The Journey of Chai – From Medicine to Magic

Did you wake up craving for the familiar smell of the cup of steaming tea?

Tea (Chai in Hindi) – This little name which takes less than a second to pronounce and hardly 5 or less minutes to get prepared, originated in China as a ‘medicinal drink’. Yes you read that right. Like fire, the tea culture spread in Britain who then introduced it to India and the rest is history. Today tea is not just a medicinal, but a magical drink for many, don’t you wonder how it crossed to the other side ?

Medicine is bitter, but our masala chai is magically strong & sweet. Chinese had been consuming tea for millennia but it all started when Dutch merchants on one of their trips brought tea from China to the Far East in the 17th century. It obviously became very popular as a medicinal as well as an exotic beverage at the European capitals as well as New York (then called New Amsterdam). It is certainly ironic that a cup of tea which is an aam aadmi’s elixir in India was at one time an exotic and hence an expensive drink in Europe & America.

Though Indians were the first to produce crystals of sugar by squeezing juice from the stems of sweet grass grown in Asia, it was only with the establishment of sugar cane plantations in America and the Caribbean that sugar began to be produced on a large scale and it became abundant and cheap in Europe.

A fortunate star of serendipity hit the earth somewhere and someone had the idea of mixing a spoonful or two of sugar into a cup of tea. One thing led to another and soon milk was added to this mixture and the thing we call today ‘Chai‘ was discovered in all its glory.

In 1830s, the first tea estates were established in the Indian state of Assam, using tea plants brought from China and in no time India became the biggest supplier of the strong black teas now favoured in Britain and Europe. At first, this valuable commodity was strictly for export, but as production grew and the price fell, Indians began drinking tea too 🙂

Cheers !

Information via http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36781368