Who has never had tea that was good for this or that, or simply because it was tasty and warmed up on cold days? The habit, very common throughout the world, has been passed from generation to generation, including regarding its benefits as medicinal plants. But where did teas come from?
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The origin
Although there are many legends and beliefs about the emergence of tea, the most common story comes from China. According to her, the Emperor Shen Nung, around the year 2800 BC, trying to avoid the great epidemics that happened in his kingdom, determined as law the boiling of water before consumption. With this habit, the emperor used to go and drink the hot water under a tree. During these experiments, leaves fell into the water container that left the taste different, but still pleasant. From then on, the emperor began to experiment with other leaves and plants and write about their taste and how he felt after consumption.
Tea and different cultures
In addition, some time later, the Egyptians used the plants in cooking and medicine, even having some recipes that were considered very precious. In Japan, the drink only arrived in the ninth century through Buddhist monks, and it was in this country that tea became part of religious rituals, as well as Japanese education.
The expeditions of Marco Polo and Gaspar da Cruz made the arrival of teas in Europe in the 16th century possible. However, the habit only spread in the 17th century when Europe and the Orient established commercial ties. The drink became one of the most consumed thanks to the wide variety of aromas, flavors and benefits as medicinal herbs and started to spread to the rest of the world.
The habit of drinking tea
From the nineteenth century, it became common around the world, leaving for England, the United States, Australia, Canada and several countries. This habit became, in addition to pleasurable, a medicinal treatment, while in Japan the preparation of drinks became an art.
written records
Although many believe the legends, there are written records of the first use of tea dating back to the 3rd century BC in China, where Lu Yu’s treatise – the first technically written treatise on tea – was developed. As in the legends, the country responsible for introducing teas in the world was China.
