Comments on: Benefits of Drinking Green Tea, a Victorian Perspective http://www.gongfugirl.com/2009/12/benefits-of-drinking-green-tea-a-victorian-perspective/ Discovering the way of tea, one cup at a time. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:34:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Cinnabar http://www.gongfugirl.com/2009/12/benefits-of-drinking-green-tea-a-victorian-perspective/comment-page-1/#comment-6210 Cinnabar Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:42:50 +0000 http://www.gongfugirl.com/?p=1637#comment-6210 Thank you for reading, and that video is indeed quite entertaining! Thank you for reading, and that video is indeed quite entertaining!

]]> By: Cinnabar http://www.gongfugirl.com/2009/12/benefits-of-drinking-green-tea-a-victorian-perspective/comment-page-1/#comment-6199 Cinnabar Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:27:03 +0000 http://www.gongfugirl.com/?p=1637#comment-6199 And, of course, the British had a lot to gain by demonizing the Chinese near the end of the nineteenth century, and they certainly did a lot of it. The growth of Indian tea in the British Isles and the corresponding decrease in tea from China would have happened anyway, but I'm sure it helped to influence public opinion in that direction. And, of course, the British had a lot to gain by demonizing the Chinese near the end of the nineteenth century, and they certainly did a lot of it. The growth of Indian tea in the British Isles and the corresponding decrease in tea from China would have happened anyway, but I’m sure it helped to influence public opinion in that direction.

]]> By: Jake http://www.gongfugirl.com/2009/12/benefits-of-drinking-green-tea-a-victorian-perspective/comment-page-1/#comment-6195 Jake Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:48:08 +0000 http://www.gongfugirl.com/?p=1637#comment-6195 Chinese weren't able to increase tea production in the same manner as the demand in Britain grew, hence the Chinese production for exports emphasized quantity over quality. Industrial tea production in India (actually it was in Assam) started around 1840, but operation was small, run by C. A. Bruce. It took years (1866 the production of tea was 6 million lbs) before Indian tea gained such volumes that it had any real market power. However the story of Indian tea had similar plot to Chinese that of quantity. Chinese weren’t able to increase tea production in the same manner as the demand in Britain grew, hence the Chinese production for exports emphasized quantity over quality.

Industrial tea production in India (actually it was in Assam) started around 1840, but operation was small, run by C. A. Bruce. It took years (1866 the production of tea was 6 million lbs) before Indian tea gained such volumes that it had any real market power. However the story of Indian tea had similar plot to Chinese that of quantity.

]]> By: Cinnabar http://www.gongfugirl.com/2009/12/benefits-of-drinking-green-tea-a-victorian-perspective/comment-page-1/#comment-6187 Cinnabar Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:31:36 +0000 http://www.gongfugirl.com/?p=1637#comment-6187 I knew that Chinese teas would have been frowned on in Britain at that time, but I wasn't able to find any good examples showing that. Thank you for the additional data. I knew that Chinese teas would have been frowned on in Britain at that time, but I wasn’t able to find any good examples showing that. Thank you for the additional data.

]]> By: Charles http://www.gongfugirl.com/2009/12/benefits-of-drinking-green-tea-a-victorian-perspective/comment-page-1/#comment-6186 Charles Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:08:39 +0000 http://www.gongfugirl.com/?p=1637#comment-6186 In addition to the troubled relationship with China during that time, there was active villification of Chinese teas by British shopkeepers trafficking in Indian plantation teas at that time. A small textbook by one such merchant, Tea: The Drink of Pleasure and Health, published in 1880, goes to great lengths to tout the purity and superiority of Indian tea as opposed to the tainted and inferior Chinese leaf. Some excerpts: "We have heard of [Chinese] leaves being carried about for weeks in sacks, used as mattresses, and becoming putrid, before being made into tea". "Great excitement has been caused here, and a great outcry raised against Chinese tea, owing to the seizure and confiscation of a cargo of adulterated poisonous rubbish" "It is an undoubted fact that there is really no adulteration prctised on Indian tea abroad. The Chinese on the other hand have elevated the art almost to a science." It goes on and on at length like that, and apparently was a widespread viewpoint in England at the time (even though the vast majority of tea drunk there was still Chinese until the the turn of the century). In addition to the troubled relationship with China during that time, there was active villification of Chinese teas by British shopkeepers trafficking in Indian plantation teas at that time. A small textbook by one such merchant, Tea: The Drink of Pleasure and Health, published in 1880, goes to great lengths to tout the purity and superiority of Indian tea as opposed to the tainted and inferior Chinese leaf. Some excerpts:
“We have heard of [Chinese] leaves being carried about for weeks in sacks, used as mattresses, and becoming putrid, before being made into tea”.
“Great excitement has been caused here, and a great outcry raised against Chinese tea, owing to the seizure and confiscation of a cargo of adulterated poisonous rubbish”
“It is an undoubted fact that there is really no adulteration prctised on Indian tea abroad. The Chinese on the other hand have elevated the art almost to a science.”
It goes on and on at length like that, and apparently was a widespread viewpoint in England at the time (even though the vast majority of tea drunk there was still Chinese until the the turn of the century).

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