Coffee and tea are two worlds’ most consumed hot beverages. Both tea and coffee have legendary pasts, which is why this article seeks to find out which of the two is older. Keep reading to find out!
Tea
The origin of tea traces its roots in China. According to legend, Chinese emperor Shen Nung in 2737 BC, was sitting under a tree as his servant boiled drinking water.
As that happened, the wind blew some leaves from the tree into the boiling water.
Shen Nung was a renowned herbalist and decided to try the infusion created. The tree from which the leaves came was a Camellia sinensis, and the first tea drink was named "ch'a."
Tea drinking was established in China many centuries before spreading to other parts of the world.
There are containers for tea that have been discovered in tombs dating from the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), but until the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD), tea became permanently established as the national drink of China.
Tea grew to become a favorite drink in China during the late eighth century Lu Yu- a writer, wrote the first book entirely about tea, the Ch'a Ching (Tea Classic).
Shortly after he wrote this book, tea was first introduced to Japan by Buddhist monks after travelling to China to study.
To date, tea drinking is a vital part of Japanese culture, and they have a Tea Ceremony rooted in the rituals described in the Ch'a Ching.
Coffee
On the other hand, the history of coffee came much later as coffee is believed to have been first cultivated in Arabia around the Red Sea in 674 A.D.
The legend of coffee dates back to the 1400s when a shepherd named Kaldi in Ethiopia noticed that his goats began to act unusually energetic after eating berries from an unfamiliar plant.
Kaldi became curious and ate them, and in a few minutes, he was as hyperactive too. He told of his discovery to scholars who used it to keep them awake during prayer.
However, Yemen's earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century.
Coffee was first roasted and brewed in Arabia, similar to how it is prepared today.
From Ethiopia, coffee is believed to reach Yemen via trade across the Red Sea.
One legend credits Baba Budan, a Muslim pilgrim, for bringing coffee from Yemen to India.
Final Thoughts
Several legends explain the emergence of both tea and coffee.
As seen in this article, tea traces its root back to when it is believed to have been discovered by Chinese emperor Shen Nung in 2737 BC, while the legend explaining the emergence of coffee shows that it came late in the 14th century.
Different legends explain the emergence of coffee, the common ones being that of Kaldi of Ethiopia and Baba Budan of India.
From the research of this history, tea is older than coffee.
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