I recently finished reading this book titled "Tea the Drink that Changed the World" by Laura C. Martin. I haven't read many books on tea or the history of tea so I thought this was a good summary.
Some interesting sections included:
- How tea spread to different parts Asian and the world in conjunction with the spread of Buddhism.
- 3 phases of tea: brick, whipped, steeped. It was interesting to note that whipping powdered tea (such as Matcha) actually started in China.
- The influence of tea on social exchanges, ceramics, and other cultivated crops. One effect of the rising popularity of tea that really struck me was that for a period of time famine resulted in China. April was harvesting time for tea but this was also the time rice was to be planted. Thus, the farmers were required to harvest the tea and rice production declined.
- The opium wars and the effect on China. One interesting quote noted by Martin (on p153-4) was from the British Quarterly Magazine in 1836 by John Barrow "It is a curious circumstance that we grow poppy in our Indian territories to poison the people of China in return for a wholesome beverage which they prepare almost exclusively for us."
- History of tea cultivation in India and the horrible working conditions in the early 1800s.
- Innovations in tea production and the introduction of the tea bag.
- And the mention of a tea from China called "Pei Hou" that is supposed to be a legendary green tea grown in a tea garden that requires a 5 hour trek.
