Cutting chai to Earl Grey tea: Journey of the Chinese hot beverage to India via Britain

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In the last year alone, India produced 182.84 million kilograms of tea. (Photo: Freepik)

Would you like some chai tea? Or would you like to commit "seppuku" when you read that terminology?

Tea has suddenly been discovered by new-age fitness gurus and the matcha hipster gang outside India. The only problem is that, much like "biryani pulao" and "naan bread," it is being crucified at the altar of tautology. But tautology aside, if there’s ever a drink that is synonymous with India, it is tea. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, you will always find a chai shop. In places where there is a paucity of dairy, you will get what is referred to as “liquor cha,” in Bengal at least, which is Assam tea liquor without milk. This, when boiled with cardamom and a squeeze of lime, is elevated to what is called “lebu cha.”

Tea is consumed in copious quantities in colleges, especially since it is much cheaper than coffee. When I moved to Mumbai for college, the tea stall at the end of the lane from Sophia College served liquor tea and very strong masala "cutting chai" in tiny glasses. It was called "cutting" because it was half the quantity of a normal glass or cup of tea.

Now, of course, as we've grown older, we choose between Chamomile, Earl Grey, or, for if we would rather be purists, Assam or Darjeeling tea. Personally, I enjoy a blend of Earl Grey and Assam. Thanks to Twinings tea bags, you can go to town with whatever cocktail of flavours you fancy.

An urban myth has it that tea bags contain tea dust left over on the factory floors. Purists would brew their tea in a pot, and not touch tea bags with a barge pole. If it’s really good tea, they will either have it without milk or with a drop of milk at best. Even if it’s from a Twinings tea bag.

This raises the question of whether it's cultural appropriation for the British to package and sell tea back to us in India. However, India shouldn't take as much offense as China might, considering tea's unquestionable Chinese origin. Both the terms for tea – "the" and "cha" – originate from Chinese. Tea has been brewed in China for over 2,000 years––its brewing was first documented in a Chinese book dating back to 220-265 AD––and tea leaves were likely consumed initially as a green vegetable. Li Yu's seventh-century AD work, "The Classic of Tea," is a testament to China's deep historical connection with tea culture.

In 1689, English priest John Ovington, who chronicled his journey to Surat in "A Voyage to Surat," noted that tea was consumed by the banias in Surat without sugar, sometimes mixed with conserved lemons, and used as a remedy for headaches and gripes.

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The Assam Company was established in 1840, and by 1853, tea plantations had sprouted in Assam, Darjeeling, and Kangra Valley, marking the British discovery of "liquid gold." (Photo: Subhamoy Bhattacharjee)

When and how did tea arrive in India? During the Opium Wars in 1830, the collapse of Chinese tea trade with England pushed the British to consider commercial tea cultivation in India. Tea plantations were established in Assam, the Himalayas, and the hills of South India, yielding exceptional harvests. To confirm the quality of the tea leaf, an opinion poll was conducted in England in 1838. Subsequently, in 1841, two parcels of tea—one from the Luckimpore plantation and another from Assam—were auctioned at remarkably high prices in London. Where there is demand, there will always be supply.

In 1864 and 1875, tea auctions at London's Mincing Lane fetched £3 million and £26 million, respectively, solidifying it as the world’s foremost tea-trading hub. By the mid-19th century, monthly auctions quickly escalated to weekly events due to tea’s soaring value. Tea sourced from then-Ceylon, China, East Africa, and India was regularly auctioned, with specific days earmarked for each origin country's auctions. By the 1950s, London auctions accounted for a third of the world's traded tea.

The Assam Company was established in 1840, and by 1853, tea plantations had sprouted in Assam, Darjeeling, and Kangra Valley, marking the British discovery of "liquid gold." Additionally, Christie and Crew pioneered the Ketti Experimental farm near Ooty, while Mann cultivated tea near Coonoor. Sri Lanka, devastated by a fungal outbreak that obliterated its coffee plantations in 1887, found salvation through the substitution of tea for coffee, preventing

economic collapse.

Over the decades, flavoured teas like Earl Grey and Chamomile have gained immense popularity. Earl Grey, my personal favourite, gets its distinctive flavour from bergamot oil added to the tea. The name "Earl Grey tea" originates from a Chinese Mandarin tea master who supposedly created it for Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl of Grey and UK prime minister from 1830 to 1834. According to the Grey family, the tea master used bergamot as a flavoring to offset the lime flavor in the well water on Earl Grey’s estate, Howick Hall, near Newcastle. Lady Grey loved the tea so much that she served it exclusively and urged London tea merchants to replicate it, leading to its popularity across London society and eventually reaching me here in India.

In the last year alone, India produced 182.84 million kilograms of tea. As one of the world's largest consumers of tea, with 80 per cent of our production consumed domestically, India also ranks among the top five tea exporters globally; the UK being our second largest buyer. Quid pro quo, I say.

More power to the “tea chai”-sipping millennials across the world.

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