History of tea

Tea is a product that has an important place in Iranian families and is considered one of the most consumed drinks in the world, so that today Iranian people drink this fun drink several times a day. This plant is grown in parts of the world including India, China, Sri Lanka, Japan, Iran and other areas. Considering that its leaves are harvested in three seasons of the year (spring, summer and autumn); Therefore, in most places, there is tea in the form of bushes; But if no harvesting is done, it will gradually rise and become a shrub or tree. The main part of the tea plant used is its leaves, which are transformed into different types of tea.
The wide spread of tea in Iran was during the Qajar period and mainly during the time of Naser al-Din Shah. The high consumption of tea in Iranian society and its importation and foreign exchange were such that it made governments think about its cultivation in Iran.
First, an Isfahani businessman named Haj Mohammad Hossein Isfahani started to cultivate tea in several places in Iran in 1261 or 62 A.H. By bringing tea seeds, he planted tea in several places in Iran, but despite his success, his work did not develop.
Then Mohammad Mirza Kashif Al-Sultaneh, who was sent to India with the position of Consul General of Iran, managed to bring a large amount of tea seeds and seedlings to Iran and planted them in Lahijan (the date of his arrival in Tehran is recorded on November 10, 1279). With his efforts, tea cultivation was finally developed and reached about 600 hectares in 1309, and in 1311, the first tea factory was opened in Lahijan. The per capita consumption of tea in Iran has increased from about 1.2 kilograms in 1356 to about 1.5 kilograms in 1395 and the total consumption of tea has increased from about 41 thousand tons to 126 thousand tons in 1398. The process of tea production and consumption includes several stages of The production of green leaves in tea gardens is a product in the factory, packaging and supply in the consumer market. Currently, there are 182 tea factories in the country.