The Importance of Tea and Coffee in the Emergence of a Globalized World - Essay Example

?The importance of tea and coffee in the emergence of a globalized world Every morning, as we wake up, the first thing we do is get ourselves that steaming hot cup of tea or coffee. People go up to even say that they cannot even function without their morning cuppa. These beverages have a compulsory spot in every kitchen, for the simple reason that everyone needs more than wants caffeine in their day. People feel rejuvenated, alert and ready to face the challenges that everyday life poses. Even Rudyard Kipling had to say about tea: “We had a kettle; we let it leak: Our not repairing made it worse. We haven't had any tea for a week... The bottom is out of the Universe.”1 It is quite evident what Kipling feels due to that lack of tea. The bottom is out of the universe, meaning he can’t find any balance in the universe. Nothing to make him steady on his feet. This is the importance of tea. Coffee drinkers feel the same as well, although there exists quite a rivalry among the two groups. The bottom line is the same. People cannot survive without their tea or coffee. From necessity, these drinks have now taken a more important place in our lives. At work, we get tea breaks that help us refresh ourselves, when we want to socialize, we usually “catch up for coffee” and so on.2 Coffee and tea have taken such an important role in our lives today that businessmen could only think of profiting out of this. Look at the success of coffee chains like Starbucks, Costa, Barista and so on and one can understand just exactly how important this drink is to us. Let us visit how these drinks came to be a part of the global economy. History of Tea Tea was said to be discovered in China almost 5,000 years ago. Legend says that in 2732 B.C., Emperor Shen Nung was exposed to tea when wild leaves leaves from a tree blew into his pot of boiling water. He was intrigued by the pleasant aroma of the brew and curiously drank some.3 It is said that the Emperor felt a warm feeling pass through his body as he drank the brew and said that he felt “as if the liquid was investigating every part of his body.” 4 The Emperor Shen Nung decided to name the brew "ch'a", the Chinese character meaning “to check or investigate”. In 200 B.C., a Han Dynasty Emperor decided that tea would be referred to by writing a special character that illustrated wooden branches, grass, and a man between the two. This written character was also pronounced "ch'a". It symbolized the balance that tea brought in human life.5 The 4th to 8th century saw a great growth spurt for tea. It was now used for more than medicinal purposes and began to be enjoyed even recreationally for pleasure and refreshment. There were more and more tea plantations across the country and all that dealt in the crop ended up rich! Upto the mid-17th century though, all tea was green. When this tea was fermented, people realized that the resultant black tea could hold the aroma longer and was stronger than the mild green teas. This also meant that they could export these teas as they would not lose their aromas and flavor on the journey. Thus, with the advent of foreign trade, black tea was discovered and was a huge success. Role of Tea in Globalization From the start, tea spread from China to different countries such as Tibet, Japan, Russia and Europe. In all these countries, tea has its own space in medicine, culture and status. In Tibet, tea was used as a currency. In Japan, a special Tea Ceremony was created. It is now a very integral part of Japanese lifestyle. Tea is served with every meal and served while greeting guests. In Russia, the Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed to help transport tea. In Europe, tea is treated as a status symbol. Tea based traditions such as “Afternoon Tea” and “High Tea” were also said to be created in Europe. While one is more of a light refreshment, the second is an entire meal. Until 1678, tea trade was dominated by the Dutch. But post that, the British began to import tea on a commercial basis and that created a completely new scenario. The British Royal family wished to seek full control and profits over trade. In order to do this, they built the East India Company. Their main motive to do this was to grant it monopoly on all trade throughout Asia and Eastern Africa. As we know, the East India Company grew rapidly and very quickly became the most powerful monopoly in the world. Tea was its primary commodity. Due to this, the East India Company was given many rights. These included: “right to acquire territory, coin money, keep armies and forts, punish lawbreakers, form foreign alliances, and even declare war.”6 This strong ruling of the East India Company went on for years. it was challenged when the British Parliament opened trade routes to competition in 1833. However, centuries of dominance ensured that there were many lasting effects. The East India Company was the most powerful in the world. They are said to have claimed Hong Kong, Singapore, and India as British colonies, and prompted a global economy, and all this only because of tea. From this we can understand the various effects that tea has had on our global economy. The entire history of nations such as Hong Kong, Singapore and India could have been completely different, had it not been for the interest of the British Empire in the singular crop that is tea. History of Coffee Coffee seems to be more recent in origin that tea. It was discovered only in the fifteenth century. The story of coffee’s discovery comes from the completely opposite end of the social pyramid. Coffee was said to be discovered by a poor goatherd Kaldi. He was amused when he noticed his goats eating berries from a certain wild bush and then seemingly “dancing”.7 He tried them himself and really enjoyed the effect. He is said to have taken these berries to a holy man who tossed them into the fire, thus roasting them. Kaldi rescued these beans and then ground them and mixed them with water, thus brewing the first ever cup of coffee.8 The coffee we know was initially brewed in Arabia around 1000AD. Muslims drank this magical brew and enjoyed the effects that made them stay awake for prayer and kept them more alert. Wherever Islam spread thereafter, coffee spread too. However, it wasn’t that simple. Coffee traders wanted to maintain their monopoly over the bean and therefore intentionally made the export beans infertile. Legend in fact has it that coffee wasn’t cultivated outside of Arabia or Africa till the 17th century when Baba Budan, an Arabian pilgrim turned smuggler escaped the country with coffee beans and began a coffee cultivation that would eventually reach Europe. Coffee entered Europe in 1615 and was christened the “Christian Drink” by the Pope and the first coffee plantation was set up in Europe by 1616. Coffee entered France in 1714 as a gift to King Louis XIV.9 The story of coffee is as colorful and eventful as tea’s. But even now, tea is considered the drink of royalty and coffee of the working class. Role of Coffee in Globalization Coffee as we know it today has taken many centuries of evolution. After its discovery, the first coffeehouses or “kaveh kanes” opened in Mecca. These were places where people would meet, play chess and exchange gossip. They also enjoyed a bit of song and dance, thus making way to a coffee culture as we know it today.10 This was however something very new at the time. A place where social and business life could be conducted together was quite extraordinary. The surroundings were comfortable and people could do what they pleased. Coffee was also quite affordable and therefore these spots became quite the rage. It wasn’t a surprise then that the Arabian coffeehouse quite quickly became the hub of political activity and thus had to be suppressed. This did not go well with the public however. The next few decades saw coffee and coffee houses being banned repeatedly but this didn’t stop people from smuggling the crop in anyway. This could be put to stop only when a tax was introduced on coffee as well as coffee houses. The story of coffee from then on is mainly one of the government banning it and people finding ways to bring it into the country anyway. By the 17th century, Brazil was the world’s largest producer of coffee and this caused a significant reduction in the prices of coffee world over. 11Political turmoil did not allow anything to happen to the demand for coffee in the US. Consumption continued to grow and the per capita almost doubled. This led to an increase in the production of coffee throughout the world. Following the Second World War, decolonization also began and as a result of this, many newly independent nations especially in Africa were found to be dependent on coffee export for their revenue. Conclusions We are aware that no nation can function without tea and coffee. These crops have faced a lot of challenges, they have been banned as well, but they have always found their way back. The world loves coffee and tea. People might argue that these aren’t the most important liquids on the planet. That liquors are. But what we must keep in mind is that liquors are not part of world trade. They are mostly brewed and enjoyed locally or nationally to the most. But these beverages, tea and coffee, are an important part of world history and have more importance that way. The importance of tea and coffee today is more than one of just necessity. There are so many variants to the two beverages that people can’t help but get intrigued and then addicted to the aromatic and delicious brews. There are very often tea drinkers and coffee drinkers and they may not mix. But no matter what the choice is, everyone knows that they cannot survive one day without drinking their favorite brew. It is no wonder that tea and coffee have played such an important role even in this global economy. In fact, being globalized made it easier to spread these beverages! Bibliography Crozier, Alan and Ashihara, Hiroshi. Teas, Cocoa and Coffee: Plant Secondary Metabolites and Health. London: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Farndon, John. The World’s greatest Idea. New York: Icon Books, 2011. Sach, Jacky. Little Giant Encyclopedia: Tea Leaf Reading. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc, 2008. Scott, Susie. Making sense of everyday life. Cambridge: Polity, 2009. “The Story of Coffee”. International Coffee Organization. Accessed February 5, 2012. http://www.ico.org/coffee_story.asp “The History of Tea”. Coffee Tea Warehouse. Accessed February 5, 2012. http://coffeeteawarehouse.com/tea-history.html Wickizer, Vernon Dale. Coffee, tea, and cocoa: an economic and political analysis. Stanford University Press, 1951. Read More