Among the Europeans the Portuguese Jesuit Father Jasper de Cruz was the first to personally encounter tea and write about it in 1560. In 1589 other Europeans read about tea when the Venetian author and Secretary of the Venetian Council of Ren, Gaimbattista Ramusio, credited Asian longevity to their tea drinking. A little while later, in 1597, tea is mentioned for the first time in an English translation of Dutch navigator Jan Hugo van Linschooten's travels, in which he refers to tea as chaa.Finally, in 1610 Dutch traders brought back green tea from China and marketed it as an exotic medicinal drink. Over one hundred dollars a pound, it was so expensive that only the wealthy could purchase it, which they did, along with elegant Chinese tea porcelains. By 1662 when Charles II wed his bride, the tea-loving Catherine Braganza of Portugal, tea had become so trendy that alcohol consumption in England declined significantly.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to commercially trade for tea. They took their cargo to Lisbon, and then shipped it to France, Holland and other Baltic countries. Portugal was affiliated with Holland at that time; tea became very popular among the Dutch. By 1675 tea had lowered in price and was considered a common beverage. Many drinkers mixed it with sugar and ginger.
Interestingly, tea never really caught on with the French. After about 50 years the French went on to popularize wine, chocolate and coffee. Throughout Europe tea was now served in coffeehouses (coffee arrived before tea) called "penny universities" -- because a poor scholar could buy a pot of tea for a penny and spend the whole day there conversing with other wits.
Read the full article about teas impact on the west (here)
No comments:
Post a Comment