Black tea known as congou was common in Europe at the time. Bergamont
is not native to China. The story I hear when green tea in the 1700s
arrived in Europe as black tea from natural oxidation in the hulls of
sailing ships it became popular in China.

Jim

On Oct 25, 2:44 pm, Feranija <feranija@net...> wrote:
> There are many sites which have a following story on their web
> pages, a story which describe history of Earl Gray black tea:http://www.google.ca/search?q=earl%2...n%20presented%...
>
> "It is said that in 1830, an Englishman named Charles Earl Grey
> traveled on a diplomatic mission to China, where in return for his
> act of kindness, a local mandarin presented him with the recipe for
> making this distinctive tea. A few corrections are in order.
> Firstly, the Chinese have never been black tea drinkers, and were
> unlikely to have a recipe for Earl Grey to bestow on visitors.
> Secondly, Charles Earl Grey never set foot in China. Otherwise, the
> story is completely true."
>
> Keemun is a Chinese tea. A province of Yunnan is famous for its
> black teas.
> This is the first time I hear Chinese have never been black tea
> drinkers.
> If there is any true in it, does it mean a black tea is grown in
> China mostly for export, and only younger generations enjoy the
> black tea ?