WI : Early introduction of tea in Mediterranean Basin

Let's assume that, roughly in the same period Romans introduced silk cultivation and industry in the Mediterranean Basin (in the VIth century), they introduced tea cultivation and preparation (and of course, consumption).

I've little doubt that it would be a luxury product, would it be only because it would have been hard to cultivate outside some precise regions (probably Egypt?) but what would have been, IYO, the cultural consequences?
 
Roman knowledge of silk reportedly came from China. By the 6th Century China had been cultivating silk for centuries, but widespread tea cultivation had not quite caught on. It was probably being cultivated in the south, on the border with what is now Burma/Myanmar and India, but it wasn't part of mainstream culture. If you want to introduce tea consumption, it should probably come in a route separate from silk cultivation.
 
Really? Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Armenian Genocide lied to me.
"The use of tea as a beverage drunk for pleasure on social occasions dates from the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) or earlier." The Tang Dynasty part is correct, and that's what I meant. I don't know if Chinese people between the Han and Tang were drinking tea as medicine: that sounds very plausible to me. But in the 6th Century, people aren't drinking tea the way they consumed it after the Tang Dynasty, and in that sense, tea hadn't become widespread in popular culture.

What would you suggest? Maybe trough the spice road, eventually coming from Arabo-Islamic trade roads?
I'm fairly certain tea was consumed in triangle between China, Burma/Myanmar, and India. I don't know how much tea was consumed in the area, and I don't know how trade was going on between Burma and the Islamic world. But there's plenty of trade between the Arabo-Islamic world and India. I think that's a more plausible direction.
 
I'm fairly certain tea was consumed in triangle between China, Burma/Myanmar, and India. I don't know how much tea was consumed in the area, and I don't know how trade was going on between Burma and the Islamic world. But there's plenty of trade between the Arabo-Islamic world and India. I think that's a more plausible direction.

Err... But no tea was produced or consumed in India, so trade with India doesn't help.
 
I've little doubt that it would be a luxury product, would it be only because it would have been hard to cultivate outside some precise regions (probably Egypt?) but what would have been, IYO, the cultural consequences?

Actually, tea grows well in Japan, as an extreme, so certainly some varieties would do well in parts of the Empire.

This map
tea-production-map.jpg

shows modern Turkey and Iran as 'major' tea producing areas.
 
Addressing the actual consequences of early European access to tea, you're probably looking at no Opium Wars and the British never taking Hong Kong. China would also probably be more isolated without Britain forcing China into opening its ports. Less foreign trading with the west probably means no Boxer Rebellion and no Boxer Rebellion means a stronger emperor... So a little bit of ancient tea could be weakening communism.
 
Addressing the actual consequences of early European access to tea, you're probably looking at no Opium Wars and the British never taking Hong Kong. China would also probably be more isolated without Britain forcing China into opening its ports. Less foreign trading with the west probably means no Boxer Rebellion and no Boxer Rebellion means a stronger emperor... So a little bit of ancient tea could be weakening communism.

Thats... such a wide butterfly net. If you change the economics of Dark Age Europe, you're changing everything afterward.
 
Thats... such a wide butterfly net. If you change the economics of Dark Age Europe, you're changing everything afterward.

Assuming there is even a dark age, with another major cog in the Mediterranean economy things might change enough that by the 8th century everything would have changed from otl.
 
Err... But no tea was produced or consumed in India, so trade with India doesn't help.

What would you suggest as an alternative, keeping in mind that while I suggested VIth century in Byzantium at first, I'm not holding dearly for it : it could be later trough the Arabo-Islamic trade?

If tea can be cultivated relatively easily in the whole of mediterranean basin, I wonder if we could see appearing an earlier mediterranean plantation economy, not unlike sugar cane in Middle Ages.
 
If tea can be cultivated relatively easily in the whole of mediterranean basin, I wonder if we could see appearing an earlier mediterranean plantation economy, not unlike sugar cane in Middle Ages.

Although in China, tea cultivation (and sugar) weren't tied with plantations. I wonder why it took off in Europe.
 
Throughout Europe from antiquity right up until germ theory and modern sanitation was introduced the main means of preventing sickness from waterborne disease was alcohol. In Europe anyway, for good and ill. History is full of examples of various practices and incidents that resulted directly from this.

The preparation of tea, with the boiling of water would have presented an option to do things differently. This is one of those seemingly minor points of departure that would have huge consequences.
 
What would you suggest as an alternative, keeping in mind that while I suggested VIth century in Byzantium at first, I'm not holding dearly for it : it could be later trough the Arabo-Islamic trade?

If tea can be cultivated relatively easily in the whole of mediterranean basin, I wonder if we could see appearing an earlier mediterranean plantation economy, not unlike sugar cane in Middle Ages.

Someone brings seeds (and a few workers) across the Silk Road. Possibly a tea planter who fell out of favour with the Emperor and fled with his family. Or something.

I think the overland route is probably easiest at that point.
 
Assuming there is even a dark age, with another major cog in the Mediterranean economy things might change enough that by the 8th century everything would have changed from otl.

Well, now we get into the weeds about what, if anything, constituted the Dark Ages. Lets just set that aside and say that changing things in the latter half of the first millennium will drastically change things afterwards.
 
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