History

According to legend, tea was drunk in China and India more than 4,000 years ago. However, the first reference in writing to tea-drinking in China dates from the eighth century A.D. Tea was known in Japan as early as the sixth century, but was not widely used as a beverage until the 11th century, when Zen Buddhist priests began to encourage its use for medicinal reasons and because they thought the ritual of tea-drinking was morally uplifting.

The Dutch introduced tea-drinking into Europe and America in the early 17th century, and the tea trade became of great commercial importance in England in the 17th century and in the United States in the 18th. Attempts to grow tea in North America failed because of high labor costs, but it has been successfully grown in Brazil, where it is of increasing economic importance. Iced tea was introduced at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. Tea bags originated in New York City in 1904.

The tea plant is Camellia, or Thea, sinensis of the family Theaceae.