According to the legend, the discovery of tea happened about 4000 years ago when the emperor – an herbalist and healer- Shen Nung went on one of his expeditions in the south of China. In the late afternoon the emperor was tired and stopped for a break. He boiled his water in a kettle as he knew only boiled water is safe to drink. A sudden wind carried some dried leaves into the kettle and the curious herbalist decided to try the drink. He liked what he tasted and felt energized quickly, so he collected some leaves and began experimenting with them. Of course the leaves where from the tea bush.

It is impossible to know whether there is any truth in this story. But tea drinking certainly became established in China many centuries before it had even been heard of in the west. Containers for tea have been found in tombs dating from the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) but it was under the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD), that tea became firmly established as the national drink of China. It became such a favourite that during the late eighth century a writer called Lu Yu wrote the first book entirely about tea, the Ch'a Ching, or Tea Classic. It was shortly after this that tea was first introduced to Japan, by Japanese Buddhist monks who had travelled to China to study. Tea drinking has become a vital part of Japanese culture, as seen in the development of the Tea Ceremony, which may be rooted in the rituals described in the Ch'a Ching.

Via the caravan routes, tea penetrated all Mongol lands, Muslim countries and Russia before reaching Europe. Since Europe had long periods with no contact with the Orient, it therefore got to know about tea relatively late when it was brought by an Arab trader named Suleiman.

It was not until about 1610 that tea really started a large-scale expansion of consumption in the Western World. The East India Company established relations with the Far East, introducing tea into Holland first in 1610, then to France in 1636 and finally to England in 1650.

Tea has been the cause of more than one war, but the most important single war was probably the American War of Independence. This was brought about by a single act, now called “The Boston Tea Party” and occurring on the 16th of December, 1773.

Early in the nineteenth century, China was virtually the sole supplier of tea in the world. In 1834, tea plantations were introduced into India and a little later, in 1857, in Ceylon and thereafter Asia, Africa and South America. As the cultivation of tea spread, the competition between ship owners for the speediest transportation of tea led to races along the far East shipping lanes. This was the origin of the great “Tea Clipper” races. Tea was now a worldwide beverage.

The origin of the word tea comes from the Fukien province of China (Tee in German, thé in French). In countries like China, Russia, India, Japan, Portugal, the word for tea is cha or chai.