History of tea

The history of tea spreads across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. The tea plant Camellia sinensis is native to East Asia and probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northern Myanmar.^[1][2][3] One of the earliest accounts of tea drinking is dated back to China's Shang dynasty, in which tea was consumed as a medicinal drink.^[4] An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo.^[5] It first became known to the western world through Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the early 16th century.^[6] Drinking tea became popular in Britain during the 17th century. In order to compete with the Chinese monopoly on tea, the British introduced commercial tea production to British India. Due to the tea leaves being transported by train/road for extended periods of time, the tea leaves fermented and as a result many in the West believed fermented tea is the preferred method of consumption in China. This also contributes to why fermented (black) tea is the most consumed tea in the West. ^[7]