“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground

In this section, we'll talk about tea! Please review the following topics:

What is tea?
What are the main types of tea?
Where does tea come from?

Optional:

How is tea consumed around the world?

What is tea?

camellia sinensis

Photo: Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from Köhler's Medicinal Plants, 1897. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavor, while others have vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans primarily due to its caffeine content.

The etymology of the various words for tea reflects the history of transmission of tea drinking culture and trade from China to countries around the world. Nearly all of the words for tea worldwide fall into three broad groups: te, cha and chai, present in English as tea, cha or char, and chai. The earliest of the three to enter English is cha, which came in the 1590s via the Portuguese, who traded in Macao and picked up the Cantonese pronunciation of the word. The more common tea form arrived in the 17th century via the Dutch, who acquired it either indirectly from the Malay teh, or directly from the tê pronunciation in Min Chinese. The third form chai (meaning "spiced tea") originated from a northern Chinese pronunciation of cha, which travelled overland to Central Asia and Persia where it picked up a Persian ending yi.

Tea plants are propagated from seed and cuttings; about 4 to 12 years are needed for a plant to bear seed and about three years before a new plant is ready for harvesting. In addition to a zone 8 climate or warmer, tea plants require at least 127 cm (50 in) of rainfall per year and prefer acidic soils. Many high-quality tea plants are cultivated at elevations of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level. Though at these heights the plants grow more slowly, they acquire a better flavor.

Did you know? Although health benefits of drinking tea have been assumed throughout the history, there is no high-quality evidence showing that tea consumption gives significant benefits other than possibly increasing alertness, an effect caused by caffeine in the tea leaves.

What are the main types of tea?

Four types of tea

Photo: Teas of different levels of oxidation (left to right): green, yellow, oolong, and black. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Tea is generally divided into categories based on how it is processed. At least six different types are produced:

White: wilted and unoxidized
Yellow: unwilted and unoxidized but allowed to yellow
Green: unwilted and unoxidized
Oolong: wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized
Black: wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidized
Post-fermented (Dark): green tea that has been allowed to ferment/compost

After picking, the leaves of C. sinensis soon begin to wilt and oxidize unless immediately dried. An enzymatic oxidation process triggered by the plant's intracellular enzymes causes the leaves to turn progressively darker as their chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released. This darkening is stopped at a predetermined stage by heating, which deactivates the enzymes responsible. In the production of black teas, halting by heating is carried out simultaneously with drying. Without careful moisture and temperature control during manufacture and packaging, growth of undesired molds and bacteria may make tea unfit for consumption.

Where does tea come from?

Tea plants are native to East Asia and the probable center of origin of tea is near the source of the Irrawaddy River from where it spread out fan-wise into southeast China, Indo-China and Assam.

People in ancient East Asia ate tea for centuries, perhaps even millennia, before ever consuming it as a beverage. They would nibble on the leaves raw, add them to soups or greens, or ferment them and chew it like how betel is chewed. Tea drinking may have begun in the region of Yunnan, where it was used for medicinal purposes. It is also believed that in Sichuan, "people began to boil tea leaves for consumption into a concentrated liquid without the addition of other leaves or herbs, thereby using tea as a bitter yet stimulating drink, rather than as a medicinal concoction."

Tea is mainly grown in Asia and Africa, though it is also grown in South America and around the Black and Caspian Seas. The four biggest tea-producing countries are China, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka, together representing 75% of world tea production.

Watch this brief video (4:57) on the history of tea:

How is tea consumed around the world?

Tea is the second most consumed beverage on Earth, after water. In many cultures it is consumed at social events. The table below shows the top ten countries in tea consumption per capita, as of 2016:

Tea consumption ranking
Rank	Country	Annual tea consumption per capita (lbs)
1	Turkey	6.96
2	Ireland	4.83
3	United Kingdom	4.28
4	Pakistan	3.30
5	Iran	3.30
6	Russia	3.05
7	Morocco	2.68
8	New Zealand	2.63
9	Chile	2.62
10	Egypt	2.23

Here are some examples of how tea is consumed in different countries:

China and Japan

The Chinese and Japanese tea ceremonies traditions employ certain techniques and ritualized protocol of brewing and serving tea for enjoyment in a refined setting. All of these tea ceremonies and rituals contain "an adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday life", as well as refinement, an inner spiritual content, humility, restraint and simplicity.

Tea ceremony

UK

In the United Kingdom, 63% of people drink tea daily. It is customary for a host to offer tea to guests soon after their arrival. Tea is consumed both at home and outside the home, often in cafés or tea rooms. Afternoon tea with cakes on fine porcelain is a cultural stereotype.

Old school style tea set with cakes

Russia

Russia has a long, rich tea history dating to 1638 when tea was introduced to Tsar Michael. Russian tea is brewed and can be served sweet, and hot or cold. It is traditionally taken at afternoon tea, but has since spread as an all day drink, especially at the end of meals, served with dessert. Social gatherings were considered incomplete without tea, which was traditionally brewed in a samovar.

Traditional Russian tea with samovar

India

Indian tea culture is strong; the drink is the most popular hot beverage in the country. It is consumed daily in almost all houses, offered to guests, consumed in high amounts in domestic and official surroundings, and is made with the addition of milk with or without spices, and usually sweetened. It is sometimes served with biscuits to be dipped in the tea and eaten before consuming the tea.

Pouring Indian tea with milk and spices from a ceramic teapot

Burma

In Burma (Myanmar), tea is consumed not only as hot drinks, but also as sweet tea and green tea known locally as laphet-yay and laphet-yay-gyan, respectively. Pickled tea leaves, known locally as lahpet, are also a national delicacy. Pickled tea is usually eaten with roasted sesame seeds, crispy fried beans, roasted peanuts and fried garlic chips.

Traditional Burmese Lahpet salad, made out of fermented tea leaves, served with nuts, beans and sprouts.

Unless otherwise specified, images are from Adobe Stock. Content is adapted from Wikipedia: Tea, List of countries by tea consumption per capita