Tea: How Britain Screwed India and China

Comments · 387

• FA

  @FaeQueenCory · 3 years ago (edited) · pinned

  Here&apos;s a fun tea fact from a real American:<br>In North America we&apos;ve been drinking tea for thousands of years.<br>We would make it out of Yaupon, the only naturally caffeinated leaf in North America.<br><br><i>Now let&apos;s spill the real tea:</i><br>Before 1492, the drink was refered to as &quot;black drink&quot; due to how it was strongly prepared and dark.<br>And due to the integration of the Five &quot;Civilized&quot; Tribes (I can call them that, as one of the &quot;Uncivilized&quot; it is even my duty to do so, others should not) into Southern US society... the way the black drink was brewed and imbibed has been preserved well into the modern times.<br>The practice of iced tea (and sweet tea in the South) instead of the individually brewed and drunken hot is actually a pure American tradition... only culturally appropriated by the colonizers due to their interaction with the &quot;Civilized.&quot;<br><br>In fact, yaupon was what Southerns used to drink (and drank again during the Great Depression due to its cheapness compared to importing)... but swapped to brewing tea in the same way but exclusively using the tea leaf instead (after the Great Depression) because African Americans would drink the yaupon version...<br><br>So remember, the next time a kenraken wants to get all high and mighty about &quot;proper&quot; tea: that American tea is older than their &quot;proper&quot; English way.<br>(And that it&apos;s not ⚪.)

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• TJ

  @tj-co9go · 3 years ago (edited)

  What do you mean? It has always been European, just like sushi, burritos, wok and curry chicken. As long as I remember.

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• JA

  @jamesjam0552 · 3 years ago

  Only ogs remember when it was called &quot;When Did Tea Become &apos;European&apos;&quot;

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• NO

  @no_not_that_one · 3 years ago

  As a gongfu tea enthusiast, I’m so excited for this video. Anytime I mention my gongfu tea hobby, most people think European unless I mention the gongfu part, but I brew mainly Chinese teas and I only brew them Chinese style, and it’s annoying to have to constantly explain how different both things are and how tea is actually really good, but most Americans can’t brew it right for shit

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• IL

  @ilymahi · 3 years ago

  this gave me flashbacks to 8th grade indian history thanks it was great

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• KA

  @kaveesha2727 · 3 years ago

  As an Indian tea lover I really enjoyed it :)

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• AN

  @anyanyanyone · 2 years ago (edited)

  as a chinese language learner who also tries to learn more about history of India rn this is such a great find! the material and your presentation are very good!

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• PP

  @ppbrain2328 · 3 years ago

  I recently discovered a herbalist near me selling leaves for actually reasonable prices. It&apos;s sent me down a rabbit hole of teas and 🍃 and seasonings, experimenting with my own flavor and developing my own brews over time is satisfying. The medicinal affects are also beneficial ^_^ I think as slow living grows an easy way to get into the pace is with tea brewing and herbal experimentation!

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• KA

  @katiemutschler6040 · 3 years ago (edited)

  Finally the tea content we all asked for 🍵

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• BL

  @BlakeytheG · 3 years ago (edited)

  Pls give us part two. I hated learning about this shit in middle school but when given the context of real people and culture and colonialism (which is affecting us all still) it’s super fucking interesting and I really wanna part 2 😭😭😭

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• BI

  @bibibee871 · 3 years ago

  I don&apos;t know if anybody&apos;s already mentioned Mate Tea yet. <br>It&apos;s a popular traditional drink in north Argentina and south Brazil (where my family is from). We drink it anywhere and everywhere at every social gathering from something called a cuja (cup made from a pumpkin) with a metal straw, that is given around and shared. <br>It&apos;s also drank in Syria because of some Argentinian politician introducing it there or something.<br>In Germany there is a trend of drinking carbonated Mate ice tea right now.

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• ER

  @ernestkirstein6233 · 3 years ago

  Speaking of leaves with caffeine, if you want to grow your own caffeine source, pick up a Yaupon Holly (Ilex Vometoria) which is a common shrub or tree probably sold at your local garden center. It&apos;s native to North America.

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