2017-02-22 Wed

Tea often presumed to be a British drink was actually discovered by China in 2737 B.C. According to legend, tea was discovered by Chinese Emperor Shen Nung when a leaf from a nearby tree (mostly Camellia sinensis called tea today) fell into his pot of boiling water. Shen drank the infused and flavored water and felt refreshed. He then researched about it and thus Tea became an extensive part of cultures across the world.

During the late eighth century, tea was introduced in Japan by Buddhist monks who had travelled to China to study. Tea then became a vital part of Japanese culture leading to the development of the Tea Ceremony. In 1610, the first shipments of tea arrived in ships via the Dutch East India Company and to Russia via the famous Silk Route. Although due to its high prices it remained a luxurious drink for the wealthy.

In around 1823, a British Army Major Robert Bruce stumbled upon tea bushes growing in the Northeast region of Assam, India. With this discovery, the British East India Company seized the opportunity to experiment with growing tea in not only Assam but in Darjeeling, a region in Northeastern India at the foot of the Himalayas. An East India Company employee, Dr. Campbell, first planted Darjeeling tea seeds in his garden at Beechwood, Darjeeling. The planting proved so successful that in 1847 the British government began developing tea estates in the area.

This marked the beginning of a new tea industry in India and an end to reliance on Chinese-grown tea. With tea plantations springing up all over parts of India and the advent of the industrial revolution, the tea trade in India would flourish.

The Royal Mail issued this 81 British Penny Commemorative stamp of the Mad Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland on 5th January 2015. After falling down the rabbit hole and entering the garden, Alice encounters The Mad Hatter, The Dormouse, and The March Hare. The Mad Hatter explains to Alice that he and the March Hare are always having tea because, when he tried to sing for the Queen of Hearts at a celebration of hers, she sentenced him to death for "murdering the time." He escaped decapitation, but, angry about the Hatter's attempted "murder", Time halts himself in respect to the Hatter, keeping him and the March Hare stuck at 6:00 forever.