by Fruzsina Csery


Tea consumption became part of the way of life and culture in America, too. Though North America has only one tea plantation, about 20 miles west of Charleston in South Carolina. In England it is much more fashionable than coffee.

All tea comes from the same plant - Camellia sinensis - an evergreen, tropical plant that originally grows in China and India.

Like wine, variations in tastes and characteristics are depend on the type of soil, cultivar selection, altitude, and climate conditions where the plants are grown. Different types processing also affect the taste, as does the addition of essential oils or fragnant herbal additives. Camellia sinensis likes a deep, light, acidic and well-drained soil.

There are many supposed references to tea in the centuries before Christ, even Confucius allegedly referred to tea in one of his books.

According Chinese mythology, tea was 'discovered' by a Chinese emperor, Shen Nung. Four thousand years ago, on his way to a distant region of his empire he stopped to rest. Dried leaves from a nearby tea bush fell into the water that his servants were boiling for drinking. And when he drank some, he found it very refreshing and delicious. So the first cup of tea was an accident.

The tea consumption spread throughout the Chinese culture. The first book on tea 'Ch'a Ching' was written by the Chinese author Lu Yu. The three- volume book covered tea growing, processing, drinking and history.

The book inspired Zen Buddhist priests to create the Japanese tea ceremony, the cha-no-yu. It was in the 6th century. That's why tea in Japan has always been associated with Zen Buddhism. Tea drinking influenced the whole culture, for example architecture: a separate tea-room is constructed in Japanese homes so that one enters on your knees to show humility.

It was the Portuguese traders who first imported tea to Europe, later it was transported to France, Holland, and the Baltic countries.

Tea is relatively late appeared in England in the mid 17th century, but quickly became popular. King Charles II and his Portuguese bride were tea-drinkers and they brought tea tradition to England. In the beginning, it was very expensive. The first tea is sold as a health drink in London, at Garway's Coffee House. Slowly, the price fell and tea became available to the public.

Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to the United States in the settlement of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York by the English). The British government put very high taxes on it. The colonists couldn't do anything about these taxes, because there were no colonists in the government in England. The Americans became very angry about this and in 1775 attacked a boat carrying a lot of tea and dumped 342 chests full of tea into the harbour at Boston, Massachusetts. That was the Boston Tea Party. In England, tea became popular first among the rich. They had parties and picnics, visited each other, and afternoon tea soon became a habit.

Two distinct forms of services evolved: 'High' and 'Low'. 'Low Tea' was served in aristocratic homes of the wealthy and featured gourmet tidbits rather than solid meals. The emphasis was on presentation and conversation. Conversely, 'High Tea' was the major meal of the middle and lower classes and consisted of mostly full dinner.

Nowadays, maybe the most popular tea is the English Breakfast Tea. It is a fine black tea, which often includes Keemun, is blended with milk or lemon (but never together).

The Irish drink their Irish Breakfast Tea, it is very strong, usually served in the morning, except for the Irish, who are known to drink it all day. It is served with lots of sugar and milk.

Earl Grey is named after a prime minister. It is a smoky tea with a hint of sweetness and is served plain.

Black Teas and Oolong Darjeeling refers to tea grown in this mountain area of India. Oolong is a mixture of green and black teas. This elegant tea is sometimes called the champagne of teas. It has got fruity taste. Darjeeling has a flavor that reminds muscatel. Mustn't be taken with milk.

Green Tea is a strong herbal tea. Its use as a healthy tea is growing in popularity. Green Tea is also part of the Japanese tea service.

And finally, 'burgundy of teas', the Chinese Keemun Tea, a mellow, wine-like tea, never used with lemon.

by Marcus Stout


The market for loose leaf tea in the United States is growing strongly as tea drinkers from all walks of life rediscover the taste, health benefits and value of loose leaf tea.

But one must ask the question: why is loose leaf tea less popular in the United States than in the rest of the world? The answer lies in the combination of the political and economic history of our country and the presence of the low quality tea bag.

The Colonies Reject Loose Leaf Tea

Although tea drinking originated in China, consumption of tea based on good taste, health benefits and the sense of well being one achieved by tea drinking spread to the western world. The American colonies embraced the habit of tea drinking after tea was introduced by Dutch traders in the 17th and 18th centuries and became one of the largest tea drinking regions in the world on a per capita basis. Colony consumption of tea dwarfed that of the parent country England.

The French and Indian War, or Seven Years War, after which the British ruled supreme in most of North America, represented the decisive turning point in British-colonial relations however. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ratified Britain's undisputed control of the seas and shipping trade, as well as its sovereignty over much of the North American continent east of the Mississippi River (including French Canada).

But the British expected the Colonies to pay for the war (the British borrowed heavily from European Bankers to finance the war) and this fact planted the seeds of rebellion.

During the years leading up to the American Revolution, Britain, through a policy of salutary neglect, had allowed the colonies by default the right to manage their own affairs. The subsequent efforts on the part of royal officials to rectify this deficiency and collect unprecedented amounts of revenue violated what many American colonists understood as the clear precedent of more than a century of colonial-imperial relations.

New world institutions of self-government and trade, having matured in an age of salutary neglect, would resist and ultimately rebel against perceived British encroachment. Taxation policy became a central point of contention, because it tended to threaten both the prosperity and autonomy of colonial society.

Between the Seven Years War and the Revolution the British enacted a series of heavy handed taxation and other policies that attempted to raise revenue and regain control over the wayward colonies. Many of the acts focused on tea and the result was revolution. On the night of December 16, 1773 Massachusetts Patriots disguised as Indians illegally boarded the Dartmouth, a cargo ship bearing 342 chests of East India Tea valued at about £10,000. In defiance of Governor Thomas Hutchinson and British tax authority in general, the intruders dumped the entire shipment into Boston Harbor, precipitating a crisis that would lead to revolution.

The Boston Tea Party was an act of uprising in which Boston residents destroyed crates of British tea in 1773, in protest against British tea and taxation policy. Prior to the Boston Tea Party, residents of Britain's North American 13 colonies drank far more tea than coffee. In Britain, coffee was more popular. After the protests against the various taxes, British Colonists stopped drinking tea as an act of patriotism. Drinking of loose leaf tea in the United States is only now recovering.

Replaced by coffee and the convenient tea bag, consumption of loose leaf tea would remain dormant until the start of the 21st Century.

Enter the Tea Bag

During World War II, tea was rationed. In 1953 (after rationing in the UK ended), Tetley launched the tea bag to the UK and it was an immediate success. The convenience of the tea bag revolutionized how Britons drank their tea and the traditional tea pot gave way to making tea in a cup using a tea bag. The success of the tea bag accelerated in the United States as well and soon came to dominate the tea drinking market.

In a tea bag, tea leaves are packed into a small (usually paper) tea bag. It is easy and convenient, making tea bags popular for many people today. However, the tea used in tea bags has an industry name, called "fannings" or "dust" and is the waste product produced from the sorting of higher quality loose leaf tea.

What is Good About the Tea Bag?

About the only thing good about the tea bag is the convenience factor. In the past, many Americans were willing to sacrifice taste and quality for convenience. This trend is now changing.

It is commonly held among tea drinking experts that the tea bag provides an inferior taste and tea drinking experience. The paper used for the bag can also be tasted, which can detract from the tea's flavor. Because fannings and dust are a lower quality of the tea to begin with, the tea found in tea bags is more tolerant when it comes to brewing time and temperature. But the taste suffers in quality.

The main difference between loose teas and bagged teas is the size and quality of the leaves . Tea leaves contain chemicals and essential oils, which are the basis for the wonderful flavor of tea. When the tea leaves are broken up, those oils can evaporate, leaving a dull and tasteless tea as well as losing many of the health benefits of loose leaf tea. There is also the space factor. Tea leaves need space to swell, expand and unfurl. Good water circulation around the leaves is important, which doesn't typically happen in a tea bag.

Loose leaf tea comes in greater variety than bagged tea when one considers the multitude of blends and flavors that are loose leaf tea offerings. There is at least one or more tea blends for the palette of any individual tea drinker.

Additional reasons why bag tea is considered lower quality include:

* Dried tea loses its flavor quickly on exposure to air. Most bag teas contain leaves broken into small pieces; the great surface area to volume ratio of the leaves in tea bags exposes them to more air, and results in stale tea.

* Loose tea leaves are likely to be full formed and larger and are robust for multiple infusion of the leaves. This results in a lower cost per cup.

* Breaking up the leaves for bags disperses flavored oils and other oils that support health benefits.

* The small size of the bag does not allow leaves to diffuse and steep properly.

The Reemerge of Loose Leaf Tea

Every day more tea drinkers are realizing the benefits of loose leaf tea: high quality, fresh taste, better health and well being and greater variety offered. As a result the popularity of loose leaf has grown tremendously among discriminating tea drinkers. Loose leaf tea is now enjoyed by millions of tea drinkers throughout the United States who are looking for a beverage that offers significant health benefits combined with good tasting varieties and a low cost per cup.

Is Loose Leaf Tea Expensive?

The answer is no because high quality loose leaf tea can support multiple infusions. Many tea drinkers look at the cost per tin of loose leaf tea and conclude it is expensive. However when viewed on a cost per cup, loose leaf tea is as economical as bagged tea and you receive higher quality tea. Much of the cost for bagged tea is a result of the bagging process and the packaging of the bags.

What About Storage?

Tea in bags has a shorter shelf life than loose leaf tea because the fannings in bagged tea tend to dry out faster.

Loose leaf tea has a longer shelf-life that varies with storage conditions and type of tea. Black tea for example has a longer shelf-life than green tea but all loose leaf tea, properly stored, will maintain freshness for a long time. Tea stays freshest when stored in a dry, cool, dark place in an air-tight container. Black tea stored in a bag inside a sealed opaque canister may keep for two years.

So, join the loose leaf tea drinking revolution for good taste, health and well being. It is something that even the British Empire can not stop!