Way Of Life | Consumer Product Reviews

As a drink dating back to an early Chinese emperor when it comes to 2700 B.C., tea has a long and varied history. It is older than coffee and in regards to the same age, perchance a tad younger, than beer. As wine now dates back to the Neolithic era due to somewhat recent research, it has tea beat hands down as the oldest beverage. However, tea has been around for a long time.

Not only is tea old, it is a widely consumed drink. While it may not be number one is the U.S., it is the major drink in much of the rest of the world in one form or another. The amount of tea developed international in 2006 was better than 3.64 million tonnes. As very little is employed to make a cup of tea, you may see there was a great deal to go around.

Does that tea you are drinking have less caffeine than coffee? Well, that depends. A 6-ounce cup of tea may have a lot or a little. It varies based upon what kind of tea you are drinking and how long you let it steep. The most seems to be when it comes to 110 milligrams in a cup of black tea. Black tea in general has more caffeine than green tea but not always.

Vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, and polyphenols are amid the gains you get from drinking a cup of tea. These help fight off the effects of our daily lives by getting rid of free radicals and likewise boost our bodies’ defenses. Some studies show positive effects in preventing cancer and warding off the dreaded disease Alzheimer’s. All from drinking a simple cup of what I would argue is the world’s bestloved drink.

Certainly most humans don’t care in regards to all the a good deal of gains to tea, even if that is why they introductory started to drink it. After a time, it merely becomes a way of life because it is merely a wondrous beverage. There are so a great deal of fantasti types of tea and if you add in herbal teas, or tisanes, the varieties are almost endless.

Tea drinking has been the focus for various social ceremonies and social commentaries over the years. The Japanese tea ceremony and the English afternoon tea are two examples of the social events that have arisen from the drinking of tea, though one could argue strongly that the Japanese tea ceremony is a spiritual ceremony that involves a great deal of distinct elements of Japanese life.

All around the world, one thing galore humans may agree upon is the cup of tea as a part of each day life. Whether it’s a glass of iced sweet tea in the southern United States, a cup of Darjeeling from India, or Pu-erh from China, tea makes the world go round. Regardless of doctrine or politics, tea is something we may agree upon even if we might not agree upon the type.

You may brew your tea in a clay pot or a floral Staffordshire teapot. You may use tea bags or loose tea. You may serve it in glass cups or the finest china., But one thing the many, some persons around the world who drink tea know. Tea is irresistible.

Tea The Drink That Changed The World

Camellia sinensis, normally known as tea, is grown in tea gardens and estates around the world. A simple beverage, served either hot or iced, tea has fascinated and driven us, calmed and awoken us, for well over two thousand years.

Tea: The Drink that Changed the World tells of the rich legends and history surrounding the disseminate of tea all around Asia and the West, as well as it is rise to the status of requirement in kitchens around the world. From the tea houses of China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907), to fourteenth century tea ceremonies in Korea’s Buddhist temples’ to the tea plantations in Sri Lanka today, this book explores and illuminates tea and it is intricate, compelling history.

Review

“It’s this unveiling of both the sordid and sublime elements of tea’s evolution that make the book such a fabulously riveting readùone served best with a bottomless cup of your most beloved blend.”—Conscious Choice

Most helpful customer reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
Great Information for the beginner
By Robert Busko
If you’re new to the topic of tea than Tea: The Drink that Changed the World by Laura Martin is the book for you. Beyond the expected coverage of how tea is consumed around the world the book includes a terrific load of basic information on the plant itself, how it is cultivated, managed, and harvested.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Only good if you know zero about tea
By Mira
At worst, the author is misinformed. She makes her first big mistake early in the book, by referring to the oxidation process as “fermentation.” Those two processes are very different. There’s really not much to learn from this book for anyone who knows anything about tea. I was hoping for a lively history of the tea trade. Now I’m bummed that I spent money on this book. Note: The author is not a tea specialist. Apparently she writes articles for home and garden magazines.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Good look into the history of tea
By Ho Kheong Tan
Laura C. Martin gave the reader a good account of the history on tea and its intimacy with the history of man kind.

I was surprised with the brutality exercised by the British over the Chinese and Indians in order to profit from trading in tea and satisfying the social demand of the British. I have always viewed the British as benevolent and environmental conscious but this book changed that.

Some astounding historical events:
1. The European used tobacco and opium to trade with the Chinese for tea!

2. In 1830, the Chinese imported over 2.5 million pounds of Indian opium; controlled by the British!

3. From 1830 to 1840, the Chinese traded 366 tones of silver to the British, primarily for opium grown in India but controlled by the British.

4. When the Chinese captured and destroyed chests of opium worth nine million mexican silver dollars (one Mexican silver dollars was worth 2.5 pound in mid-nineteenth centry, which is about 169 pounds, or 355 US dollars today), the British sent warships to Canton , where they quickly and efficiently destroyed the Chinese army. The result was the Treaty of Nanking, signed on august 29, 1842. In addition, England was awarded “most favoured nation” status in China. The Chinses were forced to pay for the lost opium and the cost of the war! {However, who started it??”}

5. The British was far from satisfied with the Treaty of Nanking and were impatient to legalise opium, The result was a second Opium War in 1856. Again, the British won easily, and the Chinese legalise opium, and England continued to export Indian opium to China until 1911.

6. The British controlled tea plantations in Assam during the nineteenth century but the conditions on the plantations were devastatingly difficult for the worker. There was rarely enough food and the water supply was polluted. and diseases such as malaria, fevers, diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera were rampant.

7. The British paid for coolie to transport tea from Bengal to Assam and paid for each coolie who delivered the tea alive. “Alive” did not equate “healthy” and in some years, over hald the coolies died in transit, while countless numbers arrived so weak that the died within the year, mostly from cholera. They were treated as just another part of the financial equation calculated by the Assam Company. About 30% of the recruits were women and children. {Now the British feel child labour is deplorable!}

8. Tea was highly taxed; five shilling per pound – equal to thirty -two British pounds today!

The above is only some extracts from the book. You will have to read the book yourself to enjoy other historical events!

In addition, readers were also introduced to the different methods of producing tea and serving tea.

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