According to legend, tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor, Shen Nung (2737-2697), when he was boiling some drinking water. To create his fire he was using twigs from a wild tea bush and a gust of wind blew some of the tea leaves into his boiling water. The happy accident resulted into what is now the second most consumed beverage in the world (after water) and that my dears is tea.
Oh wonderful, wonderful tea! A drink that changed an entire empire (the British), seeped in ancient tradition (the Japanese), and evokes lovely images of vintage teacups, lace linens, and flouncy dresses (me and many others that share my sentiments).
As you may have already guessed, I am deeply fascinated by history, fashion, and food. So when all three come together, it's like a giant cosmos of happiness on my part. So, here is a little tidbit that puts all three together.
The modern day "Earl Grey Tea" was named after The Second Earl of Grey (Charles Grey) who had a love affair with Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire who herself was a hugely influential fashion icon in the late 1700s when she would arrive at parties with 3 foot ostrich feathers on her already 3 foot tall hair styles.
Credits: If you are interested in learning anymore about Tea or Georgiana, I recommend these books as I gathered the information here from them.
"A History of World in 6 Glasses" by Tom Standage. And "Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire" by Amanda Foreman. All images from We♥It
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