# Why did tea become so popular **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [August 31, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427 "2023-08-31T21:32:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/41 "2023-09-01T17:02:49Z")
Please see my apology. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/42 "2023-09-01T17:35:11Z")
> Wash your mouth out! > With Beer. > ~~Bender ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/43 "2023-09-01T17:35:26Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > > > (No green tea, tried to do that. It is sooooooo bad, IMO) > > Like you, I used to hate green tea, even with a sweetener, but since I discovered the health benefits I’ve switched over to green tea (nothing added) and now enjoy the taste of it. I will sometimes have an Earl Grey in the afternoon or evening (decaf) with some Stevia, but my go to tea is green tea most of the time. Yes, well, remember what Orwell said: > [@](#): > > [T]ea — unless one is drinking it in the Russian style — should be drunk without sugar. I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tea-lover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water. > > Some people would answer that they don’t like tea in itself, that they only drink it in order to be warmed and stimulated, and they need sugar to take the taste away. To those misguided people I would say: Try drinking tea without sugar for, say, a fortnight and it is very unlikely that you will ever want to ruin your tea by sweetening it again. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/44 "2023-09-01T18:00:30Z")
Ok. I’ll retry it. I’m nothing if not adventuresome. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/45 "2023-09-01T18:13:06Z")
IME a lot of green tea benefits from somewhat lower water temperatures than black tea. Do not use water at a rolling boil; if you are having problems with stewed leaves or bitter taste that may help. Wiki advice is > [@](#): > > Steeping, or brewing, is the process of making tea from leaves and hot water, generally using 2 grams (0.071 oz) of tea per 100 millilitres (3.5 imp fl oz; 3.4 US fl oz) of water (H2O) or about 1 teaspoon of green tea per 150 ml cup. Steeping temperatures range from 61 °C (142 °F) to 87 °C (189 °F) and steeping times from 30 seconds to three minutes. > > Generally, lower-quality green teas are steeped hotter and longer while higher-quality teas are steeped cooler and shorter, but usually multiple times (2–3 typically). Higher-quality teas like gyokuro use more tea leaves and are steeped multiple times for short durations. Steeping too hot or too long results in the release of excessive amounts of tannins, leading to a bitter, astringent brew, regardless of initial quality. The brew’s taste is also affected by the steeping technique; two important techniques are to warm the steeping container beforehand to prevent the tea from immediately cooling down, and to leave the tea leaves in the pot and gradually add more hot water during consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/46 "2023-09-01T22:20:03Z")
The bandwagon. If everyone else is doing it, you are inclined to do it, too. In the US, tea in the late 18th century was equated with the British. If you are at war with someone, you demonize their habits. So the US switched to coffee as a protest. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/47 "2023-09-01T22:24:35Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Also, they didn’t have microwaves to boil water back then so they wouldn’t accidently turn tea into a horrid tasting and toxic substance if made from water boiled in the microwave as some tea drinking friends attempted to explain to me. It’s not horrid, it’s _ **radioactive** _! ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/48 "2023-09-01T22:31:14Z")
In recent years we have witnessed the second tea revolution (at least with respect to iced tea). I love Outback Steakhouse but their iced tea used to be cloudy sludge. In the past 15 years or so it has become excellent. And most other restaurants have great tea today also. I suspect they all use a standard brewing system of some sort. And look at the brands of iced tea in the beverage stores! ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/49 "2023-09-01T23:24:02Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > … the second tea revolution (at least with respect to iced tea). [Absolute Power](https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/absolutepower/) S02.Ep05 “Spinning America” American Ambassador: “Could we interest you in some fine iced tea?” Martin McCabe: “You couldn’t run to some warmed-up tea, by any chance?” American Ambassador: “It’s kinda the way we like it.” ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/50 "2023-09-01T23:33:10Z")
Green tea is bitter (which I happen to like). A tiny amount - and I mean tiny, like 40 grains - of sugar will take the edge off. It won’t taste sweet at all, just different. Green tea is often combined with jasmine. Same effect. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/51 "2023-09-02T02:29:50Z")
Weird how tastes differ among people. For me, black tea is the more bitter of the two by a decent margin. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/52 "2023-09-02T02:35:48Z")
According to this article there are 20 to 40 genes for detecting bitterness with different people possessing different combinations of them. > Different sensitivities to bitter tastes probably arose from evolutionary pressures in different parts of the world. Most toxic plants taste bitter, and nomadic groups that came into contact with a variety of plants would have, over time, developed a variety of receptors. People from malaria-infested parts of the world tend to carry a gene that makes them less sensitive to some bitter compounds… Juyun Lim, a sensory scientist in Oregon State University’s Department of Food Science, says that we have a natural aversion to bitterness and certain odors: “Most people don’t like beer the first time they try it.” > **[FYI: Why Does Some Food Taste Bad To Some People And Good To Others?](https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-03/fyi-why-does-some-food-taste-bad-some-people-and-good-others/)** > > People who have a lot of papillae—the bumps on our tongue, most of which house our taste buds—often find flavors overwhelming. They’re “supertasters,” and as such they add cream to their coffee and order food mild instead of spicy. Subtasters, on the... ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/53 "2023-09-02T02:51:31Z")
In an effort to reduce my caffeine intake I’ve switched from coffee during the day to green tea and now to a green tea mixed with brown rice that I found at Super H-Mart, a Korean grocery store. It really smooths and mellows out the tea. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/54 "2023-09-02T07:44:29Z")
For me green tea tastes slightly metallic, which I like. Black tea doesn’t taste metallic at all. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/55 "2023-09-02T09:51:39Z")
Green tea is bitter only if you use water that is too hot, or steep the leaves for too long; two of the most common mistakes people do, the third being using too much leaves per serving. Boiling water or anything near it is too hot for most green teas. Around half of my home selection needs just 70 C, the other half 80 C (I only drink unfermented green tea). I have an electric kettle with temperature adjustment now, but years before I had one, I used old Japanese bubble evaluation techniques to judge when the water was there; small bubbles rising from the bottom of the kettle, called ‘shrimp eyes’, and the water is at 70 C. Nowhere near boiling. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/56 "2023-09-02T09:52:16Z")
There is an obvious difference in oxidation, but trying to generalize tea and what it tastes like into green vs black seems like classifying wine as white versus red. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/57 "2023-09-02T09:53:06Z")
Very true, but do we want to go there in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/58 "2023-09-02T10:02:09Z")
Probably not, but it makes me wonder whether tea may owe some of its recent popularity to good marketing and availability: one can walk into a tea store, or go online if there is not one nearby, and choose from dozens of varieties of tea from all the countries in the world where it is produced. And (depends where) there are plenty of traditional tea houses and tea rooms promoting tea culture. One would have to have been pretty well sheltered not to have been exposed to tea at home or elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/59 "2023-09-02T12:56:17Z")
This morning I’m drinking coffee, because my hotel serves free drip coffee, but charges for tea and “coffee drinks”. Price matters. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427/60 "2023-09-03T13:13:11Z")
Down here in Chile, tea was the preferred hot-drink (probably still is - came to me as a surprise in Coffe-South-America): - there was a good amount of british influence in the ports → TEA (but then again, that is true for Argentina, and I think they got way more of a coffee culture than Chile (prob. owed to the Italian/Spanish heritage, that seemed to have outdone the Brits) - a tea-bag is dirt cheap - and goes a long way in a family setting (probably 4 cups for the whole family), whereas coffee doesnt … - before tea-bags you’d buy “loose tea”, and that was even easier to max. in terms of cups x gram. Loose tea is still a thing here (also hierba-mate, but to a lesser degree than in argentine): - there is no coffee culture in Chile (when I came here, late past century, “coffee” was synonym for Nescafé (soluble coffee) - huge bummer! … It’s got a lot better, but the mere fact that Starbucks are the quality driver for coffee - might tell you a lot. so, tea - more often than not in recent history - b/c its dirt cheap - throw lots of sugar in it (also dirt-cheap) and you have a poor-mans energy-drink/comfort-beverage. Ticks a lot of boxes per $$$ [![](https://jumbo.vtexassets.com/arquivos/ids/435554/Te-en-hojas-ceylan-bolsa-500-g.jpg?v=637565951532000000) ](https://jumbo.vtexassets.com/arquivos/ids/435554/Te-en-hojas-ceylan-bolsa-500-g.jpg?v=637565951532000000) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-tea-become-so-popular/989427.md?page=4)