Tea Ser

Tea was cultivated in China in prehistoric times and was probably first used as a vegetable relish "as it was in American colonies and still is in some parts of Asia" and medicinally. At the 8th century, cultivation had begun on a commercial scale in China, and shortly in Japan. Tea was first imported into Europe by the Dutch East India Company in the early 17th century, and its subsequent popularity played an important role in the opening of Asia to Western commerce. China, where state farms are being supplanted by private ones, remains the largest tea grower of the world, tea is usually grown on plantations. Tea culture requires a protected, well-drained habitat in a warm climate with ample rainfall. The leaves are picked by hand, principally during flushes "periods of active growth", the most desirable being those near the growing tip.

Many kinds of tea are usually named for their color and grade or for their district of origin. Teas are sometimes scented by exposure to fragrant flowers, dust or inferior tea pressed into blocks. Black teas are differ from green teas in having been fermented before firing; oolongs, intermediate in color and flavor, are partially fermented. Green teas are produced chiefly in China and Japan; black teas in China, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya; and oolongs in Taiwan.