| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| Circa 350 | Tea cultivation begins in China |
| 729 | Emperor Shomu conducts the tea ceremony |
| 805 | Saicho brings tea seeds from Tang China |
| 1168 | Eisai brings tea seeds from Song China and plants them in Hizen |
| 1587 | Hideyoshi hosts the Kitano Grand Tea Ceremony |
| 1610 | Green tea is brought to Europe by the Dutch |
| 1657 | Tea is imported to England and sold in London |
| 1689 | England begins direct imports of tea from Guangdong, China |
| 1706 | The oldest tea merchant in England, "Twinings," is established |
| 1721 | The East India Company nearly monopolizes tea import rights |
| 1773 | The Boston Tea Party occurs |
| 1831 | Bruce discovers wild tea trees in Assam, India |
| 1839 | Tea trees are introduced to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) |
| 1845 | It is revealed that green tea and black tea are made from the same raw material, differing only in production methods |
| 1887 | Japan exports black tea to London for the first time |
| 1904 | The origin of the tea bag is conceived |
| 1904 | Iced tea is accidentally invented at the St. Louis World's Fair |
| 1906 | Meijiya imports Lipton tea for the first time |
| 1927 | Mitsui Tea (now Nitto Tea) is established |
| 1971 | Liberalization of black tea imports |
History
History
From the beginning of cultivation in China to the birth of tea bags and the liberalization of imports in Japan, a timeline of black tea's journey.