Ritual & Secrets of Mint Tea

A Mint Tea for the Queen of England

It is around a Mint Tea , that you will discover the surprising history of the English tea tradition .

From the 9th century, Tea was part of Chinese consumption habits. And China began to export it to Tibet, and other countries in Asia and then to the Arab world.

Later, in the 15th century, Portugal was the first European country to import Tea for daily local consumption.

And the Portuguese were re-exporting Tea to other countries on the continent. Consumption was then very confidential, since tea was a very exclusive luxury product. At that time, the price of kilogram of tea was equivalent to one year's salary.

England discovered the benefits of tea, thanks to only one woman - Catherine de Braganza (1638-1705), Infanta of Portugal.

In 1662 she married Charles II of England. For dowry, she brought money, treasures, spices, Tea and the port cities of Tangier (Morocco) and Bombay (India). In exchange for this generous dowry, England made an alliance with Portugal to fight against Spanish expansionist ambition.

When Princess Catherine of Braganza was crowned "Queen" of England, Scotland and Ireland, she regularly brought in cases of loose tea . On the latter, we found the inscriptions " Transporter de Ervas Aromaticas " or simply the initials " T.E.A. ". These initials gave birth to the English word " Tea ", taken up in Latin " tea " then translated " té ”in Spanish, or“ tee ”in German, and finally“ T hey ”in French.

And as surprising as it may seem, the Portuguese still call Tea - " chá " - just like the Chinese expression 茶 which is pronounced " chá ".

Main intermediaries of trade between China and Europe, The Arabs call Tea " shay " (in Arabic: شاي ) with a pronunciation equivalent to the Chinese expression 茶 .

Ode to the Queen of Tea

For the first birthday of the new Queen of England, a poem was composed in her glory and that of Tea by Edmund Warren:

"Venus her myrtle, Phœbus has his bays;
Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise
The best of queens, and best of herbs , we owe
To that bold nation which the way did show
To the fair region where the sun does rise,
Whose rich productions we so justly prize.
The Muse's friend, Tea does our fancy aid,
Repress those vapors which the head invade,
And keeps that palace of the soul serene,
Fit on her birth-day to salute the Queen ”