TO EUROPE WITH THE DUTCH
The first tea reached Europe around 1610 on Dutch
ships from Java, where they picked up tea transported
from China by Chinese vessels. The Dutch had come
to Java in 1596 and established a transshipment depot
for products from the Orient. There they could have
met Chinese traders from Fujian and learned the Fukienese
name te. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company was
formed to regulate trade among competing ships, and
in that same year the first Dutch vessel sailed into
Japan. It seems quite likely that some Chinese and
Japanese tea, at least as a curiosity, was taken back
to Europe. The value of tea as a commodity must have
been recognized by 1610, for Dutch ships carried some
from Macao to Java.
By 1637 the company's directors were writing their
governor-general in Java: "As tea begins to come
into use by some of the people, we expect some jars
of Chinese as w-ell as Japanese tea with each ship."
This was green tea. Black tea did not replace it till
the mid-eighteenth century.
Within a few years, tea had become very popular in
Dutch high society. It was extremely expensive and
sold in medicine shops. By 1675 it was available in
food stores and was in general use throughout Holland.
Well-off people built special tea rooms in their houses,
and others, particularly women, had their tea clubs,
sometimes using beer halls as their meeting place-
"The craze for tea parties finally resulted in
the ruin of many homes," one tea authority noted.
Women neglected their housewifely duties and the angry
men sought solace in the tavern. The custom came in
for its share of satire, including the play, The Tea-Smitten
Ladies, produced in 1701.
After an initial splash, tea never made much headway
in France over the traditional beverage, wine, or
in Germany over beer. But it became popular in Russia
after its arrival by the overland route, making Russia,
with Britain, Europe's other greatest tea drinking
nation.
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