A Brief History of Coffee...

Many consider coffee to be the "precious drink" because of its taste and aroma. However, not many of us, coffee lovers, are aware of its origin and history. Surprisingly, this noble drink was accidentally discovered by not so noble Ethiopian goat herder in 9th century. One day he was searching for his lost herd and when he found it he noticed that his goats are  more excited than ever. Later, he discovered that it was because they had been eating coffee. Therefore, Ethiopia is believed to be the mother land of coffee. From there it spread to Egypt and Yemen and in 16th century to the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. The next regions that adapted coffee were Balkans, Europe, Indonesia and America.

 Etymology of the word "coffee"

Ethiopian bunn or bunna -> Arabic qahwa ->Turkish kahve -> Dutch koffie ->English coffee (1598)

Coffee in Europe

Because of  British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, coffee became available in England in the 16th century. The first coffee house in Britain was opened in St. Michael's Alley in Cornhill. Its founder was Pasqua Rosée, the former servant to a trader of Turkish goods, who among others imported coffee. His Queen's Lane Coffee House, established in 1654, is still functioning today. 

Queen's Lane Coffee House

By 1675, there were already more than 3000 coffee houses in Britain. The early cafes were used for deep discussion of beliefs during the enlightenment, mostly concerning religious and political issues of that time. As a result, Charles II made an attempt to crush coffee houses in 1675. In fact, many businesses grew out of these specialized coffee houses. One of the most recognizable until this day is Lloyd's of London, which came into existence at the Edward Lloyd's Coffee House.

Coffee in America

In the mid-1600's, coffee was brought to  New York (then called New Amsterdam). Although coffee houses began to flourish in the New World, tea continued to be the favourite drink to majority of Americans. It changed in 1773, when the colonists decided to revolt against the heavy tax on tea imposed by King George. The peak of this revolt was marked by the destruction of tea at Boston Harbour, which is nowadays refereed to as the Boston Tea Party.  This event changed the American drinking preference and ushered the Coffee Culture in America...

There are no two cups of tea alike...

 

Since my opening text was about the history of tea I will develop the topic a bit further.  As we already know, the major tea-growing regions are eastern and southern China, northern Myanmar, and the Assam state of India. Other countries growing marketable amounts of tea are: Argentina, Brazil, Georgia, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Taiwan (Formosa) and Turkey. Variety of countries means variety of species.  What is more we do not differentiate only between regions, but also the way of processing and preparing tea.  Today, let us however concentrate particularly at the types of tea. It can be divided into a few basic categories: black, green, red, white, oolong, and puerh. 

Black tea is produced through the process of withering, preceded by the process of oxidation, during which water evaporates from leaves enabling them to absorb more oxygen from the air. As an effect of those processes leaves become dark brown or black. This kind of tea has the highest caffeine content among all teas (50-65% of coffee).

Green tea is also produced through the process of  withering.  The difference is that it must happen slightly after tea is picked. Then the  process is stopped very quickly by rapidly heating  (firing) the leaves. Because green teas are brewed at lower temperatures and for less time than black, they have less caffeine (10-30% of coffee). Greens have also more subtle flavors with many undertones and accents.

White tea is processed using the youngest shoots of the tea plant, with no oxidation. That is why it is the most delicate of all teas. To extract its subtlety, complexity, and natural sweetness,  white tea is breved with a very low temperature and a short steeping time.

Oolong tea (also known as wulong tea) is produced through the process of partial oxidation. This tea has a caffeine content between that of green tea and black tea. The flavor of oolong tea is also somewhere in between green and black tea. It has its own extremely fragrant and intriguing tones. Oolongs (wulongs) are often compared to the taste and aroma of fresh flowers or fresh fruit.

Puerh is an aged black tea from China appreciated for its healing properties and earthy flavor.  The process of its production is a closely guarded state secret in China. Its taste is very strong with an incredibly deep and rich flavour, and no bitterness.

Red tea (Rooibos) is technically not a tea but a tisane because it is not prepared from the leaves of  a tea bush. Instead, it is the oxidized and dried leaves of the South African plant. Lack of caffeine and  lots of antioxidants make the herbal tea really attractive. Moreover,  it is also rich in minerals like iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and zinc, which promote the hair growth.

 A BRIEF STORY OF TEA...   

        

   

Once upon a time in China…

Tea is often believed to be a quintessentially British drink, as they have been drinking it for over 350 years. A lot of Brits cannot even imagine their life without this beverage. The truth is that the history of tea goes much further, to ancient China. Legends say that in 2737 BC, the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water, when some leaves from the tree blew into the water. Since Shen Nung was a renowned herbalist, he decided to try the infusion accidentally prepared by his servant. The tree happened to be a Camellia Sinensis, or what we colloquially call tea. Although, we do not know whether there is a grain of truth in this legend, there is no doubt that tea was discovered in China many centuries before it had even been heard of in the west. The earliest signs of tea drinking in China date back to Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). But it wasn't  popularized until the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD), when tea officially became the national drink of China. Later, tea was also introduced to Japan, thanks to Japanese Buddhist monks who had studied in China and become an essential part of Japanese culture.

 

From China to Europe

World's tea production

 

Tea was introduced to Europe relatively late, in the latter half of the sixteenth century, thanks to Portuguese traders and missionaries who travelled to East. However, it were Dutch who were responsible for commercial shipment of tea to Europe, establishing a trading post on the island of Java. At the beginning of seventeenth century tea became a well known drink in Holland, and from there it spread to other countries of the continent.

Tea in Britain

 

 

Since Brits have always been a little suspicious of continental trends, tea was not introduced to Britain until the mid seventeenth century. However, at that time this beverage was still unpopular among the society. It was the marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza that has highly contributed to popularizing tea drinking among Brits. Thanks to her tea addiction, this beverage has become a fashionable drink, first at court and then among the higher classes. The East India Company began the commercial import of tea from Java to Britain in 1664 and for long had monopoly for trading with China. In 1851, when almost all tea in the country had come from China, annual consumption per head was less than 2lbs but in 1901 it had increased to over 6lbs thanks to cheaper imports from India and Sri Lanka, former colony of Ceylon. During that period tea has become a part of the British way of life and it was officially confirmed during the First World War, when the government took over the shipment  of tea to Britain, in order to ensure the fair pricing and  availability to all Brits. The situation repeated also during the Second World War.

What has changed?

 

 

Although the habit of tea drinking is still continued in Britain, the form of preparing the beverage has changed. In the early twentieth century tea bags were invented. Since then they gained such popularity that it would be difficult for many tea-drinkers to live without them.  Even though the British Empire collapsed, British companies and brands continue to play a leading role in the world's tea market.