The history of oblivion of Ivan tea in Russia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

What do you think was drunk in Russia before caffeine tea or coffee became popular as it is now? Our ancestors made their tea from the fireweed plant, and their name was Ivan-tea. Hundreds of poods of this product were also used in tsarist Russia. He was appreciated by Siberians and Dutch, Don Cossacks and Danes.

Later, it became the most important component in Russian exports. After special processing, Ivan tea was sent by sea to England and other European countries, where it was also famous as Persian carpets, Chinese silk, and Damascus steel. Abroad, Ivan tea was called Russian tea

The history of Ivan tea is mentioned in the chronicles of the 12th century. In the then export list, it was listed under the name "Koporsky tea" (after the name of the village founded by Alexander Nevsky) and was second only to rhubarb, ahead of the then Russian "brand" - hemp, furs, gold. The participants in the capture of Kazan and the conquest of Astrakhan, the warriors of Minin and Pozharsky, the walking freeman Stepan Razin drank ivan tea, which was an integral part of their life.

In particular, England and Denmark received thousands of poods of Ivan tea. And to Prussia and France, he was smuggled. An article about him was even included in the Great Britannica. But England owned huge colonies, including India, where ordinary tea was grown. But the British Puritans preferred Russian Ivan tea. Most of this tea was harvested in the village of Koporye near St. Petersburg, and in the 19th century it became a powerful competitor to Indian tea.

The drink received the name "Ivan-tea" in the first half of the 17th century, that is, at the time of the beginning of the tea and coffee world expansion. Before that, Russian healers called it borax potion - for its powerful healing properties. Especially popular were infusions of ivan tea leaves, which were used to treat headaches, relieve various inflammations. The plant also had such nicknames as a breadbasket or a miller. They appeared due to the fact that the dried, ground roots of ivan tea, following the recommendations of folk healers, were often added to flour for baking bread.

Now we know that willow tea contains many essential trace elements such as iron, copper, nickel, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium, manganese. Due to the high content of nutrients, including vitamin C, a drink made from Ivan tea, first of all, helps to strengthen its own immune system and, thus, to strengthen the body's resistance to various infections and diseases. Koporye tea strengthens blood vessels, prevents the accumulation of active radicals, cleanses the body of heavy metals and various kinds of intoxication, heals and increases efficiency. It has been established that in cases of alcoholic intoxication, ivan tea is an excellent (or even the best) alternative to the morning portion of cucumber pickle. And that's not all, because Ivan tea still has many useful properties.

Leaving on a long journey, Russian sailors always took Ivan tea with them both to drink themselves and as gifts in foreign ports. But why has such a profitable production of Koporsk tea stopped in Russia? The fact is that at the end of the 19th century, its popularity turned out to be so great that it began to undermine the financial power of the East Indian Tea Company, which traded Indian tea. The campaign fanned the scandal that Russians allegedly grind tea with white clay, which, they say, is unhealthy.

And the real reason is that the owners of the East India campaign had to remove from their own market in England the most powerful competitor - Russian tea. The company achieved its goal, the purchase of Russian tea was reduced, and after the revolution in Russia in 1917, the purchase of tea in Russia stopped completely! The koporye went bankrupt …