January 2, 2012
Have you ever wondered why so much attention is paid to tea ceremonies in the East? If you have ever traveled to either China or Japan, then you have no doubt encountered the cultural phenomena of tea drinking. China is the origin for the tea drinking cultures of most of East Asia. It is one of the oldest and longest lasting practices which most of these cultures have in common. When one examines the historical evidence intelligently, it is not hard to discover that the consumption of tea got started in China. Tea itself is a native to southern China. In order to appreciate the ways in which tea drinking can turn your Asian home or office into a beautiful place, it is necessary to explore the unique practice carefully. Tea drinking may have gotten its start in China but is was in no way limited to that region. Tea has been a vital part of the experience of many Asian cultures since then.
In Tang times (618-906 CE) tea became a national drink with an established custom in Buddhist monasteries. The idea was to prevent drowsiness in the monks during their times of lengthy meditation. In terms of archeology, tea has been found buried in several tombs with the dead. It was considered a “good” of the Han dynasty (206-220 CE) in the afterlife. There is also strong evidence which suggests that tea drinking began in China even before the time of Christ.
It was during the Three Kingdoms period (220-265 CE) Zhang Yi detailed in his book the specifics of tea production. The description was mostly related to the way tea was produced in both Sichuan and Hubei provinces. This included the processing of tea leaves into tea cakes. The poet Lu Tung (795-835 CE) wrote the Song of Tea. The song proclaimed the superior benefit of tea drinking. It was also about this same time Lu Yu (760-800 CE), the greatest authority on tea, wrote “Chajin” (The Classic of Tea). Ever since its debut, this writing has consistently remained the single most authoritative manual for tea consumers. It likewise describes the tools required to harvest leaves and process tea. In addition, the utensils to brew tea and a list of tea producing areas along with their respective gradings are included.
So how did China influence other Asian cultures to adopt tea drinking? Japanese monks Kubai (774-835 CE) and Saicho (767-822 CE) took a journey to China in 804. Their assumed goal was to study Chan or “Zen” Buddhism. This would take place in Tianmushan, Zhejiang province. However, this specific locality was very popular for tea production as well. Therefore, when the monks returned to Japan not too long after their visit they began tea plantation in their homeland. They brought necessary tea seeds with them back from China to do this. Naturally, this was in addition to introducing the Japanese people to Zen Buddhism.
During the early Heian period (794-1185 CE), Japanese literati adopted the custom of tea drinking from Tang China. The Japanese started to drink tea during social gatherings. Often, these social gatherings were accompanied by activities enjoyed by the educated and cultured members of society. These activities usually included such things as composing, reciting poetry, and playing music. It is easy to understand how tea drinking would thrive in this kind of social atmosphere. To make the point clear, it is obvious that China’s tea drinking and production of tea leaves gained influence in much of East Asia a very long time ago. It is almost like a social glue which permeates the entire region today. In the contemporary Asian home or office tea, along with its needed utensils, makes a very pragmatic and friendly contribution to the decor!
Harlan Urwiler is the CEO of HRU Enterprises, Inc. He is an expert author on the subjects of Asian history, culture, folklore, and collectibles. You should feel invited to visit the company’s excellent website at: http://www.myorientalgallery.com. Our Support Team is anxious to answer any quesitons you may have about our dynamic business or authentic products. Big savings are yours today with your order. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
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Technorati Tags: benefits of tea, healthy tea, tea culture, tea culture of China, tea drinking
October 31, 2011
In recent years, a variety of tea products, the shelf board, tea bags, instant tea, tea bread, tea and moon cake, tea seeds, etc. have become the new darling of the consumer. These products are a large number of tea tea industry marked an important development, namely, tea deep processing and comprehensive utilization.
- Since the 20th century, 80s, deep processing of tea made remarkable progress, tea processing industry also will rise. Tea processing technology can be roughly divided into 4 categories, which are: machining, physical processing, chemical and biochemical processing and comprehensive technical processing.
- Tea machinery. This process does not change the essential nature of tea, only to change the external shape of tea leaves (such as shape, size, etc) to make their products Bianyu storage, brewing, meet the health standards, and more beautiful. Tea bag tea is a typical machining products.
- Physical processing of tea. Through the membrane concentration, vacuum freeze-drying, ultra-fine grinding techniques to change the original form of tea, to finished product is no longer a “leaf”-shaped solid. Instant tea, juice concentrate, superfine tea powder is a typical product of such processing.
- Chemical and biochemical processing of tea. Refers to the use of chemical or biochemical methods to tea leaf processing of raw materials or finished form products with a special function processing methods. It features material from the isolation and purification of tea and some special effects elements to be used, or to change the nature of tea made from new products. Such as tea pigment series, vitamins, corrosion etc, etc..
- Comprehensive technical processing of tea. Refers to the utilization of several techniques such products made with tea processing methods. Current techniques are: tea drugs processing, food processing, tea and tea fermentation engineering. Tea processing through integrated technology, a large number of new industries can develop materials to promote and extend the industry.
- Deep processing and comprehensive utilization of the modern tea industry, tea industry is different from traditional key elements of the watershed of modern and traditional. Tea processing industries, the rise of new technology and management ideas spread, infiltration into the traditional tea processing, tea processing industry in promoting the transformation of the traditional great significance.
- By tea processing technology can take advantage of resources of tea. Tea production process will produce approximately 20% of low-grade tea and by-products, this part of the product market is often because there is no direct way to be wasted, can be produced by deep processing of tea and tea powder tea concentrate and juice products do not need to use their limited number, price high early bud.
- By tea deep processing technology, changing the natural shape of tea, to create more convenient and updated health tea products, enriched the market, to meet the needs of people’s personal consumption.
- Tea processing technology can greatly enhance the added value of products. Tea deep processing of high technology, widely used in biotechnology, membrane technology, micro-capsule technology, ultra high pressure technology, automatic control technology and other high-tech, also introduced a new operating mechanism and advanced management concept.
- Tea, tea processing technology enables the industry to develop in the direction to diversify. Relying on high-tech achievements to the tea processing industry to expand the use of tea, so tea deep processing of products as food, daily chemical and pharmaceutical industry an important raw material, has broad application prospects.
- China’s tea plantation area and yield of tops in the world of tea, the development of deep processing of tea, you can nurture an annual turnover of several hundred million dollars, even tens of billions of tea industry leading enterprises, help to create a strong brand tea industry, the expansion of tea export. So go to deep processing as the core technology of industrialization road, is to increase the added value of China tea, tea products optimize the structure, to promote the tea industry, rapid and healthy development of the only way.
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Technorati Tags: deep processing and utilization of tea, instant tea, tea bags, tea making, tea production, variety of tea products
October 23, 2011
Tea isn’t just a refreshing beverage that is consumed worldwide, it is also has great importance to European, Middle Eastern and Asian Cultures. In this article, we take a look at some countries that have incorporated tea into their cultures.
United Kingdom
The people of the United Kingdom love their tea so much that the UK is the second highest consumer of tea worldwide per capita. However, it wasn’t always like this as the British are relative newcomers to tea drinking. Their love of all things tea can be traced back to the 19th century. During this period, India was still under the control of the British Empire and they had firm interests in the tea trade worldwide. The variant most popular in the United Kingdom is black tea that is almost always served with milk. 15 cups or more per day is quite common with consumption averaging around 5 cups daily. The tea break takes place in the early afternoons and is of particularly importance as it is observed throughout most of the UK. For all intents and purposes, a tea break is simply a light afternoon meal often accompanied by cake, scones and light sandwiches.
Egypt
Egypt is another country that’s crazy about tea. It is so popular that is the national beverage of choice, which is also known as “shai”. Almost all teas that are consumed in Egypt are imported from Sri Lanka or Kenya. Black tea is the variant that is consumed the most while green tea is widely unpopular among the populace. Because of its popularity, tea is consumed many times a day. It is almost compulsory during breakfast and after lunch. As is the case with certain Asian cultures, tea is the beverage of choice during social meetings and functions.
Malaysia
While coffee has slowly been gaining ground in Malaysia, tea is still a lot more popular among its citizens. The most popular form of tea is called “Teh Tarik”, which literally translates into “pulled tea”. It refers to the way black tea is mixed in with sweetened condensed milk there. The mixing process involves pouring in the mixture into another cup or container from elevated height. This process continues until the tea begins to froth. At that point, it is ready to serve. It should be noted that teh tarik is almost always served in food joints called a “mamak”. A “Mamak” is usually the term used for the hugely popular 24 hour eateries commonly found there. But it is also slang for Muslims of Indian descent in the country. Incidentally, 24 hour eateries in Malaysia are almost always operated by Indian Muslims which may have something to do with the terms used for these eateries. While the teas importance in the home setting has decreased over the years, it is still the drink of choice when meeting up at a Mamak for social gatherings.
Gregory owns a website specializing in Green Tea Benefits. Should you require additional information on green tea, give his website a visit.
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Technorati Tags: benefits of tea, drinking tea, Tea, tea cultures
October 13, 2011
Tea was first imported into England in the 17th century and it was a very expensive commodity. It cost between £6 – £10, which put it well beyond the reach of ordinary people. While initially it would have been served only in the grand houses by the middle of the 17th century it had gained much popularity. The tea leaves had to be stored in containers to keep them fresh and the first tea caddies appeared. The earliest ones would have had a lock and key, mainly so that the servants couldn’t steal the tea. Early tea caddies were often divided into compartments so that different varieties of teas could be stored separately.
Tea would have been served after dinner by the lady of the house to her female guests while the men were enjoying their port and cigars in another room. Tea drinking was an elegant occasion and the caddies were made to reflect this. Some of the finest were made from silver, ivory or mother of pearl. Where cheaper materials, such as straw or wood were used, elaborate designs and decorations were used to compensate for the less costly materials.
While silver tea caddies would have a hallmark and would be easy to date, others had no maker’s mark and you would have to look at the style and decorations to get a clue as to when it might have been made. The early Georgians had a taste for clean, simple lines and favoured plain rectangular caddies. By the 1740s the fashion was for Chippendale’s caddies with chinoiserie motifs. Throughout the 18th century many styles were used for tea caddies and one of the most famous was made by William Potter Cornhill in 1786 in the form of a miniature model of Carlton House, which was later the Prince Regents residence.
During the late 18th to mid 19th century wooden tea caddies in the shape of fruit became extremely popular. The most common were in the shape of apples and pears, but there were also caddies in the shape of melons and squashes. These are much rarer and therefore a lot more expensive. Many were made from fruitwood and were coloured with sponge paint effects which would have worn away quite quickly. If you can find a fruit tea caddy with some of the original paint be prepared to pay serious money, as this normally doubles the price. You would be very unlikely to find one for less than £1500 and some of the extremely rare ones have been known to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000.
By the late 1800s tea drinking was no longer special. Tea could be bought ready packaged and the tea was now made in the kitchen rather than the drawing room. The fashion for tea caddies sadly came to an end, although there was still a market for collectors.
Collecting tea caddies is not cheap, although the simple wooden caddies can be had for about £200. As prices have risen so has the number of fakes on the market. If you want to buy a tea caddy you should do your research and only buy from a reputable dealer.
if you would like more information on antiques and collectables you can check out my blog http://www.favouritecollectables.com which is frequently updated and a good source for checking out information on your favourite collectables.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marion_Aston
Technorati Tags: buying tea, collecting antique tea caddies, drinking tea, Health Benefits Of Tea, tea caddies
June 14, 2011
My husband and I traveled to England several years ago. Everywhere we went we were offered tea or served tea in china cups or mugs and never in paper or plastic. The English are very serious about their tea so it is never compromised with stale leaves or tea bags and always carefully steeped and served from teapots into tea cups.
Tea drinking in England began as early as 1658, when a London merchant, Thomas Garraway, advertised the new product, “tee”, for sale in his shop. Two years later he published a lengthy advertisement listing the many health benefits of this drink. Then in 1662, King Charles II married Catharine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess, who brought a chest of tea with her as part of her dowry. She began to serve it to her Court and word began to spread of the new drink.
During the eighteenth century, tea became the most popular drink in Britain and ale and gin drinking declined. People drank this new drink at home and new Tea Gardens became very popular in London causing the established coffee houses to close down. The Tea Houses continued until the early nineteenth century when London rapidly expanded and people’s tastes in entertainment became more sophisticated and exciting.
Tea became the drink of all classes of British society and was drunk at all times of the day and especially after the main evening meal. Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, introduced the “afternoon tea”, in the early nineteenth century, to satisfy her hunger between the light luncheon and the late evening meal. She began to invite her friends to share it with her and the custom became the British institution of afternoon tea.
Now there is high, low and cream tea. Low is the original afternoon tea which included small sandwiches, pastries, and tea served on low tables. High, or meat tea, is a meal of filling foods that was served after the working classes came home from work and served on high tables. Cream tea is served in the afternoon but consists only of sweets with clotted cream or jam to be spread on scones or sweet breads.
Now the British are the largest per capita tea drinkers in the world! They prefer black, always with milk, not cream, and sometimes sugar. For strong black tea they will use lots of milk and as much as two teaspoons of sugar per cup. The average working Brit will take tea in a mug and may have as many as six mugs a day, as employers make time for tea breaks during working hours for their employees. The formal afternoon teas are mainly for special events, royalty, tourists, and public officials.
I would love to travel to England again as I miss the assumption they make that everyone loves tea and takes time for tea. I wish it was more of a custom here in the US. There are more and more tea shops springing up across America as tea popularity continues to grow, so maybe we’ll get the hang of it yet!
Diane Aase
http://www.teapotmama.com
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Technorati Tags: drinking tea, English tea, Green Tea, Tea
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