Tea: Did you mean...?

Did you know that, according to legend, tea came from the eyelids of a monk? Green Tea in Japan has a long history, dating back to the 8th century where it began its importance in the country as a stimulant for...

This map illustrates the global spread of tea and its many names, tracing how two primary root words—“cha” and “te”—originated in China and dispersed across cultures through trade. The linguistic...

The English East India Company (EIC) was founded in 1600, and it came to control both trade and territories in India, as well as a trade monopoly with China. Goods the EIC traded included spices, cotton cloth...

With thousands of square feet of canvas capturing every breath of the trade winds, a 19th-century tea clipper was the absolute pinnacle of sailing evolution. The Cutty Sark was just such a ship, carrying tea and...

A print showing Japanese tea vendors. Edo Period, c. 1846, print from a 1632 original. Copied by Kanō Osanobu and Kanō Masanobu. (From Poetry Competition of Artisans, vol.2)

A bowl of whisked green tea (matcha), typical of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

The Tea Ceremony is an elaborate ritual of respect in which people take tea together. The person who prepares the tea honors her guests through her preparations and presentation, and the guests pay her respect by participating...

The Japanese Tea Ceremony.

American colonists dump British tea into Boston Harbor in the Boston Tea Party, 16 December 1773, illustration from The History of North America by W. D. Cooper. London: E. Newberry, 1789. Library of Congress, Washington...

A hishaku (bamboo ladle) and chawan (bowl) used in the Japanese tea ceremony. Before mixing the tea the bowl is rinsed with fresh water.