Tea, along with coffee and cocoa, is one of the three major beverages that are acknowledged worldwide. It’s rich in vitamins, amino acid, antioxidants and chlorophyll. Moderate intake of tea can increase metabolic rate, boost the immune system, prevent cancer, lower chances of cognitive impairment and stress hormone levels.
Tea has been a daily necessity for Chinese. However, tea was unknown to Europeans until the 16th century.
Tea, a daily necessity for Chinese, remained unknown to Europeans until
the 16th century. It was a social nicety and a rare luxury good for the rich.
It was introduced to Britain by the Dutch and there is no record of its earliest entry. Tea was a rare luxury good and a social nicety for the rich. Served primarily to men, it was first called Cha, from the Cantonese slang for tea. The name changed later to Tay, or Tee, when the British trading post moved from Canton to Amoy (Xiamen), where the word for tea is T'e.
In 1662 Catherine of Braganza of Portugal married Charles II and brought with her the preference for tea, which had already become common in Europe. As tea was her temperance drink of choice, it gained social acceptance among the aristocracy as she replaced wine, ale and spirits with tea as the court drink.
Catherine of Braganza's choice of tea was instrumental in the popularization of tea in Britain. By 1686, tea was selling in markets, and the English East India Company considered it to be a part of their regular trade. It was no longer only a specialty item brought back by a ship's captain for personal use.
The British love black tea the most and call the Fujian
Wuyi tea the Bohea, one of the seven sorts of black tea.
In 1689, the English East India Company started the tea trade in Amoy. Since the British love black tea the most, and Wuyi Mountain was the key growing area of black tea in the world, the British called Wuyi tea the Bohea, one of the seven sorts of black tea.
In 1757, Canton replaced Amoy as the only tea trade port in China, and Wuyi tea entered European markets by sea. However, at that time, most Europeans in Fujian lived in Amoy and Quanzhou and they knew little about Wuyi tea due to the remote location of Wuyi Mountain. In 1834, G．J．Gordon, a British opium merchant, visited and inspected Wuyi Mountain by boat through the Minjiang River. The trip was significant, G．J．Gordon collected valuable information of local geographical conditions and employed different means to transport tea.
To boost export, especially tea export, the British government forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 to change the framework of foreign trade which had been in force since 1760. In the treaty, five ports were opened for trade, Canton, Foochow (Fuzhou), Amoy, Ningpo (Ningbo) and Shanghai, where the British merchants were allowed to trade with anyone they want.
Since the British began to drink tea, tea
customs have been formed in the country.
Today, the British are the second largest per capita tea consumers in the world. Tea customs have been formed in the UK since the British began to drink tea. The British use exquisite ceramic tea sets. They like placing the saucer over a thin piece of elegant lace. Moreover, they have developed their own etiquette of drinking black tea, which is usually served with milk and sometimes with sugar.
The British use exquisite ceramic tea sets and like to
place the saucer over a thin piece of elegant lace.
There is also a proper manner in which to drink tea when using a cup and saucer. If one is seated at a table, the proper manner to drink tea is to raise the teacup only, placing it back into the saucer in between sips. When standing or sitting in a chair without a table, one holds the tea saucer with the off hand and the tea cup in the dominant hand. When not in use, the tea cup is placed back in the tea saucer and held in one's lap or at waist height. In either event, the tea cup should never be held or waved in the air.
SOURCE: WOX FOOD
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