Where did tea come from?
Tea comes from China, where people have drunk it for thousands of years. Legend credits Emperor Shennong, but archaeologists have found tea leaves about 2,100 years old in a Chinese tomb.
All true teas, including green, black, white and oolong, come from one plant, Camellia sinensis. It grows naturally in southwestern China and nearby regions. A Chinese legend says Emperor Shennong discovered tea around 2737 BC when leaves blew into his boiling water.
Tea drinking became widespread in China during the Tang dynasty, and the scholar Lu Yu wrote The Classic of Tea in the 700s. Buddhist monks carried tea to Japan, where it developed into the tea ceremony. Dutch and Portuguese traders brought tea to Europe in the 1600s.
How tea conquered the world
Tea became Britain's national drink in the 1700s. To break China's control of the trade, the British started large tea plantations in India and Sri Lanka in the 1800s. Today China and India are the biggest producers.
Did You Know?
Herbal drinks like chamomile and peppermint are often called tea, but because they do not come from the tea plant, experts call them infusions or tisanes.