A history of tea, the second most-consumed beverage in the world (2017)(kottke.org)
kottke.org
A history of tea, the second most-consumed beverage in the world (2017)
http://kottke.org/17/05/a-history-of-tea-the-second-most-consumed-beverage-in-the-world
78 comments
> Wake up to drink sweet brew every morning, imagine the untold amount of violence that went into that cup
I feel like there was a missed opportunity to transition to Boston Tea Party and American Revolution
I feel like there was a missed opportunity to transition to Boston Tea Party and American Revolution
Another perspective on this is as western malfeasance in economic and actual warfare in the east, which we are now starting to pay for as China ignores our IP and denies us the ability to compete in their market.
Until we find the next opium to balance the trade deficit?
This post looks like copy pasta from /pol
Lol
Lol
That's what "the greentext history" means.
The /pol/ version would be more explicitly racist in one way or another.
Weird to post this youtube video embedded on kottke as if it was a post from kottke, here's the original TedEd video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaLvVc1sS20
Here's the original TED-Ed video on the TED site: https://www.ted.com/talks/shunan_teng_the_history_of_tea.
Maybe the mods can fix the link
Also add warning [video]
Why do you care a video is embedded?
If it autoplays, fix your web browser. No modern browser autoplays video anymore.
If it autoplays, fix your web browser. No modern browser autoplays video anymore.
No, it is just that it is a video and not a text. I don't always have the means to watch a video when clicking a link, so it is nice to know that there is no text content just a video.
How come no one has mentioned Russia and samovars yet? Heh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samovar
From the above article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Samovar_at_a_Kerala-sty...
I have seen such vessels in roadside tea shops in India, but probably did not know at the time that they were samovars or were similar to them. I've only read about samovars in Russian novels by authors like Gorki, Chekhov and others.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samovar
From the above article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Samovar_at_a_Kerala-sty...
I have seen such vessels in roadside tea shops in India, but probably did not know at the time that they were samovars or were similar to them. I've only read about samovars in Russian novels by authors like Gorki, Chekhov and others.
One of the interesting facts I read about was the invention of chai tea (spiced tea) for the Indian market. Which was invented by the British as a way to convince the Indians to drink tea.
Traditionally Indians had drunk spiced coffee, not tea and it took a long time to force them off of it!
Traditionally Indians had drunk spiced coffee, not tea and it took a long time to force them off of it!
> the invention of chai tea (spiced tea)
For the record, "chai" is just the word for tea; spices are not implied. It does not seem to have been introduced by the British, who knew it as "cha" very early and "tea" for most of their tea-relevant history; the "chai" form comes from Persia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea#Etymology
But the British did give it a promotional campaign, during which they fought against the native tendency to add spices:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai#History
For the record, "chai" is just the word for tea; spices are not implied. It does not seem to have been introduced by the British, who knew it as "cha" very early and "tea" for most of their tea-relevant history; the "chai" form comes from Persia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea#Etymology
But the British did give it a promotional campaign, during which they fought against the native tendency to add spices:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_chai#History
"Tea" if by sea, "cha" if by land.
https://qz.com/1176962/map-how-the-word-tea-spread-over-land...
https://qz.com/1176962/map-how-the-word-tea-spread-over-land...
Disclosure: Im from Kenya.
And chai is just Swahili for the word tea.
Portugal got Cha by sea (through macau)
That rule might have a hard time with Japan.
Indians can refer to spiced tea as "masala chai", but I almost always just heard "chai" - I guess that's the way it's so often prepared that the spices are implied?
Normal cha (what we call it in Gujarat) has no extra spices except perhaps some fresh ginger. Masala cha is made by boiling it with a spice mix of dry ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, all ground to a powder. I use a proportion of 4:2:2:1:1. You can vary the proportion to your liking or add a bit of nutmeg or mace or fresh mint leaves or Indian basil (tulsi). I often add fresh grated ginger as well. At Indian grocery stores in the US you can find Wagh-bakri brand instant masala chai. Just add about 4 fl.oz of near boiling hot water to a tea pack and you get some amazingly good masala tea!
this is very interesting, never thought that black pepper can be mixed in tea! I am very tempted to try that at home. Do you add milk/sugar in masala tea?
Not GP, but yes, people in India mostly add both milk and sugar to masala tea, i.e. it is not had with just tea and the masalas - IME, at least. Can't say specifically what is common in Gujarat, though, since I haven't been there except in early childhood a few times (with parents), and didn't drink tea then.
Sugar as per taste but milk is a must! I use 1:2 water:milk but you can vary it. About 1 tsp of masala per cup or mug. Typically you’d heat the whole concoction till the milky water rises once or twice. I don’t put in the tea (loose or tea bag) from the start as it tends to become bitter but it must still boil with the rest for a minute or two.
thanks, the information on the process to make the tea is super helpful. I was just going to ask about it, now things become much clear to me. 1:2 water:milk? man, that's a lot of milk. But I love milk, so that will be great. Also, I guess unlike what the Chinese normally do, there is no refilling hot water into the pot/mug to drink more, right?
I now use 1:3 or less especially when using whole milk, 1:2 or 1:2.5 when using 2% fat milk. Experiment and see what you like! There is no one true recipe!
Definitely no refilling with hot water! As the whole process takes time, I used to make 3-4 cups in the morning and take the remaining tea in a thermos to work.
Definitely no refilling with hot water! As the whole process takes time, I used to make 3-4 cups in the morning and take the remaining tea in a thermos to work.
got it. also i am sensing when you say 1:2 you mean 1 unit milk with 2 units of water, not the other way around as I thought before.
A normal "Chai" in my home is just 1:1 Milk and Water with a teaspoon of tea, a little sugar and maybe some cardomom.
A "Masala Chai" is milk, water, green tea leaves, tea, cardomom, cloves, grated ginger, a leaf of tulsi and a bunch of other stuff according to taste.
A "Masala Chai" is milk, water, green tea leaves, tea, cardomom, cloves, grated ginger, a leaf of tulsi and a bunch of other stuff according to taste.
A bit like how Britons say "tea" not "black tea", even though it's a kind of tea that a Chinese tea-drinker might find a bit unusual.
There's nothing unusual about black tea in China. Putting milk in it would be, though!
Putting milk in black tea (milk tea / boba) is very popular in China. Maybe it hasn't been historically though.
That was the OP's point.
Nope. Chai is just tea. Spices may be added for regional defaults, but you can also get normal milky tea.
Yes, it comes from Persian language speakers.
The name of the country that some insist on calling "Persia" is and has always been Iran. Earliest written records are from the Sasanid Empire. "Persia" (meaning Fars) is merely a province of Iran. Iran means "the nation of the Aryans"
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eran-eransah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0ahrest%C4%81n%C4%ABh%C4%...
[updated links]
The name of the country that some insist on calling "Persia" is and has always been Iran. Earliest written records are from the Sasanid Empire. "Persia" (meaning Fars) is merely a province of Iran. Iran means "the nation of the Aryans"
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eran-eransah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0ahrest%C4%81n%C4%ABh%C4%...
[updated links]
> Earliest written records are from the Sasanid Empire.
I assume you mean the earliest records that document the name "Iran"? Written records of that region go back multiple thousands of years before the Sasanids.
I did find on Wikipedia at various points the claims that...
- The name "Persia" is just a misunderstanding of the provincial name Fars or Pars; the country has never thought of itself that way.
- The name Iran dates to the 3rd century AD.
Those two claims, both of which you seem to be repeating here, conflict in a pretty obvious way. The classical Greeks fought against and eventually conquered an empire they knew as "Persia", the Achaemenids, several hundred years before the Sasanids were established. Cultural contact between Greece and Persia was quite extensive, with many Greeks serving as mercenaries in Persian armies.
Wikipedia saw a big fight over the endonym of Achaemenid Persia -- the page went from noting it as "Parsa", rendered in Old Persian cuneiform, to claiming it was known by the modern Arabic name, rendered in modern Arabic -- a development at least a thousand years too late to be plausible -- to now recording "ch'shassa" ("the Empire"), again in Old Persian cuneiform.
The name Iran easily could go back long before the Sasanids, in that it represents a piece of culture shared with India and therefore presumably dating to before the Indo/Iranian split. But are you aware of any evidence that the country referred to itself that way during the classical period? Judging by what you can find on Wikipedia, this question is one of major political concern to some groups, and is mostly fought on the basis of assertion rather than evidence.
I assume you mean the earliest records that document the name "Iran"? Written records of that region go back multiple thousands of years before the Sasanids.
I did find on Wikipedia at various points the claims that...
- The name "Persia" is just a misunderstanding of the provincial name Fars or Pars; the country has never thought of itself that way.
- The name Iran dates to the 3rd century AD.
Those two claims, both of which you seem to be repeating here, conflict in a pretty obvious way. The classical Greeks fought against and eventually conquered an empire they knew as "Persia", the Achaemenids, several hundred years before the Sasanids were established. Cultural contact between Greece and Persia was quite extensive, with many Greeks serving as mercenaries in Persian armies.
Wikipedia saw a big fight over the endonym of Achaemenid Persia -- the page went from noting it as "Parsa", rendered in Old Persian cuneiform, to claiming it was known by the modern Arabic name, rendered in modern Arabic -- a development at least a thousand years too late to be plausible -- to now recording "ch'shassa" ("the Empire"), again in Old Persian cuneiform.
The name Iran easily could go back long before the Sasanids, in that it represents a piece of culture shared with India and therefore presumably dating to before the Indo/Iranian split. But are you aware of any evidence that the country referred to itself that way during the classical period? Judging by what you can find on Wikipedia, this question is one of major political concern to some groups, and is mostly fought on the basis of assertion rather than evidence.
I have provided links to an academic resource. Wikipedia is not an authoritative site.
Equally, it is entirely irrelevant what the Greeks called their neighboring nations.
> the modern Arabic name, rendered in modern Arabic
Have no idea what you are talking about here. Arabs called Iran "Ajam".
Equally, it is entirely irrelevant what the Greeks called their neighboring nations.
> the modern Arabic name, rendered in modern Arabic
Have no idea what you are talking about here. Arabs called Iran "Ajam".
But your link says this:
> The word ērān is first attested in the titles of Ardašīr I (q.v.), founder of the Sasanian dynasty.
> The combination *aryānām xšaθra- is nowhere found in the Old Persian inscriptions of the Achaemenians. In the later Yašts there is only mention of airiiå and anairiiå daiŋhāuuō “Aryan” and (unspecified) “Non-Aryan lands.” Thus the term Ērānšahr was evidently an invention of the Sasanians.
If the name "Iran" dates back to the 3rd century AD, and the name "Persia" dates back to the 5th century BC, it doesn't make sense to claim that "'Persia' is merely a province of Iran".
> The word ērān is first attested in the titles of Ardašīr I (q.v.), founder of the Sasanian dynasty.
> The combination *aryānām xšaθra- is nowhere found in the Old Persian inscriptions of the Achaemenians. In the later Yašts there is only mention of airiiå and anairiiå daiŋhāuuō “Aryan” and (unspecified) “Non-Aryan lands.” Thus the term Ērānšahr was evidently an invention of the Sasanians.
If the name "Iran" dates back to the 3rd century AD, and the name "Persia" dates back to the 5th century BC, it doesn't make sense to claim that "'Persia' is merely a province of Iran".
quote:
Cyrus The Great (r. ca. 558-530 B.C.E.). Judging from a variety of evidence, such as some Medians holding important positions under Cyrus, the representation of the Medians in the Persepolis reliefs, and the Medians constituting the most important element in the Achaemenid Empire next to the Persians, it appears that the defeat of Astyages by Cyrus marked a transition from one power to another rather than the total annihilation of one by the other. In fact, Cyrus mixed Medians and Persians in his army as a prelude to his unification of the entire Iranian population and others under his banner.
end quote
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii1-pre-islamic-t...
Cyrus The Great (r. ca. 558-530 B.C.E.). Judging from a variety of evidence, such as some Medians holding important positions under Cyrus, the representation of the Medians in the Persepolis reliefs, and the Medians constituting the most important element in the Achaemenid Empire next to the Persians, it appears that the defeat of Astyages by Cyrus marked a transition from one power to another rather than the total annihilation of one by the other. In fact, Cyrus mixed Medians and Persians in his army as a prelude to his unification of the entire Iranian population and others under his banner.
end quote
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii1-pre-islamic-t...
And it should be further noted that Kurosh'e Kabir (Cyrus the Great) was half Median and half Persian. (His mother was Mede.) Both are Iranian tribes.
And further note that as a Persian I have no interest in diminishing the decisive and leading role of Persians in the historic context of the Iranian civilization.
Modern usage of the name "Persia" to refer to Iran by certain elements of the Anglospehere is in my opinion a malicious imperialist construct. We reject it just as we reject the absurdly denuded "Gulf".
And further note that as a Persian I have no interest in diminishing the decisive and leading role of Persians in the historic context of the Iranian civilization.
Modern usage of the name "Persia" to refer to Iran by certain elements of the Anglospehere is in my opinion a malicious imperialist construct. We reject it just as we reject the absurdly denuded "Gulf".
> the "chai" form comes from Persia.
Well this all comes from the Chinese pronunciation.
Persia had old links with China through the silk road. That's how tea, silk etc. got there while Islam reached China very early.
Well this all comes from the Chinese pronunciation.
Persia had old links with China through the silk road. That's how tea, silk etc. got there while Islam reached China very early.
Sure, all pronunciations ultimately derive from China.
But "chai" pronunciations do not derive directly from China, where there is no such form. And so the use of "chai" can tell us something about how tea got into a particular culture.
But "chai" pronunciations do not derive directly from China, where there is no such form. And so the use of "chai" can tell us something about how tea got into a particular culture.
It might have arrived to India through Persia but it derives directly from (Northern) Chinese.
'Tea' also derives directly from Chinese but through another Chinese dialect (Southern).
'Tea' also derives directly from Chinese but through another Chinese dialect (Southern).
You're using "directly" to mean something mysterious. Tea brought to India by non-Chinese traders speaking non-Chinese languages was referred to by a non-Chinese name. That is not an example of direct contact with China.
And as you'll see if you read the links posted variously through this subthread, the word for tea which English derived directly from contact with China (in very southerly Guangzhou) was "cha". That word was quickly replaced by "tea", derived from Dutch.
The Dutch word was derived directly from China, but, as you note, from the language spoken in a different region.
And as you'll see if you read the links posted variously through this subthread, the word for tea which English derived directly from contact with China (in very southerly Guangzhou) was "cha". That word was quickly replaced by "tea", derived from Dutch.
The Dutch word was derived directly from China, but, as you note, from the language spoken in a different region.
Chai or its variant Cha is an incredibly common word for tea throughout all of Asia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_tea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_tea
> For the record, "chai" is just the word for tea
How interesting. 'Ceai' is the word for tea in Romanian (https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceai) and it's pronounced almost the same.
How interesting. 'Ceai' is the word for tea in Romanian (https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceai) and it's pronounced almost the same.
Romanian probably got that form from Slavic.
Very true.
Disclosure: Im from Kenya. And chai is just Swahili for the word tea.
Disclosure: Im from Kenya. And chai is just Swahili for the word tea.
Well, it didn't work closer to the places where coffee is grown in India. ;)
Coffee is still the default choice in those parts in most cases, though it's a rather different form usually made with Robusta beans (as well as Arabica) and chicory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_filter_coffee
Coffee is still the default choice in those parts in most cases, though it's a rather different form usually made with Robusta beans (as well as Arabica) and chicory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_filter_coffee
As others have said here, the name of regular tea (without spices, etc.) in India is not "chai tea" but just "chai" (in Hindi). "Chai tea" would be like saying "tea tea" (although in two different languages (Hindi and English) in the same two-word phrase), so is redundant. I've had American friends and colleagues who made the same mistake.
From Google Translate (and listen to the sounds via the speaker button - when available):
Hindi:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Marathi:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Tamil (but I've never heard anyone call it that, may be the formal name, I've always heard it called "tea" (as in English) in Tamil:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Gujarati:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Malayalam:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
and so on ...
From Google Translate (and listen to the sounds via the speaker button - when available):
Hindi:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Marathi:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Tamil (but I've never heard anyone call it that, may be the formal name, I've always heard it called "tea" (as in English) in Tamil:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Gujarati:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
Malayalam:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&t...
and so on ...
Depending on which part of India you are from tea preparation can vary. For instance in Bengal, Darjeeling Tea and its variants are not spiced. One thing this video does is give a two sided view of tea history talking about China and England as the two main countries of interest. Tea itself would have been known in the middle east much earlier than when the British brought it over. Although the cultivation outside China probably was a largely British push.
Sometimes I wonder how the Chinese felt about the blatant IP theft by the British ages ago. I however am grateful for the fact that tea became more accessible due to that. We wouldn't have Assam and Darjeeling otherwise.
They didn't approve; tea was a state secret. But they were probably even more upset about the theft of silkworms centuries before.
I think they felt more strongly about being forced to accept opium on penalty of being bombed.
The thing is that they remember all those things while people in the West are oblivious to them.
The thing is that they remember all those things while people in the West are oblivious to them.
"The thing is that they remember all those things while people in the West are oblivious to them."
You are so right. Opium wars is major part of history books.
Every educated Chinese( or not so educated ones) knows this part of history. There is this "they wronged us" mindset right or wrong. A lot of conflicts come from this.
It's not that we're oblivious to them, we just haven't been trained to feel personally angry about it. I learned about the Opium Wars in my 9th-grade world history class in US public school, nearly a quarter-century ago, and it was treated as a pivotal moment in Chinese history. It's very difficult to avoid being reminded about it regularly if you read news about modern Chinese politics and foreign affairs.
The west had herbal "teas" long before tea. So from my understanding the only new thing was which plant they used.
That's very far from the mark.
Tea was engineered by the Chinese for thousands of years. Initially it was drunk for its stimulating qualities, as some sort of medicine. If you pluck tea leaves and try to make tea yourself the result will be absolutely unpalatable. Through hundreds of years of growing it, the Chinese figured out rather non-intuitive tricks to make it taste better and better.
The British tried to grow their own tea unsuccessfully for decades. In the end Robert Fortune illegally brought a group of trained Chinese tea workers as well as stolen seedlings to the East India plantations in India.
I'm curious, did he pay them well or basically kidnap them?
It was a little bit of both.
> only new thing was which plant they used.
Lol, but that's e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g
Lol, but that's e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g
Possibly how the English feel about extensive IP theft following the industrial revolution.
[deleted]
My guess for most consumed beverage was a toss up between water or Coke. There is still hope, it's water.
http://www.haleysdailyblog.com/9-most-consumed-beverages-aro...
http://www.haleysdailyblog.com/9-most-consumed-beverages-aro...
Interesting. When does water turn from liquid to beverage? Is it when I pour it in a drinking glass? Because I guess when it is used to flush the toilet it is not a beverage?
My dictionary defines a beverage as a drink other than water, although I'm not convinced that this is a commonly accepted definition.
> Tea is the coolest thing in human history.
> Grows in China, only really exported to Japan.
> 1500s, some dues bring it to Europe.
> Britain goes fucking nuts for it.
> Start naval empire for the sole purposes of buying tea.
> Britain buys all the tea in China for all it’s silver bullion, utterly bankrupting itself.
> Britain gets China addicted to opium to balance debt. Ha.
> China gets pissed, colossal war ensues.
> Meanwhile Brits decide they want sugar in their tea, basically kick start the slave trade in earnest.
> Stick sugar plantations all over Americas.
> Kill half of the people in Africa just to grow that sweet, sweet sugar.
> Blitz through India, be like, “Grow tea or everyone dies.”
> okay.jpg
> China’s fucked, broke from opium wars, monopoly on tea gone,
> Africa’s fucked, millions dead, millions in chains halfway around the world.
> The Americas rolling in wealth because of slavery and plantations.
> Everyone and their mum now drinks tea, Brtis make mad bank.
> Wake up to drink sweet brew every morning, imagine the untold amount of violence that went into that cup.