While the majority of people associate tea with England, the habit of having a cup of tea began in France in 1638 nearly twenty – two years before tea was even introduced in England. The ruler of England at the 17th century King Charles II, brought with him a Portuguese bride and a strong tea tradition. When the King and the queen are tea drinkers, the practice of drinking tea inevitably became popular among the wealthy.
Tea replaced ale ( beer brewed using a warm fermentation method) as the official beverage in England in concise order. When Queen Anne, a follower to King Charles II, chose tea over ale as her morning drink, she set a new standard in England. Also, tea was commonly used to satisfy the hunger of the workers after an evening meal during the Industrial Revolution.
High Tea
High tea was introduced to England in the eighteenth century. On the most household were served typically only two meals – breakfast and dinner. When workers came home, they were more than ready for a full serving of bread meats, cheese etc. These were served on a high table along with tea much like dinner. Thus, the late afternoon meals were called high tea. Today, high tea is mistakenly identified as a formal tea in the afternoon along with pastries, but those delicacies would never have been found in an authentic high tea - they wouldn't be hearty enough.
Tea time
Anna – Maria Stanhope, the Duchess of Bedford, is known for beginning of afternoon "tea time". Once a lady in waiting to Queen Victoria, Anne began to feel hunger around four o'clock in the afternoon as the noon meal had become skimpier. To help her to be satisfied from the noon meal to the late formal dinner, Anne first asked servants to serve a pot of tea and bread.
Later, when Anne became more comfortable with her late afternoon meal, Anne began to invite friends to join her in her rooms at Belvoir Castle around five o'clock in the afternoon. She followed the traditional European tea service format and served a variety of small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches and of course tea.
When she returned to London, the Duchess enjoyed her treat so much that she continued the practice with the tea and the sweets by inviting frineds to visit for "tea and a walk in the fields". Another noblewoman kept the tradition for serving a light afternoon meal, and the teatime was born.
Low Tea
Due to the fact that the teatime of nobles is a more casual event than the high tea of the workers, it was termed "low tea". This is because the tea and the tea and the sweets were served on low tables such as coffee or end table rather than on a high dining table. Low tea was often enjoyed by the wealthy for centuries. Dinner was served late in the evening and was a genuinely formal affair. Today many of the fine tea Houses in Europe and North America serving "high tea" are doing in the authentic style of "low tea."
]]>Iced tea started to appear in the United States during the 1860s. Seen as a novelty at first, during the 1870s it became quite widespread. Recipes appeared in print, iced tea was offered on hotel menus, and it was on sale at railroad stations. Its popularity rapidly increased after Richard Blechynden introduced it at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
Iced tea's popularity in the United States has led to an addition to standard cutlery sets: the iced teaspoon is a teaspoon with a long handle, suitable for stirring sugar in the tall glasses in which iced tea is usually served. Iced tea is at its most popular in the summer.
It is a common stereotype of the Southeastern United States that due to the popularity of sweet iced tea in the region, unsweetened iced tea is not. It is often the case, however, that the term "iced tea" is assumed by default to mean sweetened iced tea in that region.
South Korea
Cold tea (usually without ice) is popular during the summer months in South Korea. Common varieties include corn, barley, and green tea. Bottled iced tea is found in nearly all grocery and convenience stores.
Taiwan
Bubble tea is usually a strong black tea, sweetened with sugar and condensed milk. It is served cold usually with tapioca pearls. There are many variations of it, with different types of teas; fruit-flavoured bubble teas are popular as well. Sometimes pudding, jelly, or chunks of fruit are put into it instead of tapioca pearls.
Bulgaria
Cold tea and Ice tea is usually all-natural served with lemon and honey. Iced tea became popular in the hot summers of the 1990s at the Sunny Beach resort at the cost of Black Sea. Ice tea culture is accompanied by popular modern folklore style of music. During that time, nightlife celebrities made widespread consumption of ice tea mixes with alcohol and delicious cocktails.
Japan
Japan is one of the essential iced tea markets in the world, with iced tea in bottles and cans a common sight in the country's ubiquitous vending machines. Japanese iced tea products mirror the market for hot tea. Corporations like Suntory, Kirin, and the Coca-Cola Company competing on this segment of the market.
China
Although not a traditional way to serve tea, iced tea gained widespread popularity in even rural areas since the late 1990s with canned or bottled tea. Many varieties of tea, including green tea, are available packaged and sold in stores. Ice tea market in China is observed that the young generation use a traditional way of making ice tea using organic products in combination with natural sweeteners.
Germany
Nestea, Lipton, and Pfanner are the most dominant brands and lemon- and peach-flavored iced teas are the most popular variants. Instant teas are available that can be used to prepare iced tea with cold or hot water which is often called "Krümeltee" (meaning crumb tea or crumble tea) because of the unique appearance.
In 1996 the Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola companies began aggressive targeted marketing campaigns aimed at replacing fresh brewed iced tea in foodservice establishments with the cola companies' tea. In many cases, the cola companies provided a fountain dispenser for the tea concentrate that looked similar to the containers that were used to dispense fresh-brewed tea.
In 2020 the current consumer choice is safety above all, combined with the trends of rising attention towards healthy and natural products. People from all over the world use natural and organic ingredients in self-preparation of delicious and refreshing ice tea.
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In XXIII-XXIV century in the Ottoman Empire, numerous types of tulips were cultivated, and Species of tulips in Turkey typically come in red, less commonly in white or yellow or pink. The Ottomans had discovered that these wild tulips were able to produce spontaneous changes in form and colour.
In Ottoman texts written in the XV century, the Chagatay Husayn Bayqarah mentions tulips as "lale".
In the XVI century, Sultan Selim II and Sultan Ahmet III maintained famous tulip gardens in the summer. They seem to have consisted of tulips from Iran and Central Asia, which may have been brought into the empire. There is many evidence of royals compearing the beauty of roses and tulips. Especially popular in that age was Pink tulip and Pink Roses.
Sultan Ahmet also was the first to import, domestic tulip bulbs to the Netherlands. Its believed that the Dutch ambassador in the Ottoman Empire Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq was fascinated by the beauty of the gardens.
In the following years, the spread of the tulips and was rapid and found a place in every garden of European high society circles. A most recognized person responsible for that is the doctor and botanist Carolus Clusius in the final years of the XVI century. He planted tulips at the Vienna Imperial Botanical Gardens in 1573. He finished the first major work on tulips in 1592 and made a note of the variations in colour. After he was appointed the director of the Leiden University's newly established Hortus Botanicus, he planted both a teaching garden and his private garden with tulips in late 1593.
Thus, 1594 is considered the date of the tulip's first flowering in the Netherlands.
These tulips at Leiden would eventually lead to both the tulip mania and the tulip industry in the Netherlands.
Tulips spread rapidly across Europe and became a valuable position for every household.
A craze for bulbs soon grew in France and Germany, where in the early 17th century, entire properties were exchanged as payment for a single tulip bulb.
The value of the flower gave it a special 'aura' of mystique, and numerous publications describing varieties in lavish garden manuals were published, cashing in on the value of the flower. Export business was built up in France, supplying Dutch, Flemish, German and English buyers.
The trade has sparked the famous tulip mania in Holland between 1634 and 1637.
Since XVII century The Netherlands is the world's main producer of commercial tulip plants. In 2019 producing as many as 3 billion bulbs annually, the majority for export.
Many tulip species can cross-pollinate with each other, and when wild tulip populations overlap geographically with other tulip species or subspecies, they often hybridize and create mixed populations. Most commercial tulip cultivars are complex hybrids, and often sterile.
Commercial growers usually harvest the tulip bulbs in late summer and grade them into sizes; bulbs large enough to flower are sorted and sold, while smaller bulbs are sorted into sizes and replanted for sale in the future.
Because tulip bulbs don't reliably come back every year, tulip varieties that fall out of favour with present aesthetic values have traditionally gone extinct.
We can conclude that the tulips exciting beautiful and imagination provoking example of survival of the fittest.
]]>The Legend says that a powerful ruler in the Roman Empire fell in love with a tall, beautiful girl in Damascus. Upon his return to the lands of the Eastern Roman Empire, he dedicates to her the most beautiful flower in his garden, and this was Rosa Damascena.
Bulgaria is the most prolific producer of rose oil in the world, and Rosa Damascena takes 60%-70% of produced oil each year.
The Bulgarian town of Kazanlak, has been inhabited for thousands of years. Most historians assume that the cultivation of the "Kazanlak rose", as Rosa Damascena is denominated in that region. It is reported that roses have been cultivated in the area since Roman times.
It is cultivated for commercial use in an area in the vicinity of Kazanlak called The Rose Valley. The distillate from these roses is called "Bulgarian Rose Oil".
Rosa Damascena is used in cooking as a flavouring ingredient or spice in Balkan, Persian, Indian, and Middle Eastern cuisine. Rose water is often sprinkled on meat dishes, while rose powder is added to sauces.
Chicken with rose is a popular dish in Persian cuisine. Whole flowers, or petals, are also used in the herbal flower tea. The most popular use, however, is in the flavouring of desserts such as ice cream, jam, baklava, rice pudding, yoghurt.
For centuries, Rosa Damascena has symbolized beauty and love, and it was prevalent in the west during the Renaissance. It was most commonly used in desserts, and still is a flavour in traditional desserts such as marzipan or turrón
Every year around 6000 tons of rose petals are harvested and up to 2 tons of fragrant oil is extracted from that, which amounts to approximate 80% of the total rose oil in the world.
For the production of one kilogram of oil, it is needed around 5 tonnes of flowers. Price per kilogram can vary from 10000$-20000$, depending on the season.
The collection season lasts from late April to early July. During this period, the area gives off a pleasant air scent and is covered with multi-coloured flowers. The gathering process requires great dexterity and patience. The flowers are carefully cut one by one and laid in willow-baskets which are then sent to the distilleries.
Each year, festivals are held celebrating the rose. Tourists are welcome to join the rose-picking process, usually on weekend mornings when special ritual reenactments are organized in villages around Kazanlak.
The Rose Festival in Kazanlak is dating since 1903, and it is dedicated to celebrating the beauty of the flowers and local women. The beauty contest “Queen of Roses” is one of the most awaited events in the city, and attracts visitors and tourists from each continent. The winner becomes Rose ambassador and represents the Valley and its beauty around the world.
Highly valued and sought-after, the unique Bulgarian rose oil is a key ingredient of the products of many perfumery giants, such as Kenzo, Chanel and Dior.
The rose petals of the most popular sort Rosa Damascena are also used in many food industries. The fine petals are mainly used for rose tea.
In September 2014 the European Commission approved Bulgarian rose oil as a new Protected Geographical Indication of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs. The name “Bulgarian rose oil” itself has been patent-protected since then.
“Een lekker kopje thee”?
We can agree that in the Netherlands, a cup of tea means a moment to relax and take some time for yourself or your loved ones. Dutch people drink tea everywhere, throughout the day and for the most part of the year hot cup of tea is always welcomed. Tea is an inevitable part of our everyday life now, but here is how the essential drink reached the Dutch shores.
One of the first European records of tea comes from the famous Marco Polo in 1285. He describes how Kublai Khan Emperor of Mongolia and Yuan dynasty, taxed profits over tea trade.
In 1557, Portugal established a trading port in Macau, and word of the Chinese drink "chá" spread quickly, but there is no evidence of them bringing any samples home.
All until the early XVII century, a ship of the Dutch East India Company brought the first green tea leaves to Amsterdam from China. Yes, the Netherlands, was the first country in Europe to introduce tea.
All until the XVIII century, tea was only Dutch. The first official recorded trade contract for tea cargo import is from 1606 (Osaka to Amsterdam). For reference, the earliest record for tea trade in Britain is 1658.
The drink rapidly became fashionable among Amsterdam's upper-class circles. Tea was first sold in apothecaries, and within a few years, tea houses spread across all major cities.
The sizeable Dutch flotilla by the trading companies managed to establish tea market monopoly and set up naval bases and trading stations across Asia. The Netherlands was also the first to ship porcelain from China and developed its own Delft ceramics.
The Dutch dominance was secured by the Charles II of England who vigorously opposed tea. He banned its sale in private houses, on the curious grounds of countering sedition and impose ultra-high taxation in his country.
During that time was introduced the tea leaf grading system, which is the process of evaluating products based on quality and condition of tea leaves.The highest grades of tea are referred to as "orange pekoe", and the lowest as "dust", which are determined primarily by leaf wholeness and size.
One permanent legacy of the Dutch tea marker leadership until today is “orange pekoe” grade. “Orange” has nothing to do with colour or orange fruit. The general consensus is that it refers to the House of Orange-Nassau, the ruling family of The Netherlands and that it was used by traders and growers to imply a Royal Warrant certification of quality. The best tea, with “orange pekoe” classification was always reserver for the royal family
During that time tea business flourished, and many companies were established one example being Douwe Egberts. The company has its origins in De Witte Os, a general grocery shop that Egbert Douwes found in 1753 in Joure, Netherlands.
At the beginning of XVIII century, drinking tea became a social ritual. Tea had become an everyday beverage drank by a large part of the Dutch population. The Dutch word for tea is "thee", and an invitation for friends, family and neighbours is "kopje thee?" , "a cup of tea?"
]]>According to Korean collection of legends, folktales "Three Kingdoms", In III century AD the legendary wife of King Suro queen Heo Hwang-ok, brought the Camellia sinensis tea plant from China to Korea. She planted it on Baegwolsan mountain that borders with the city of Changwon.
It is a widely held belief that the systematic planting of tea bushes began with the introduction of tea culture to the Buddhist monks some centuries later. Here is why some of the earliest Buddhist temples in Korea, claim to be the birthplace of Korean tea culture.
The official beginning of import of Chinese tea products started during the reign of Queen Seondeok of Silla (631‒647), with jeoncha tea also famous as doncha tea, coin tea or money tea.
In 828 Camellia sinensis tea plants spread throughout the country ,when King Heungdeok received seeds from the Tang Empire. After trying the tea he sent seeds to be planted on the Jirisan mountain. During these times tea was usually offered to the Buddha and during spiritual ceremonies.
During the reign of King Myeongjong (1131‒1202) Tea culture continued to prosper. Tea offering was a part of the most significant national ceremonies, and tea towns were formed around temples.
The first evidence of tea shops and tea as a business in Korea is from 1123, and the city of Goryeo, where coins were accepted at tea and wine shops.
During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Korean tea culture set its beginning. The royal family and aristocracy used tea for simple rituals, a practice referred to as darye which is translated as "etiquette for tea".
Wedding ceremonies also included tea offerings. The practice of packing tea into small cakes, which was popular in Korea until the XIX century
In 1895, during King Gojong grocery stores began to have tea rooms as an addition to the main shops, and the first modern tea houses were established in the early 1920s. In these places best local water was used to make the tea, and some of the best Korean teahouses had their own small springs. Water was brought to boil above a wood fire, poured into a teapot and brought immediately to service.
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As Anthropologies argues, Homo Erectus in the region of Yunnan chewed tea plants to stimulate itself for the long days of hunting and gathering food. The tea plant, commonly known as Camellia sinensis, is a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Theaceae, whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea.
Chinese legends attribute the invention of tea to the mythical Shennong ("Divine Farmer" & "Agriculture God) around 2700 BC. He was known in Chinese folk as mythical ruler. It was believed that Shennong invented farming tools and discovered the medicinal properties of herbs for treating people's illnesses.
As a medical drink, tea originated from the Yunnan Region, during the Shang Dynasty 1600- 1040 BC. In the similar time, it is also believed that in Sichuan, people began to boil tea leaves, for consumption into a concentrated liquid medication, bitter yet stimulating.
The earliest written records of tea and the word tú 荼 appears in the classic collection of Chinese poetries "Shijing" (Book of Songs) XI - VII centuries BC.
The earliest known physical evidence of tea is from Han Dynasty as early as 188 BC.
Emperor Jing and Empresses Xiaojing of Han in the city of Xi'an enjoyed drinking tea from Camellia sinensis.
The Han dynasty diary "The Contract for a Youth", written by the poet Wang Bao in 59 BC, contains the first known reference to actual ceremonial preparation of tea.
The first record of tea farming and cultivation is dated to Emperor Xuan of Han 48 BC, during which tea was cultivated on Meng Mountain near Chengdu.
Another early evidence of tea drinking, dates to the 140 AD, in a medical text by Hua Tuo, who stated, "to drink tea constantly make life better."
However, before Tang dynasty, tea-drinking was primarily a southern Chinese practice.
It became widely popular during the rule of Emperor Taizong and Empress Zhangsun 626-649 AD from Tang Dynasty, during which was spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
Laozi, the classical Chinese philosopher, describes the tea as the "Discover the history of".
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