Black tea

Here, we will take you through the history of tea and black tea from yesterday to today, you will learn everything about why this drink is so special.

From 2737 BC. JC to today: 

• Year 2737 BC. AD: The Chinese emperor Shen Nung was the one who stimulated Chinese agriculture in general and tea in particular. Tea in those years was taken as a medicinal drink and its origin comes from an incredible valley the valley of Assam , between China and India, on the banks of the Bhramaputra river
• 200 AD AD:  At this date, tea is a decoction . The macerated leaves were boiled with milk and orange peel . At some point in the Ming dynasty, tea ceased to be a decoction and became an infusion: finely grind the dried leaves, add boiling water and stir with a bamboo stick
• 375 AD AD: Tea is the most popular drink in China . The three main stages of development are: boiled tea, crushed tea in infusion. Each stage corresponds to different “schools” of thought, which correspond to the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties
• Year 478: A document from this date shows that in China they used pressed cakes, made with green leaves of steamed tea. They were soon used in trade relations with the Turks
• Year 650: Tea in Tibet. Tea at this time is imported from China , using yaque caravans and the starting point is the border town of Dajion Lu . Charged tea is produced in Yunnan and Sichuan . Discover our Sichuan green pepper and Sichuan red pepper . The destination is Lhasa (capital of Tibet). The path covers 1,500 kilometers with heights that exceed 5,000m above sea level. The journey lasts several months and to ensure good conservation, they are transported in pancakes.
• Year 660: The Tibetan style of drinking tea. At that time in Tibet, tea was prepared in a special way. The tea cakes were ground into a pestle, then boiled
• Year 729: Tea arrives in Japan. Only the emperor consumed tea at this time, being very valuable for being imported from China.
• Year 783: A group of Chinese officials and traders hired the writer and philosopher Lu Yu (733-804) to write the first book on tea. This famous work is known as “Classical Tea Art” the “Cha Sing” and has become the sacred book of tea. He poetically describes how to prepare tea
• Year 790: Tea becomes a form of means of payment for the Chinese, it was a currency like for spices
• Year 800: The first seeds are taken to the Empire of the Rising Sun. F or the Japanese, tea is more than a drink. They develop a special tea-making ceremony whose purpose is to help the mind find peace . This practice has crossed centuries and borders. At this time, Buddhist monks will bring back tea seeds in their tunics. The Japanese emperors soon had a monopoly. Their plantations were protected by large walls, and when the harvest was carried out, it was done with hands covered in very fine gloves. Being the drink of the imperial family and the aristocracy has become the national drink. The entire tea ceremony lasted approximately three hours and is still practiced today, but usually in a simplified format
• Year 828: Tea arrives in Korea . The ambassador of the King of Korea brings to his country a tea plant that they had presented to him at the imperial court of the Tang dynasty (China)
• Year 1280: The History of Tea in India shows how Marco Polo, the famous Venetian adventurer, brought Chinese tea to the court of Indian Emperor Harsha Vardhana
• Year 1502: The Portuguese arrive in Asia and Vasco da Gama establishes a Portuguese colony in Cochin, but tea is not yet important to the Portuguese because they prefer black pepper which becomes chili pepper do reino
• Year 1601: Dutch expansion and the beginning of tea glory. The Dutch East India Company, responsible for the massive worldwide distribution of tea, was founded in Batávia (today Jakarta, capital of Indonesia). Some writings say it began operating in 1602 and is considered the first modern public company
• Year 1606: The first shipment of tea arrives in Europe. The Dutch East India Company transports the first cargo of tea to Europe
• Year 1635: Tea is already a fashionable drink in Europe. Tea is regularly consumed in the main European capitals. A substantial improvement in transport and a reduction in taxes will make it possible to develop green tea and black tea. Countries that, depending on various circumstances, prefer it are England, the Netherlands, Ireland, France and Russia
• Year 1637: The Dutch East India Company transports tea primarily from Japan , but since this date company officials have written as policy: "Since people are beginning to consume tea, we expect several boxes tea from China and Japan on each boat. »
• Year 1644: China is conquered by the Manchus, who establish the Quing dynasty which will remain in power until 1912. During the Quing rule, different methods were developed for the elaboration of tea leaves, which led to the development varieties of Oolong tea and black tea.
• Year 1650: Tea in North America. Governor Peter Stuyvesant ordered the first shipment of tea to settlers in New Amsterdam, a city that would later become New York . Thus, although expensive, due to high taxes, tea was a very popular drink among the English who populated recent American cities and especially sophisticated Boston.
• Year 1657: The Garraway Café, owned by businessman Thomas Garraway, becomes the first Western public establishment to serve tea. Tomas Garraway placed a poster outside his establishment with a list of the positive effects of the new and exotic drink. Over time, tea not only became an absolutely indispensable beverage, but also a vital part of culture and life throughout the dependencies of the British Empire. Don't forget the most famous flavored black tea, Earl Gray black tea.
• Year 1658: The first tea advertisement appeared in a London daily called “Mercurios Political”
• Year 1662: Tea enters the British court through the hand of Catherine de Bragança, wife of Charles II. Like a doe in the matrimonial bond, the Portuguese infanta offers the city of Bombay or Mumbai, one of the most important seaports for trade between Asia and Europe. The Queen's custom of drinking tea at all hours was adopted by a large portion of English courtesans
• Year 1670: Tea is still a very expensive drink. A tax created by Charles II of England weighed on the purses of tea lovers but also coffee and chocolate. The tax was more or less the weekly salary of an average worker
• Year 1684: The Twinning dynasty. The founder of the dynasty was Daniel Twinning, a weaver from the Cotswolds (England) who emigrated to London, where his son, Thomas Twinning, worked in a tea merchant, the D'Aeth Company. Years later, (1706) Thomas opened his own business called Tom's Coffee House, located in Devereux Court, just off the famous Strand Street. It's the humble beginning of a great tea dynasty
• Year 1705: The Fortnum & Mason dynasty. William Fortnum arrived in London in 1705, where he met a small merchant named Hugo Mason with whom he developed a good friendship. Thus was born the famous company Fortnum&Mason
• Year 1773: Tea has been the cause of many conflicts, such as the American War of Independence, which began with the famous Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773 . To protest the high taxes imposed on tea , a group of settlers, known as "Liberty's Children", had disguised themselves as Indians and thrown into the water a large shipment of tea which found on board ships of the English East India Company anchored in Boston Harbor. The king became furious and called for retaliation, as he believed the tea taxes were intended to support the colony's military garrisons. The fact is that the Boston Tea Party was one of the events that started the cruel War for Independence
• Year 1810: Chinese from the Amoy region brought tea culture to the island of Taiwan (now Taiwan)
• Year 1820: 5:00 p.m., a traditional time in England. The beginning of the English custom of the cup of tea at five o'clock in the afternoon is attributed to Duchess Ana of Bedford. For their friendships it seemed very pleasant and appropriate the new custom which developed very quickly
• Year 1825: English tradition says you should start with tea early in the morning. Soon comes the “Nice Cup of Tea” during the day, until you reach the sublime “Five o’clock Tea”. Finally, in the evening comes “High Tea”, that is to say the top tea. In short, any day is good for a steamy cup of tea. At that time a series of delicacies developed to accompany tea: muffins, macaroons, cakes and various jellies to gently combine them.
• Year 1830: Earl Gray (the most famous flavored tea in the world) represents Count Gray and is said to have been written by a Chinese mandarin for such a person who held the position of British Prime Minister in gratitude for ending the monopoly of the East India Company
• Year 1836: The British developed tea culture in India. At that time, a small cargo of tea from Assam was taken on the ship 'Calcutta' bound for London. On its arrival it was sold in the house of India, provoking the most enthusiastic praise from the intelligent. India's first tea business had started
• Year 1843: Scottish explorer and naturalist Robert Fortune defends the thesis of the origin of tea, claiming that whatever its flavor, aroma and color came from a single tree, the Camellia Sinensis. He also demonstrates that green tea and black tea could be obtained from the same plant and that the result depended only on the treatment of the leaves after harvest. All this was made possible by his travels to China to reveal the carefully guarded secrets of a world closed to outsiders. From his first trip, he brought with him tea plants, which did not survive, but on Monday managed to remove 20,000 plants from China to India. He spoke Mandarin Chinese and wore indigenous clothing to be able to camouflage himself in a country full of dangers. You can think of him as an "industrial spy" of the time
• Year 1845: The first American Clipper which made a round trip from New York in less than 8 months was inaugurated. This type of sailboat, very agile, moved at an average speed of 18 knots and had a very high load capacity.
• Year 1850: In Aberdeen, Great Britain, the first British Clipper, the Stornaway, was built, followed by many other sailing ships of this type. At that time more than one sailboat anchored at the same time in the ports of China. This put them in competition with each other and made bets on who would come home first. At the end of the race, the first tea to arrive in London received the best prize and the crew won a prize
• Year 1871: The arrival of steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal ends with these magnificent boats
• Year 1850: Tommy Lipton organized a small importing business and, thanks to his original advertising methods, became known throughout the city of Glasgow. Soon Glasgow becomes small for him and then moves towards the capital. Tommy is already a wealthy merchant. He decided to buy land in Ceylon when the coffee plantations were infected by pests. Tommy organized a successful tea advertising campaign, his slogan was: “From the plantation to your table, no middleman!” » The success was total
• Year 1867: The English sow highly productive tea on the island of Ceylon. At first they used seeds from China, but later the seeds of the plant from Assam (India) were used. Ceylon had until then been a major producer of coffee, but in 1869, when a pest completely destroyed the coffee crops, the farmers of Singales decided to switch to tea as well. It is currently the third country in the world in terms of the volume of tea produced. Discover our Ceylon black tea
• Year 1869: India. The places where plantations flourished most quickly were the Assam and Darjeeling regions in the north and in the Nilgiri mountains in the south
• Year 1880: Until this date, tea in Russia was a luxury product that only the aristocracy could afford. Pero, in 1880, with the inauguration of the Trans-Siberian Railway, a drastic reduction in transport costs was generated and within a few years the Russian people became a great consumer of tea, as they continue to be today today. English artist Josiah Spode developed a new technique in Staffordshire by mixing porcelain with animal bone ashes, obtaining new, finer textures and greater strength. This is how the famous “Bone China” porcelain was born.
• Year 1885: Some examples of how tea was handled at this time in China on our blog
• Year 1898: Scientists come to the conclusion that caffeine discovered in 1820 and theine in 1827 are in fact the same alkaloid
• Year 1990: Tea arrives in Morocco. In Morocco, offering tea is a sign of hospitality, it is considered an art and it is the national drink. During the Middle Ages, the Arabs introduced the custom of tea to their huge empire, but the reason it continued was because of the English who had difficulty selling large quantities of green tea when the Crimean War made their trade routes impassable and then decided to open its market in the Mediterranean, Tangier and Mogador being its main destinations. An old saying goes:An old saying goes:A cup of tea is nothing Two are for the poor Three are good Four are nice Five forbidden Six better than three. Discover our Moroccan mint green tea recipe
• Year 1904 : New York tea and coffee merchant Thomas Sullivan sends his customers samples of his different tea blends in small muslin bags. The surprising comfort with which tea was prepared using these bags meant that Sullivan received many orders in a short time. One of the most popular housings had been discovered, filter bags. During the World's Fair held in the city of St. Louis, an Englishman named Richard Blenchynden presented a stand where he offered an infusion of tea from India. It seems that due to the intense heat, sales were not growing as he had hoped. The idea immediately came to him to serve tea with ice. The success was instantaneous, later giving birth to a flourishing custom
• Year 1906: Okakura Kakuzo wrote in his book on tea, "tea is more than an idealization of the way of drinking, it is a religion of the art of living"
• Year 1908: Emile Perrot publishes in Paris a work entitled “Tea in China and India”
• Year 1913: Afternoon tea. The custom of taking afternoon tea further developed with the arrival of a boundless passion for Argentine tango which aroused real interest among London's upper classes. New associations and tango classes were created and the famous “afternoon tea dances” were organized in all capitals, in theaters, restaurants and inns.
• Year 1950: Changes in social mores and the different tenor of life due to the two world wars; the new trends of high society, preferring cocktails to tea and the irrefutable arrival of fast food in the 1950s, were at the origin of a sharp decline in the habit of going out for tea. The British obviously continued to drink tea at home and at work
• Year 1980: We can see a renewed interest in tea and the appearance throughout Europe of shops and tea rooms: tea room and tea room. During this decade in Germany and especially in Hamburg, many shops specializing in high-quality tea were opened. The reason for this is due to the importance that the port of Hamburg has taken on in Europe. It is Europe's second largest container port and serves as a trading hub between the leading regions of Asia and Europe and benefits from global trade
• Year 1991: Opening of the first tea room “The Barcelona Tea Center” in the old Gracia district. The East West Company was the pioneer in Spain in the sale of high quality loose tea. Per Sundmalm, founder and current president of the company, turned this store of only 15 square meters into a commercial project, assuming leadership in the sale of tea in Spain from the beginning
• Year 1994: The first white tea paper is written in Barcelona. A project promoted and financed by the FAO. EWC collaborated in the production of this book and contributed with all its knowledge to make this book a reference for the high quality tea market in Spain
• Year 2013: Le Comptoir de Toamasina will develop its first two flavored teas, black tea from adventurers and black tea from Madagascar
• Year 2018: Le Comptoir de Toamasina is looking for land to open the Arnaud Vanille plantation

Since 2013 we have been developing a range of flavored black and green tea for an escape to Brazil.