There are many sites which have a following story on their web
pages, a story which describe history of Earl Gray black tea:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=earl%2...en&sa=N&tab=gw

"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 ?

Feranija <feranija@net...> writes:

> There are many sites which have a following story on their web
> pages, a story which describe history of Earl Gray black tea:
> http://www.google.ca/search?q=earl%2...en&sa=N&tab=gw
>
> "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.

I believe neither Keemun nor Yunnan black tea existed in 1830.

> 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 ?

I think there's a lot of truth to it, but not 100%

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

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

On Oct 25, 2:44 pm, Feranija <feranija@net...> wrote:
> There are many sites which have a following story on their web
> pages, a story which describe history of Earl Gray black tea:http://www.google.ca/search?q=earl%2...n%20presented%...
>
> "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 ?

> > Keemun is a Chinese tea. A province of Yunnan is famous for its
> > black teas.
>
> I believe neither Keemun nor Yunnan black tea existed in 1830.
>
> > 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 ?
>
> I think there's a lot of truth to it, but not 100%

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).

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

Keemun Tea is widely consumed in China in the winter months, they drink the green tea in spring and summer, oolongs in autumn. This is a sweeping generalisation but broadly accurate. Keemun is an excellent tasting black tea, especially the Mao Feng variety. If you haven't sampled Keemun , you'll be pleasantly surprised I think.