Learn all about types tea and tips for brewing perfect tea

The History and Lore of Tea

Tea is only second to water as the most consumed drink in the world. So how did the leaf gain such significance?
There are many tales of how tea first came to be a drink. One difficult to believe is when a Chinese monk vowed to spend years in meditation. In his frustration at falling asleep he pulled out his eyebrows and threw them to the ground. A tea plant sprang up from where they landed and he made a drink from the leaves.
My favorite and perhaps the most plausible dates back to 2700 B. C. and the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung. He is credited with developing the agricultural plow and herbal medicine. He was very fastidious about his drinking water and one day he fell asleep while boiling water and a tea leaf from a nearby plant fell into his pot. The resulting drink was flavorful and stimulating, and soon became a very important part of the emperor’s herbal medicine.
The Dutch, not the British, were the first to bring tea to Europe in 1610, during the reign of the House of Orange, and cleverly called it Orange Pekoe, inferring a Royal warrant. This is where it is commonly believed that the orange comes from in Orange Pekoe (OP), nothing to do with oranges or orange flavor.

It was not available for sale in Britain until 1658, the year that Oliver Cromwell died, and was given a big boost when Charles 11 married a Portuguese princess, who was a big tea drinker, and her dowry included a chest of tea from China.
The British soon caught onto this marvelous drink and began importing great quantities of tea from China in exchange for cotton, which the Chinese did not really need or want. This was initially solved by trading in opium, grown in British controlled India, regardless of the fact that opium was banned by the Chinese Government. This resulted in the Opium War of 1839 and was one of the reasons that stolen Chinese tea plants and know-how were taken to India, but unfortunately did not grow well in the different climatic conditions. A Scotsman, Robert Bruce, had explored Assam, a district of India, and found that the natives drank tea from indigenous plants. After his death, Bruce’s brother continued developing tea in this region, and it is now one of the world’s famous black teas, used as a strong breakfast tea.
The East India Company took 12 to 15 months to sail to London (just proves that tea is a little fresher now), and in 1845 the first American clipper ship did the journey to New York in 8 months, with the resulting Clipper races before the steam ships in 1871. We can’t move on without briefly mentioning the importance of tea in American History, and the dreadful waste of good tea that was brewed incorrectly at the Boston Tea Party of 1773. The resulting embargos and boycotts gave coffee an unfair advantage!

In the 1830’s Anna Maria, the Duchess of Bedford, is credited with the tradition of afternoon tea with food because she could not curb hunger pains between lunch and the late dinner. High tea, or low tea as it is sometimes called, consists of delicate finger sandwiches, scones with cream, decadent desserts and plenty of tea. This tradition is continued at English Tealeaves. One of the questions I am frequently asked at tea parties is should the cream (milk) go in the cup first or last? My normal answer is not at all, as although I am English, I never use milk or sugar. It is best to put the milk in last as you can gauge the amount of milk by the color of the liquor. Tradition is the opposite, as the milk was always put in first so that delicate porcelain cups would not break due to the heat.
Reading Jane Pettigrew’s “A Social History of Tea” gave me a new perspective on the importance of tea in Britain for the working class and during the two world wars. At the end of the 19th Century the farm workers & laborers drank beer with meals and to quench their thirst during hard work on hot days (not too many in Britain?). Bland Garland, a landowner, decided to stop supplying them beer and give them unlimited supplies of good tea. He found that his men worked much better and at the end of the day were less stupid and sullen and much more alert the next morning. All around the country the change to tea was followed and the tradition of tea breaks was adopted, with the famous mid morning “elevenses”. I can remember as an apprentice engineer with Dunlop in Coventry, the tea cart coming round with the milk and sugar already in the tea. That’s probably why I don’t use milk and sugar now and dissuade as many as possible to try the tea without milk first!

In World War 11 Winston Churchill acknowledged the importance of tea to the British people, and claimed that it was more important than ammunition. The historian A.A.Thompson wrote, “They talk about Hitler’s secret weapon, but what about England’s secret weapon, tea. That’s what keeps us going and that’s what going to carry us through.” Check out this “Tea making Tips” from 1941 on You Tube with the link below. Interesting, amusing, some have said the instructor would be good in a horror movie BUT you will learn some good points on brewing tea.

So where did those teabags come from? As with many inventions it was a mistake, as in 1908 in New York a tea salesman began to send samples to his customers in small silk bags. They thought that the tea should be brewed in the bags and put them straight into their teapots, hence teabags. Now from recent numbers from the tea council, 65% of tea consumed in the USA is from teabags, and 85% in the UK. Iced tea was also a great opportunist story. John Blechyden was trying to promote hot Indian tea to visitors at the World Trade Fair in St Louis on a very hot and humid day in 1904. Blechyden was trying to convince Americans to buy Indian tea rather than teas from China. In desperation he brilliantly poured the hot tea over ice and invented iced tea. I think it is ironic that it was a Brit that is credited with the invention and yet customers always complain to me about difficulty in getting iced tea in England, but not the case at English Tealeaves, where we offer a choice of over 125 iced teas.
So where are we today – the tea industry (Camellia Sinensis tea) is a $3 billion industry in the USA, with the specialty tea side growing at rates of 10 to 15% per year, and tea bags declining. It’s difficult to get exact figures as it is for who drinks the most per capita. The Irish and British compete for the number one spot, followed some years by Kuwait. My thinking, however, is that the Chinese and Indians should be in the top two, but statistics are difficult to come by? America is nowhere near the top at the moment, but the popularity of tea is increasing dramatically, not just for health benefits but for the pure enjoyment of all the flavors that are offered. Give it a try and find out?

Rob Ridge is the owner of English Tealeaves at 18671 Mainstreet Parker 720 851 6099

I am sure other tea drinkers have had bad experiences when they have drunk terrible tea at the end of a good meal. For me it has spoilt the evening, unfortunately colored the rating of the restaurant, and sometimes unfairly reduced the gratuity. Let me share some of my experiences and a few suggestions.

We moved to the USA from England 30 years ago and one of our first trips was to Sonoma, AZ where we sent the tea back 3 times before we managed to get warmish tea. Having found that 5,500 feet in Colorado reduces the boiling point by about 12 degrees Fahrenheit (212 to 200), this was not the reason for cold tea. One of the things we had to learn was that the tea bags normally used are not put in the water, but in the saucer for you to do yourself. So you have probably lost over 40 degrees before you start.

In the last 6 months, we have had several experiences that I would suggest are very common. We enjoyed an excellent meal at a four/five star restaurant in Southern Denver and I asked if they had any good tea. The waiter responded that they did, and displayed a basket containing tea bags that you would buy in a supermarket. I had coffee!

At a local restaurant we asked what tea they could serve, and being suspicious we even insisted on looking at the tea they were planning to use. The tea was fine, but they used 2 to 3 times the amount of tea needed to make a good cup. We offered a few suggestions.

At a new restaurant downtown Denver we had a great evening with a very imaginative menu and great atmosphere. They offered a choice of four good teas and appeared to have good equipment and know how. They delivered the tea in a teapot that we sell in the Café, that has a good infuser, and yet when I sipped the tea it was lacking flavor and cold. I checked the leaves and the water must have been so cold that that they did not even unfold. They had the right concept, but still failed dismally. Have you ever been to a restaurant where they give you a timer to tell you the tea has brewed? I assume you are supposed to guess when the water hit the leaves and use your watch for the time that you were not told.

So why is it so difficult to get good tea in restaurants, because it is not that hard? Part of the reason is that the requests for tea must be below 10%, and the majority rules. However, does it have to? I think we need to start a campaign to get restaurants to understand that tea drinkers are increasing dramatically and they need to find out how to serve the healthy leaf. They could make a 100% improvement by making sure they have hot water, electric kettles would work for the small volume, and use a good quality teabag that gives some flavor. The higher-class restaurants could offer teapots with infusers at a very affordable cost, and then have the flexibility and quality of loose-leaf tea. What is in it for them?

They could charge more for the tea and perhaps avid tea drinkers might frequent places that are moving with the trends and offer “real” tea? The other important factor for the restaurants is to learn about tea and how to brew it simply. Please promote tea at your favorite restaurant; if they have not yet been educated, then perhaps you could suggest someone to help them. Do you know anyone?

 If you have ever tried to get iced tea in England this seems hard to believe, but it’s true. Richard Blechynden, an Englishman, was trying to sell Indian black tea at the World Trade’s Fair in St Louis in 1904. Americans were mainly buying green tea from China (still upset about the Boston Tea Party events no doubt?) and the Far East Tea Company exhibited their teas in a pavilion staffed by Indians and supervised by Blechynden, a tea plantation owner. If you have experienced a St Louis heat wave you would not be surprised that the hot tea’s thirst quenching properties were not appreciated and all the fair goers wanted was something cold. With a stroke of genius Blechynden poured the hot tea over ice and served the refreshment to grateful fair attendees. This is the generally accepted “invention” of iced tea BUT a recent article that I read from the Tea Association of the USA hints of an earlier date. In the January 4, 1880 issue of the magazine, “American Punch,” there is reference to “the cooling and invigorating influences of iced tea.” It inferred that this was from the Chicago area, so I am not sure when the high sugar iced tea of the South was invented? Does anyone know?

Iced tea represents 80% of the tea consumed in the USA and is brewed from powder (RTD “ready to drink” in the industry) all types of tea bags and loose leaf. Powder and bags are very convenient to use, but leaf tea is becoming more popular from an aromatic and flavor content. Once you have tried correctly brewed leaf tea, you will have a problem going back to supermarket bags or powders, even just a plain old black tea will amaze you? The best method for leaf tea brewing is to use a Bodum Iced Tea Maker that has a slim design for fitting in the refrigerator. This has a very large infuser, where you pour the boiling water over the leaves that remain fully immersed during the infusion. I suggest you make a concentrate, using twice the normal strength, infuse for 3 to 6 minutes, depending on the tea, then remove the infuser and make up the volume with ice or cold water. Pour over ice and enjoy. I am not an advocate of the “sun tea method.” To liberate all the flavor in different teas, tisanes and herbal blends you need in most cases boiling water and it is always good to use boiling water from a health aspect.

Some of the favorites in the Café are Cloud Catcher, Tropical Strawberry and Orange Surprise, which are all tisanes and being fruit infusions have no tea and hence no caffeine. Tisanes were drunk by Inspector Hercule Poirot in the Agatha Christy mystery novels. Other favorites of the remaining 125 plus are Lemon Souffle, Tea on the Beach,  Strawberry Green and the black tea favorite, Indochine. Tasting of tea uses 3 senses. Vision: which is the name or look of the tea, Smell: the aroma which for some is everything, and Taste: which is where you find out if the aroma is a reality and decide to drink the whole glass? From the names of our favorites you can see why they were tried, so find out for yourself if your nose is true to your taste buds?

 We have many first time customers who enjoy different teas in the Café but say they don’t succeed at home. They say “it’s so hard to make leaf tea” and I respond with my typical English sarcasm that it really is and then describe the following to prove the opposite. The easiest and quickest way to make one cup is to use one of the infusers shown in the photo, and this gives the flexibility of making two different types. I always drink Earl Grey Royal with breakfast and Lynne has to have an English Breakfast. Before finding these infusers we used to have a teapot each, which took up space on the kitchen counter and cupboard space and took longer to clean. This might sound bizarre, but in our current lifestyle is valid, it saves time as you quickly remove the infuser as against slowly pouring from the teapot! Okay, this is how to quickly brew an excellent mug of tea. Place the infuser in a suitable mug and add the leaf tea based on one and a half teaspoons for 8 to 10 oz mug size. Add boiling water and set a timer for 2 to 5 minutes depending on the type of tea. Normally the package will give suggestions on brewing time. Remove the infuser at the timer beep and let it drip in the drip tray/lid. Let it cool to your drinking temperature and enjoy. Was this complicated? A few enhancements. Most real tea drinkers find a bone china mug enhances their drinking pleasure. If you are brewing black tea you may wish to preheat the mug by rinsing with boiling water and place the lid on the top of the infuser to improve the flavor extraction and get a really hot drink for the people with asbestos lips. With green teas, especially fine leaves, use water that has been off the boil for a while (180 degrees centigrade) and you may find that you prefer the resulting infusion. It will not be such a strong flavor but you may discover more subtle flavors. I use about 10% cold water in the mug before adding the boiling water for special teas like Gyokuro that is then brewed for 45 to 60 seconds. I hope you agree that it is not difficult to brew leaf tea and I have to end with the advice I repeat many, many times a day “set a timer to make sure you get consistency, so you can easily make it stronger or weaker and so you don’t forget you are brewing delicious healthy TEA”