Journey to the West

Journey to the West
“Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 28:14

Journey to the West – tea traveled from the Northern China to Russia. Dutch ships carried it from Southern China to England and America.

Tea Traveled to Russia

Tea’s journey to the West started in the Northern plains of China. Merchant caravans travelling along the famed Silk Road through Central Asia brought tea with them to Tsarist Russia. The Russians favored a dark smoky tea that became known as Russian Caravan. Tea drinking spread throughout the empire and tea houses were popular places for people to meet. To this day St. Petersburg is well known for its strong tea drinking culture.

Journey to the West

Dutch Ships Brought Tea to Western Europe

The Dutch arrived in Southern China and for a time made their base on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). Dutch ships carried tea from Fujian province to the Netherlands in the early 17th century. They introduced the brew to Western Europe. After the initial novelty among high society, tea did not remain popular on Continental Europe. Nevertheless, the Dutch did start the cultivation of tea in their colonies in Java and Sumatera.

Tea in England

Ironically, tea was a late comer to England. It arrived only after the establishment of coffee houses and almost a decade after the Dutch. However, it slowly grew in popularity. By the early 18th century tea replaced coffee as the non-alcoholic beverage of choice.

The demand for tea was a boon to the English East India Company. They ran a trade monopoly of transporting goods (which included tea) from China through the ports in Southeast Asia to Europe. Later, these merchants looked for alternative places to establish their own tea plantations. This led to large scale tea cultivation in India and Ceylon. In the 18th century, tea drinking became a British institution and they became the largest tea drinking nation in Europe.

Tea in America

The United States has an interesting history with tea. It was introduced by the Dutch to their colony, New Amsterdam which was later renamed New York after British takeover. With troubles from the Boston Tea Party and the Revolution, tea was shunned in favor of coffee. Tea never regained its position after the interruption.

American Ingenuity

Interestingly, two striking inventions were made in the United States during the early 20th century namely iced tea and tea bags. To this day the two comprised more than half of the tea consumed in the United States.