History of Tea: Unveiling its Origin and Evolution

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2. who invented tea? if you could travel back in time to china, you’d stumble upon the intriguing legend of emperor shennong, a celebrated figure who’s often called the "divine farmer". incidentally, he’s also celebrated as the father of traditional chinese medicine. legend has it that the emperor had a penchant for consuming boiled water. during one such occasion, as his servant was in the process of boiling water, something happened that would create a new drink – leaves from a nearby tree were somehow carried by wind to land in the water without the servant's notice. oblivious to this, the servant presented the water to the emperor. as you would have guessed, the leaves belonged to the camellia sinensis plant that is linked to the origin of tea.   the emperor was intrigued by the pleasant aroma and subtle flavour of this “chance” infusion. this interesting episode emerged as a crucial turning point that marked the origin of tea, positioning the emperor as the one who invented tea. while the story is not from the documented history of tea, it may have some truth. it’s a well-known fact that archaeological evidence has confirmed that tombs dating back to the han dynasty (206 bc - 220 ad), carried tea containers.

3. different tea varieties throughout the history of tea, evolving production techniques have given rise to a myriad of varieties, ranging from classic greens to enticing aromatic blends. some fascinating varieties are given here: green tea: most of us across the globe know about green tea, after all, the history of tea started with it. by the way, this popular tea with a soothing taste and vibrant green colour originates from the camellia sinensis tree – the same for other traditional teas. the leaves remain green as they undergo minimal oxidation during processing. matcha is a type of green tea made from shade-grown leaves. it differs from other green teas as the entire leaf is powdered and consumed. black tea: while black tea wasn't produced until much later after the green tea, its place in the history of tea is noteworthy. interestingly, it comes from the same plant as green tea but differs in so many ways. its fermentation process is at work here and defines the character of black tea – the robust flavours, bold aromas and a dark amber hue. assam and darjeeling from india, earl grey from england and keemun from china are some of the black teas. oolong tea: the history of tea is woven with interesting tales of discovery and production; and yes…there’s one for oolong too! someone called wuliang, later known as wu long or oolong, accidentally stumbled upon oolong tea. instead of packing the tea leaves he had gathered, he chose to pursue a deer. upon his return, he discovered the partially oxidised tea leaves – the oolong. the partially oxidised, oolong tea strikes a balance between the freshness of green tea and the depth of black tea. they have a range of flavours – from the floral and fruity notes of tie guan yin to the roasted and earthy tones of da hongpao. white tea: some aspects of how white tea was produced and consumed changed throughout the history of tea, at least during certain dynasties in china. earlier, compressed cakes of tea leaves were made, and pieces were broken off to steep in water – but that changed later.  one aspect remains the same, though – it’s made from young, delicate leaves and buds that are harvested for a very short duration in march and april, and then they undergo minimal processing. baihaoyinzhen (silver needle) and baimudan (white peony) are well-regarded varieties. pu-erh tea: pu-erh tea from china's yunnan province, is a fermented tea with a distinctive earthy and musty flavour. it’s often compressed into cakes or bricks for aging, with the taste evolving over time. according to the history of tea, that’s how (as cakes) they were traded at a place called pu-erh. no doubt, that’s where the tea got its name.