The History Of Tea: Chai’s Journey From Leaf To The Cup

International Tea Day is observed every year on December 15 in India and its neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka as well as in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and Tanzania. On the eve of this day, let’s have a look at the history of tea and how the humble cup of chai has evolved over the years.

Tea-An Accidental Discovery

The aromatic beverage lovingly called chai by us was a product of an accident! According to a popular myth, legendary Chinese emperor Shennong was drinking a bowl of boiled water when a few leaves flew into the bowl, changing its colour and taste. The emperor was pretty impressed by its taste and healing properties and thus began the love of tea. While the Chinese have been consuming tea for thousands of years, commercial tea plantations in India were first established under the British Rule when a native variety of Camellia sinensis plant was discovered by Scotsman Robert Bruce in 1823 in Assam. Also, Scottish botanist Robert Fortune is also credited for introducing the Chinese tea plants in India by stealing seedlings from Chinese Empire!

The first ever English tea garden was built at Chabua in the Upper Assam region in the year 1837 while 1840 marked the year in which the Assam Tea Company first began producing tea in the region commercially.

Read More: Rujuta Diwekar-Ditch Green Tea Instead Go For Ginger Tea

Did You Know?

Assam, which is the major tea-producing state of India, follows a special time zone called the Bagantime since the British days, which is an hour ahead of the Indian Standard Time.

Rishav Kanoi and Shruti Kanoi, founders of modern day The Tea Trove, are celebrating 100 years in the tea industry and believe that the International Tea Day draws attention to the impact of tea trade on workers and growers with requests for price support and fair trade. Being one of the first Indian tea planters, the original founder of the business, Rai Saheb Hanuman Bux Kanoi, started his journey of tea plantation in 1917, and became one of the biggest tea planters - managing 42 tea estates at a point of time. Such new age retail tea companies like The Tea Trove are giving due recognition to the individual tea growers in their catalogue, which is ultimately helping market individual tea estates and improving their price realisation.

Tea is not just a beverage, it is a culture in itself. No matter how popular coffee remains, tea will always have a special place in the heart of tea lovers and connoisseurs.

To know about side effects of drinking too much tea, tea time snacks and more on food, stay tuned to Her Zindagi.

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