Chinese have neever been black-tea drinkers ? What ?

Question

There are many sites which have a following story on their web pages, a story which describe history of Earl Gray black tea:

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"It is said that in 1830, an Englishman named Charles Earl Grey traveled on a diplomatic mission to China, where in return for his act of kindness, a local mandarin presented him with the recipe for making this distinctive tea. A few corrections are in order. Firstly, the Chinese have never been black tea drinkers, and were unlikely to have a recipe for Earl Grey to bestow on visitors. Secondly, Charles Earl Grey never set foot in China. Otherwise, the story is completely true."

Keemun is a Chinese tea. A province of Yunnan is famous for its black teas. This is the first time I hear Chinese have never been black tea drinkers. If there is any true in it, does it mean a black tea is grown in China mostly for export, and only younger generations enjoy the black tea ?

Lewis Perin · Accepted Answer

I believe neither Keemun nor Yunnan black tea existed in 1830.I think there's a lot of truth to it, but not 100%/Lew

Space Cowboy · Answer

Black tea known as congou was common in Europe at the time. Bergamont is not native to China. The story I hear when green tea in the 1700s arrived in Europe as black tea from natural oxidation in the hulls of sailing ships it became popular in China.

Jim

tea:

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niisonge · Answer

China invented Black Tea (called Red Tea) in Chinese. It was developed sometime in the 1800s. And it was precisely at this time there was a lot of trading going on with Europe. It was because the Europeans so favored black tea that China further continued its development. The first black tea was invented in Wuyi in Fujian province, called Xiaozhong (Xiaozhong Hong Cha); commonly known in English as Souchong. After this, other areas in China started developing their own distinct style of Black tea for export (in the late 1800s and early 1900s - if I can recall correctly).

So to some extent, black tea was developed primarily to satisfy the needs of European and American markets. However, black tea, though not as popular in China as other types of tea is still consumed there too.

BTW, I am writing several tea books on all of this information, so much of this confusion can be cleared up when they're published (hopefully very soon).

AnticGod · Answer

This is an interesting story. Thanks for sharing it with us. PersonallyI`m a big tea drinker. I`m drinking more tea than weather. I would liketo try out some of these old receipts.

Feranija · Answer

Are the books published by now ? What are titles or ISBN numbers ?

Chinese have neever been black-tea drinkers ? What ?

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