A Quick History of Tea

A lot has happened in the thousands of years that tea has been around... We’ve narrowed it down to what we think are 10 important tea times in history.

1. 4,000 years ago tea was “born” in China. The main founding myth is that China’s Emperor Shen Nong sat under a tree and fell asleep with his water boiling. When he awoke, he found leaves had fallen in the water. He tasted, and it both detoxified and stimulated him.
2. During the 600-900s AD, compressed brick tea is drunk by every level of society during the Tang dynasty in China. Lu Yu writes The Classic of Tea, an important document in tea history.
3. The 8th century brought about the age of beaten tea, aka matcha. This is when monks bring tea to Japan.
4. Once you get to the 14th century, tea begins to be prepared as we do today, loose leaf, steeped in hot water.
5. During the 15th century tea is introduced to Britain by the East India Trading Company.
6. In 1773, the US was a major tea drinking nation until the Boston Tea Party, when they tipped all the tea overboard.
7. The 19th century and 20th century saw the end of the Chinese Monopoly with the Opium Wars and tea production taking off in India.
8. In 1904 iced tea is introduced at the St. Louis World Fair.
9. In 1908 the first tea bags are produced.
10. In the 1980s the bubble tea craze begins in Taiwan.