Which is better, black tea or green tea? The reason why Europeans and British prefer black tea to green tea

Europeans prefer black tea to tea such as green tea and Pu'er. Each region has its own cultural preference for black tea, such as German "three-tier" tea, Russian tea with sugar and lemon, and British "breakfast tea", that is, strong tea with sugar and milk.

The reason for the popularity of black tea in Europe can be traced back to the tea trade between China and Britain around the 18th century. Contrary to popular belief, tea first entered Europe from Asia through the Netherlands and Portugal. It was not until Charles II married Catherine, the Portuguese princess who loved tea, that Britain joined the dispute.

In early England, green tea and black tea were served at tea parties held by wealthy families, tea began to become popular in the upper society, and the reputation of tea began to spread from the upper royal family and the political class to the middle and lower classes. The only problem is that high tea taxes lead to high costs and lead to a period of tea smuggling.

Smuggled tea can evade taxes, so the price is cheap. This practice has also become so rampant because of the growing demand for tea that more illegal tea is introduced to the European continent and circulated here than legal tea.

Due to the illegal production of tea without quality control, sometimes it will be contaminated by bacteria, even toxic. Some people who consume and drink these smuggled tea are also harmful to their personal health for this reason.

This is the reason why green tea declines. Some smugglers add toxic chemicals to make the color of green tea tend to attractive green, making it harmful to health. Although black tea can also be contaminated by adding sheep dung and other processes, but the impact is not obvious. It is precisely because black tea can be preserved for a longer time without any change in quality, considering that tea often needs to go through a longer journey and longer transportation, which makes black tea the most popular choice among many teas.

By 1785, the British government had greatly reduced the tea tax, making it affordable for people to buy tea and effectively ending the tea smuggling business. By that time, green tea had lost its place in Europe. Recently, however, there has been a movement to rediscover tea, and people have begun to accept bulk tea. Maybe it's time for green tea to prove itself once again and become the next favorite cup of tea in Europe!