Green Tea - Breakfast Tea - Chamomile Tea - Chai Tea
but not Earl Grey!
photo by Shandi-lee
At the age of three, I was invited to my first real tea party. Wearing a dress three sizes too big and plastic heels that clicked as I walked, I went, bearing my Fisher Price pink tea set. I had had my own tea parties previously, attended by my dad, mom, and uncle, along with various dolls and stuffed animals. But this was a real tea party, with real tea!
photo by pigpogm
There are many guesses as to when tea began as a beverage, but many agree that it happened about 4000 years ago in China. The story goes that Emperor Shen Nung was boiling water, for health reasons, when a leaf fell in the pot. He noticed the water smelled good, so he tasted it, and apparently deemed it yummy. This is how the Chinese say tea was "invented."
The Japanese tell the story a little differently. They say that 1900 years ago, a Buddhist priest named Drama decided to stay awake for seven years and think only of Buddha. He was able to stay awake for five years, but then he started to fall asleep. In desperation, he grabbed some leaves from a nearby tree and began chewing on them. The leaves refreshed him and kept him awake for the next two years. The leaves were tea leaves.
Other stories include the introduction of tea by a Buddhist monk named Gan Lu in China, and that it came out of the eyelids of the patriarch Zen Bodhidharma.
photo by ratterrell
What about that delicious Southern nectar known as Iced Tea (which is always, always sweet--no need to specify)? It was invented at the Saint Louis World Fair in 1904. A tea merchant named Richard Blechynden (what an amazingly fun name to say!) couldn't get anyone to drink his hot tea in the hot weather. So, he poured some ice in. Instant hit.
photo by prakhar
When I was in college, I fell in love with tea. I was born and raised on the iced, sweet variety, but I found a new reason to partake--caffeine! I don't like coffee (well, I barely tolerate coffee with my cream), but there are times in one's college life when caffeine is a need. I learned to drink tea and I haven't quit yet.
I fit in perfectly when I went to England. There, tea is always served with some cream and sugar. I loved it. We made tea constantly in our flat, with our electric tea pot. Electric tea pots are often in place of the American coffee pot--even in the dorm rooms!
photo by Mastery of Maps
My favorite tea I've ever had was Kenyan tea. It was actually from Kenya. I had it while staying at the house of a couple--one a British missionary's kid, one an American--in Switzerland. I'd love to get my hands on some of that tea here in America. It was like English Breakfast, but stronger and richer. Yum!
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