THE STORY OF TEA

How it all started: There are many legends about the story of tea. This is one of the better ones. The Emperor of China, Wan Tu, an evil, cruel man, was overthrown by his first minister and banished to a remote southern part of China. He sat in the shade of a large bush plotting his revenge. Driven by poverty to drinking only hot water, he was delighted one day when some of the leaves of the bush fell into his saucepan of boiling water, and he discovered that the resulting brew was tasty, refreshing and relaxing. It cleared his mind so well that he sat under the bush for seven years drinking it, learning to regret all the wrongs he had carried out. He promised himself that he would try to make it up to his people. He named the drink Tai, meaning peace, in recognition of its affect on him. He returned to the capital city in disguise and become a valued and trusted adviser to his former first minister. He was so wise and so beloved by the people that when the minister died he was chosen as his successor, and ruled justly for many, many years, introducing tea to the nation. Only on his death bed did Wan Tu reveal his true identity, and to honour the wonderful changes that tea had wrought in him, the poet Lu Yu wrote the Thai Ching the famous book of tea.

Centuries passed before this drink became known in Europe. The first shipment of tea is believed to have landed in the Netherlands in 1610 from the south coast of China. The custom of drinking tea became very popular. It was regarded as a medicine at first and was sold by chemists rather than grocers. There was no English word for the new drink and so it was called by its Chinese name of T'e (which was pronounced Tay and which gradually became Tea)or if it came from the Hankow distrtict of China, Ch'a (as this was what appeared on the tea cheast from theis area). This is how we got the saying 'a cup of cha'.

My Nan used to make a large pot of tea because there was herself, my Grandpa and eleven children. My Nan used to use dry tea leaves instead of tea bags. She would have to strain the tea with a tea strainer. She would always use Barry's tea. My Mam remembers going to the shop and bringing back different tea and she would have to bring it back and change it for Barry's. Sometimes my Nan would use cream in her tea instead of milk. My Grandad used to use brown sugar instead of white sugar in his tea. My Grand-Aunt still uses dry tea leaves. She never used tea bags. My Mam makes her tea in a tea pot and she makes it three times a day. My Dad uses Hermesetas in his tea instead of sugar. My Mam doesn't drink tea. She gave it up for lent18 years ago and never drank it since. My Nan used to use an old black metal kettle to boil the water for the tea years ago. My aunt still has the kettle.

My mam loves tea. She has at least 3 cups of tea a day with biscuits. When my sisters and my brother were small my mum gave them tea in a bottle.Everybody in my family drinks Barry's tea. My Mam only takes her tea without milk. The rest of my family take their tea with milk. None of my family take sugar with their tea. My Nan takes her tea without milk aswell. When my nephew was small he got tea in his bottle. My Mam likes a good cup of tea with a biscuit. My Dad couldn't live without a cup of tea. When my Mam was small she drank real tea. My Nan never used tea bags. She only used tea leaves. My Mam said she prefered tea leaves to tea bags. My Dad said he prefered tea leaves aswell.

When my Mam was young she drank Lyons tea. Nowadays my Mam would drink Barry's Gold Blend instead of Lyons tea. When my Dad was young he drank Barry's tea. Nowadays my Dad would drink six mugs of tea a day. My Nan said that she had a strainer to stop the tea-leaves from going into the cup. Tea can be used on flowers to help them grow. Some mothers put luke-warm milky tea into babies bottles. You can use cold tea bags on your tired eyes. Tea is golden coloured. You don't have to drink it hot; you can drink it cold and it is called 'Iced tea'.

When my Mam was small there was tea leaves. My Mam used to drink herbal tea. You would get all different flavours in a box. My mam liked strawberry the most. You would at least get 10 different flavours in a box. Now my Mam buys Barry's tea for us, but my Mam only drinks boiled water and lemon herself. My Mam has a cup of tea in the morning, with her dinner and at night with a biscuit or a cake. My Nan and Grandad drinks at least ten to fifteen cups of tea a day.

My dad drinks tea a lot. Long ago there were no tea bags. They made tea with tea leaves. My mam remembers going to buy a quarter pound of tea. I t was always Barry's tea she drank.