at the St Louis World Fair. Green tea and Formosan (Taiwanese) tea outsells black tea by five times in the U.S.
    1895- Assam tea plants take over imported Chinese plants in India and its tea market rises
    1893- With its headquarters and factory in New Jersey Thomas J Lipton Co. is established as a tea packing company.
  • Period: to

    the invention of the tea bag

    1910- Indonesia becomes a cultivator and exporter of tea followed by parts of Africa.
    1909- Thomas Lipton begins packaging and blending his tea in New York.
    1908- New York tea importer Thomas Sullivan invents tea bags when he sends tea to client in small silk bags and they accidentally steep the bags whole.

  • revolution tea

    1998- Revolution Tea is founded on the idea of bringing quality, full-leaf teas to consumers.

  • infuser bags

    2000- Revolution Tea introduces the first flow-through Infuser tea bag, which captures the flavour and aroma of loose, full-leaf tea in the convenience of a tea bag.