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Tea history and development

Tea traveled throughout Asia, eventually capturing the interest of explorers from Europe. It was the famed East India Trading Company that formally introduced tea to England in the early 1600’s. At first, tea was highly taxed, expensive and scarce. Only aristocrats were able to enjoy its appealing aroma and flavor. But as trade increased, prices fell and soon everybody had their daily cup of tea.

Early Dutch and English colonists introduced tea to the New World., but it was an enterprising young Scotsman, named Sir Thomas J. Lipton, who truly popularized the beverage in America in 1890. Lipton had already established a successful tea business throughout England based on a commitment to sell only the freshest, highest quality blend of tea leaves that would produce the "BRISK" tea taste he pioneered.

To ensure a supply of tea that met his uncompromising standards of high quality at low prices, Lipton bought his own tea estates in Ceylon (now SriLanka) and transported the tea to America in clipper ships. It was Lipton who was the first to package tea in small, convenient tins to keep it fresh, preserve the flavor and guarantee that customers received the correct amount of tea. Lipton's enterprising and innovative spirit earned him the title of "Sir Tea" throughout the world. Today, the Lipton name is still synonymous with tea, and with Sir Thomas' principle: the highest quality at a fair price. That's why Sir Thomas’ likeness appears on every box of Lipton's "BRISK" tea bags today.

By the turn of the century, tea was indeed a beverage for the masses on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. However, in 1904, two interesting developments happened almost simultaneously that would broaden tea's appeal even more. In New York, a tea and a coffee merchant named Thomas Sullivan decided to package loose tea in small hand-sewn silk bags as an inexpensive and convenient way to distribute tea samples to his customers. To his surprise, his customers brewed the tea in the tea bags rather than removing the contents, thus giving birth to the tea bag. The Thomas J. Lipton company further improved upon this invention with the introduction of the Flo-Thru Tea Bag in 1952. With four brewing sides, rather than two, boiling water reaches the tea more easily, releasing more of the Lipton "BRISK" tea taste.

Later that year at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Richard Blechynden, a merchant of Indian tea, faced the dubious task of selling hot tea to crowds sweltering in the summer heat. In desperation, he poured his tea over ice and the cool, copper-colored beverage was an instant sensation. And the love affair with iced tea continues... Today, Americans drink 136 million cups of tea each day, and 80 percent of it is served over ice.

1. Answer the question.

1. When did East India Trading Company introduce tea to England?

2. Who brought tea to America?

3. Who popularized tea in America?

4. Where did Lipton start his tea business?

5. Where did he buy tea estates?

6. What title did Lipton earn?

7. What was Lipton’s principle?