Shen Nung Tea History

T According to a legend, the most popular drink in the world as well as one of the healthiest, tea, was discovered in 2737 b.c. by a Great Chinese Emperor, creative scientist and skillful ruler. Legend has it that Emperor Shen Nung was drinking recently boiled water, when a few leaves from a nearby tree were blown into his bowl. The Emperor took a sip of the brew and was pleasantly surprised at the refreshing and energizing drink. Thus tea was created. In the early stages of tea, tea was used for medical purposes. Shen Nung discovered that tea leaves can work as antidote. He believed that tea had properties to be considered as a type of herbal medicine. Because of this, Nung wrote a book called Ben Cao Jing (the Materia Medica of Shen Nong), where he recorded his prescription and he also informed people how to cure their diseases. There are references which people credit tea with being good for lowering swelling. If children had stomach problems because of bad food, tea usually calmed the stomach and dissolved the …show more content…
The only factor that makes tea different is the way it has been processed. The tea journey begins in tea gardens where tea leaves are plucked, then the tea leaves undergo a process called withering where the leaves are submerged in loose moisture. As tea leaves wither, their cell walls begin to break down and the the chemical components inside come in contact with one another and with oxygen, a reaction called oxidation. Over the years, tea producers have learned to control the natural tendency of tea leaves to wither and oxidize in order to produce a finished tea that has a desirable appearance, aroma, flavor, and taste using methods known as tea processing. When the leaves have been withered they go through a process where you twist the leaves and extract the juices called the CTC or crush, tear, curl. Once they have gone through the CTC process they go through fermentation and