We love tea!

We have a large, unique Tea collection as well as an assortment of handcrafted tea kettles and tea cups lined with gold leaf. We all love Tea at the store, and you may enjoy a nice cup of Tea now and then as well. Maybe while reading a good book, sitting in a comfortable chair or a cup of Tea combined with a delicious treat. But how much do we know about the origin of Tea? Read on to find out some facts you may not have known!

Tea started out as a purely medicinal beverage, which was prepared by boiling fresh leaves in water. Then around the 3rd century CE, it moved on to becoming a drink that was consumed daily. This is when the tea cultivation and processing began. It was as early as the 13th century when cultivation became established when seeds were brought to Japan. The Chinese brought tea cultivation to Taiwan in 1810, and the Dutch also had their hands on processing and cultivation in 1833.

Teas have a classification system that is based on the region of origin. Larger regions such as China, Ceylon, Japan, Indonesia, and Africa as well as smaller regions like Darjeeling, Assam, and Nilgris. Additionally, they are classified by the size of the leaf after processing.