Tea's origin story is infused with a blend of myth and fact and colored by ancient concepts of spirituality and philosophy.
According to Chinese legend, the history of tea began in 2737 B.C.E. when the Emperor Shen Nong, a skilled ruler and
scientist, accidentally discovered tea. While boiling water in the garden, a leaf from an overhanging wild tea tree
drifted into his pot. The Emperor enjoyed drinking the infused water so much that he was compelled to research the
plant further. Legend has it that the Emperor discovered tea's medicinal properties during his research.
Indian history attributes the discovery of tea to Prince Bodhi-Dharma, an Indian saint who founded the Zen
school of Buddhism. In the year 520, he left India to preach Buddhism in China. To prove some Zen principles,
he vowed to meditate for nine years without sleep. It is said that towards the end of his meditation, he fell
asleep. Upon awaking, he was so distraught that he cut off his eyelids, and threw them to the ground. Legend
has it that a tea plant sprung up on the spot to sanctify his sacrifice.
In one popular Chinese legend, Shennong, the legendary Emperor of China and inventor of agriculture and Chinese medicine
was drinking a bowl of just boiled water due to a decree that his subjects must boil water before drinking it. Some time
around 2737 BC, a few leaves were blown, from a nearby tree, into his water, changing the color and taste. The emperor took
a sip of the brew and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and restorative properties. A variant of the legend tells that
the emperor tested the medical properties of various herbs on himself, some of them poisonous, and found tea to work as an
antidote.
Shennong is also mentioned in Lu Yu's famous early work on the subject, The Classic of Tea. A similar Chinese legend goes
that the god of agriculture would chew the leaves, stems, and roots of various plants to discover medicinal herbs. If he
consumed a poisonous plant, he would chew tea leaves to counteract the poison.
A rather gruesome legend dates back to the Tang dynasty. In the legend, Bodhidharma, the founder of Chan Buddhism, accidentally
fell asleep after meditating in front of a wall for nine years. He woke up in such disgust at his weakness that he cut off his
own eyelids. They fell to the ground and took root, growing into tea bushes. Sometimes, another version of the story is told
with Gautama Buddha in place of Bodhidharma.
Today, tea is the world's most popular beverage after water. At Mighty Leaf Tea, we proudly carry on centuries-old
tea traditions by packing our artisan, hand-crafted tea bags with unique, one-of-a-kind whole leaf tea blends, herbs,
and spices from around the world.Iced tea originated at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. A tea merchant
from abroad had intended to provide visitors with free hot tea samples. However, due to the unusually hot weather, it
was not a big hit. To promote sales, he asked a nearby ice cream vendor for some ice, which he dumped into the brewed
tea. Thus, the American iced tea tradition was born. Today, iced tea makes up around 80% of the entire U.S. tea market
sales.
In general, even though India leads the world in tea technology, the methods employed to harvest the crop vary with the
type of tea and terrain. Fine-leaf tea is hand plucked, and hand shears are used on mountain slopes and in other areas
where tractor-mounted machines cannot go. A skilled worker using hand shears can harvest between 60 to 100 kg of tea per
day, whereas machines cut between 1,000 and 2, 000 kg. The latter, however, are usually applied to low grade teas that
often go into teabags. The tea "fluff" and waste from processing is used to produce caffeine for soft drinks and medicine.