As it turns out, back in 2737 B.C., a Chinese Emperor by the name of Shen-Nunb, was trying to boil some water underneath a terrace or plant covered structure, when some wind happened to blow some loose leaves from a nearby tea plant into the hot water. He then tasted the resulting brew and discovered that it was good. It wasn't long before the special liquid drink would spread throughout China and the Far East.
It would be another 4300 years before tea was introduced to the Western World when Dutch traders brought it back from trading with the east. About the same time the British started bringing Black Tea back from the Orient which quickly became their hot drink of choice. But by now tea and its production had evolved greatly from that first happen chance cup of tea so long ago, which by the way, would have been a cup of Green Tea, given that the leaves went from the plant directly to the water. It took a while to discover that fermenting the leaves would create and completely different kind of brewed tea.
I guess it doesn't really matter whether it's true or not since it happened so long ago, but it's amazing how so many of man's inventions come out of pure chance or accident.
We have many more Fun Facts like this at www.TeaInYourLife.com where we are always trying to find new ways to get more Tea In Your Life.
