Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly

prepared by pouring hot or boiling water
over cured leaves of the Camellia
sinensis, an evergreen shrub (bush)
native to East Asia.[3] After water, it is the
most widely consumed drink in the
world.[4] There are many different types
of tea; some, like Darjeeling and Chinese
greens, have a cooling, slightly bitter, and
astringent flavour,[5] while others have
vastly different profiles that include
sweet, nutty, floral or grassy notes.

Tea

Longjing green tea being infused in a gaiwan

Type Hot or cold beverage

Country of origin China[1]

Introduced First recorded in China

in 59 BC, though
probably originated
earlier[2]
Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from Köhler's
Medicinal Plants, 1897

Tea plant

Tea originated in Southwest China during

the Shang dynasty, where it was used as
a medicinal drink.[6] An early credible
record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd
century AD, in a medical text written by
Hua Tuo.[7] It was popularized as a
recreational drink during the Chinese
Tang dynasty, and tea drinking spread to
other East Asian countries. Portuguese
priests and merchants introduced it to
Europe during the 16th century.[8] During
the 17th century, drinking tea became
fashionable among Britons, who started
large-scale production and
commercialization of the plant in India.
Combined, China and India supplied 62%
of the world's tea in 2016.

The term herbal tea refers to drinks not

made from Camellia sinensis: infusions
of fruit, leaves, or other parts of the plant,
such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or
rooibos. These are sometimes[9] called
tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent
confusion with tea made from the tea
plant.

Etymology
The Chinese character for tea is 茶,
originally written with an extra stroke as
荼 (pronounced tú, used as a word for a
bitter herb), and acquired its current form
during the Tang Dynasty.[10][11][12] The
word is pronounced differently in the
different varieties of Chinese, such as
chá in Mandarin, zo and dzo in Wu
Chinese, and ta and te in Min Chinese.[13]
One suggestion is that the different
pronunciations may have arisen from the
different words for tea in ancient China,
荼
for example tú ( ) may have given rise
to tê;[14] historical phonologists however
argued that the cha, te and dzo all arose
from the same root with a reconstructed
pronunciation dra, which changed due to
sound shift through the centuries.[15]
There were other ancient words for tea,
茗
though ming ( ) is the only other one
still in common use.[15][16] It has been
proposed that the Chinese words for tea,
tu, cha and ming, may have been
borrowed from the Austro-Asiatic
languages of people who inhabited
southwest China; cha for example may
have been derived from an archaic
Austro-Asiatic root *la, meaning "leaf".[17]

Tea plantation in Assam, India

The few exceptions of words for tea that

do not fall into the three broad groups of
te, cha and chai are the minor languages
from the botanical homeland of the tea
plant: northeast Burma and southwest
Yunnan. Examples are la (meaning tea
purchased elsewhere) and miiem (wild
tea gathered in the hills) from the Wa
people, letpet in Burmese and meng in
Lamet meaning "fermented tea leaves",
as well as miang in Thai ("fermented
tea").

Most Chinese languages, such as

Mandarin and Cantonese, pronounce it
along the lines of cha, but Hokkien and
Teochew Chinese varieties along the
Southern coast of China pronounce it like
teh. These two pronunciations have
made their separate ways into other
languages around the world.[18]

Starting in the early 17th century, the

Dutch played a dominant role in the early
European tea trade via the Dutch East
India Company.[19] The Dutch borrowed
the word for "tea" (thee) from Min
Chinese, either through trade directly
from Hokkien speakers in Formosa
where they had established a port, or
from Malay traders in Bantam, Java.[20]
The Dutch then introduced to other
European languages this Min
pronunciation for tea, including English
tea, French thé, Spanish té, and German
Tee.[21] This pronunciation is also the
most common form worldwide.[22] The
Cha pronunciation came from the
Cantonese chàh of Guangzhou (Canton)
and the ports of Hong Kong and Macau,
which were also major points of contact,
especially with the Portuguese traders
who settled Macau in the 16th century.
The Portuguese adopted the Cantonese
pronunciation "chá", and spread it to
India.[20] However, the Korean and
Japanese pronunciations of cha were not
from Cantonese, but were borrowed into
Korean and Japanese during earlier
periods of Chinese history.

A third form, the increasingly widespread

chai, came from Persian ‫[ ﭼﺎی‬tʃɒːi] chay.
Both the châ and chây forms are found in
Persian dictionaries.[23] They are derived
from the Northern Chinese pronunciation
of chá,[24] which passed overland to
Central Asia and Persia, where it picked
up the Persian grammatical suffix -yi
before passing on to Russian as чай
([tɕæj], chay), Arabic as ‫( ﺷﺎي‬pronounced
shay [ʃæiː] due to the lack of a /t͡ʃ/ sound
in Arabic), Urdu as ‫ ﭼﺎﺋﮯ‬chay, Hindi as चाय
chāy, Turkish as çay, etc.[25] The few
exceptions of words for tea that do not
fall into the three broad groups of te, cha
and chai are mostly from the minor
languages from the botanical homeland
of the tea plant from which the Chinese
words for tea might have been borrowed
originally.[15] English has all three forms:
cha or char (both pronounced /tʃɑː/),
attested from the 16th century; tea, from
the 17th; and chai, from the 20th.
However, the form chai refers specifically
to a black tea mixed with sugar or honey,
spices and milk in contemporary
English.[26]

Origin and history

A 19th-century Japanese painting depicting

Shennong: Chinese legends credit Shennong with
the invention of tea.[27]

Tea plants are native to East Asia, and

probably originated in the borderlands of
north Burma and southwestern China.[28]
 Chinese (small leaf) tea
Chinese Western Yunnan Assam (large
leaf) tea
Indian Assam (large leaf) tea
Chinese Southern Yunnan Assam
(large leaf) tea

Chinese (small leaf) type tea (C. sinensis

var. sinensis) may have originated in
southern China possibly with
hybridization of unknown wild tea
relatives. However, since there are no
known wild populations of this tea, the
precise location of its origin is
speculative.[29][30]

Given their genetic differences forming

distinct clades, Chinese Assam type tea
(C. sinensis var. assamica) may have two
different parentages – one being found
in southern Yunnan (Xishuangbanna,
Pu'er City) and the other in western
Yunnan (Lincang, Baoshan). Many types
of Southern Yunnan assam tea have
been hybridized with the closely related
species Camellia taliensis. Unlike
Southern Yunnan Assam tea, Western
Yunnan Assam tea shares many genetic
similarities with Indian Assam type tea
(also C. sinensis var. assamica). Thus,
Western Yunnan Assam tea and Indian
Assam tea both may have originated
from the same parent plant in the area
where southwestern China, Indo-Burma,
and Tibet meet. However, as the Indian
Assam tea shares no haplotypes with
Western Yunnan Assam tea, Indian
Assam tea is likely to have originated
from an independent domestication.
Some Indian Assam tea appears to have
hybridized with the species Camellia
pubicosta.[29][30]

Assuming a generation of 12 years,

Chinese small leaf tea is estimated to
have diverged from Assam tea around
22,000 years ago while Chinese Assam
tea and Indian Assam tea diverged 2,800
years ago. The divergence of Chinese
small leaf tea and Assam tea would
correspond to the last glacial
maximum.[29][30]
Tea drinking may have begun in the
region of Yunnan region, when 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."[6]

Chinese legends attribute the invention

of tea to the mythical Shennong (in
central and northern China) in 2737 BC
although evidence suggests that tea
drinking may have been introduced from
the southwest of China (Sichuan/Yunnan
area).[27] The earliest written records of
tea come from China. The word tú 荼
appears in the Shijing and other ancient
texts to signify a kind of "bitter vegetable"
苦菜), and it is possible that it referred to
(
many different plants such as sowthistle,
chicory, or smartweed,[31] as well as
tea.[15] In the Chronicles of Huayang, it
was recorded that the Ba people in
Sichuan presented tu to the Zhou king.
The Qin later conquered the state of Ba
and its neighbour Shu, and according to
the 17th century scholar Gu Yanwu who
⽇知錄): "It was after
wrote in Ri Zhi Lu (
the Qin had taken Shu that they learned
how to drink tea."[2] Another possible
early reference to tea is found in a letter
written by the Qin Dynasty general Liu
Kun who requested that some "real tea"
to be sent to him.[32]

The earliest known physical evidence[33]

of tea was discovered in 2016 in the
mausoleum of Emperor Jing of Han in
Xi'an, indicating that tea from the genus
Camellia was drunk by Han Dynasty
emperors as early as the 2nd century
BC.[34] The Han dynasty work, "The
Contract for a Youth", written by Wang
Bao in 59 BC,[35] contains the first known
reference to boiling tea. Among the tasks
listed to be undertaken by the youth, the
contract states that "he shall boil tea and
fill the utensils" and "he shall buy tea at
Wuyang".[2] The first record of tea
cultivation is also dated to this period
(the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han),
during which tea was cultivated on Meng
Mountain ( 蒙⼭) near Chengdu. [36]

Another early credible record of tea

drinking dates to the third century AD, in
a medical text by Hua Tuo, who stated,
"to drink bitter t'u constantly makes one
think better."[37] However, before the mid-
8th century Tang dynasty, tea-drinking
was primarily a southern Chinese
practice.[38] It became widely popular
during the Tang Dynasty, when it was
spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Through the centuries, a variety of

techniques for processing tea, and a
number of different forms of tea, were
developed. During the Tang dynasty, tea
was steamed, then pounded and shaped
into cake form,[39] while in the Song
dynasty, loose-leaf tea was developed
and became popular. During the Yuan
and Ming dynasties, unoxidized tea
leaves were first pan-fried, then rolled
and dried, a process that stops the
oxidation process that turns the leaves
dark, thereby allowing tea to remain
green. In the 15th century, oolong tea, in
which the leaves were allowed to partially
oxidize before pan-frying, was
developed.[38] Western tastes, however,
favoured the fully oxidized black tea, and
the leaves were allowed to oxidize
further. Yellow tea was an accidental
discovery in the production of green tea
during the Ming dynasty, when apparently
sloppy practices allowed the leaves to
turn yellow, but yielded a different flavour
as a result.[40]

Tea-weighing station north of Batumi, Russian

Empire before 1915

Tea was first introduced to Portuguese

priests and merchants in China during
the 16th century, at which time it was
termed chá.[8] The earliest European
reference to tea, written as Chiai, came
from Delle navigationi e viaggi written by
a Venetian, Giambattista Ramusio, in
1545.[41] The first recorded shipment of
tea by a European nation was in 1607
when the Dutch East India Company
moved a cargo of tea from Macao to
Java, then two years later, the Dutch
bought the first assignment of tea which
was from Hirado in Japan to be shipped
to Europe.[42] Tea became a fashionable
drink in The Hague in the Netherlands,
and the Dutch introduced the drink to
Germany, France and across the Atlantic
to New Amsterdam (New York).[43]
The first record of tea in English came
from a letter written by Richard Wickham,
who ran an East India Company office in
Japan, writing to a merchant in Macao
requesting "the best sort of chaw" in
1615. Peter Mundy, a traveller and
merchant who came across tea in Fujian
in 1637, wrote, "chaa – only water with a
kind of herb boyled in it ".[44][45] Tea was
sold in a coffee house in London in 1657,
Samuel Pepys tasted tea in 1660, and
Catherine of Braganza took the tea-
drinking habit to the British court when
she married Charles II in 1662. Tea,
however, was not widely consumed in
Britain until the 18th century, and
remained expensive until the latter part
of that period. British drinkers preferred
to add sugar and milk to black tea, and
black tea overtook green tea in popularity
in the 1720s.[46] Tea smuggling during
the 18th century led to the general public
being able to afford and consume tea.
The British government removed the tax
on tea, thereby eliminating the smuggling
trade by 1785.[47] In Britain and Ireland,
tea was initially consumed as a luxury
item on special occasions, such as
religious festivals, wakes, and domestic
work gatherings. The price of tea in
Europe fell steadily during the 19th
century, especially after Indian tea began
to arrive in large quantities; by the late
19th century tea had become an
everyday beverage for all levels of
society.[48] The popularity of tea also
informed a number of historical events –
the Tea Act of 1773 provoked the Boston
Tea Party that escalated into the
American Revolution. The need to
address the issue of British trade deficit
caused by the Manchu Emperor Kangxi
who proclaimed that “China was the
center of the world, possessing
everything they could ever want or need
and banned foreign products from being
sold in China!” He also decreed in 1685
“That all goods bought from China must
be paid for in Silver Coin or Bullion.” This
caused all other Nation's Traders to find
some other product, opium, to sell to
China to earn back the silver they were
required to paid for tea, jade and silk.
Later, Chinese Government attempts to
curtail the trade in opium with out
relaxing trade restrictions on foreign
goods, resulted in the Opium Wars.[49]

Chinese small leaf type tea was

introduced into India in 1836 by the
British in an attempt to break the Chinese
monopoly on tea.[50] In 1841, Archibald
Campbell brought seeds of Chinese tea
from the Kumaun region and
experimented with planting tea in
Darjeeling. The Alubari tea garden was
opened in 1856 and Darjeeling tea began
to be produced.[51] In 1848, Robert
Fortune was sent by the East India
Company on a mission to China to bring
the tea plant back to Great Britain. He
began his journey in high secrecy as his
mission occurred in the lull between the
Anglo-Chinese First Opium War (1839–
1842) and Second Opium War (1856–
1860).[52] The Chinese tea plants he
brought back were introduced to the
Himalayas, though most did not survive.
The British had discovered that a
different variety of tea was endemic to
Assam and the northeast region of India
and that it was used by the local Singpho
people, and these were then grown
instead of the Chinese tea plant and then
were subsequently hybridized with
Chinese small leaf type tea as well as
likely closely related wild tea species.
Using the Chinese planting and
cultivation techniques, the British
launched a tea industry by offering land
in Assam to any European who agreed to
cultivate it for export.[50] Tea was
originally consumed only by anglicized
Indians; however, it became widely
popular in India in the 1950s because of
a successful advertising campaign by the
India Tea Board.[50]

Cultivation and harvesting

Tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka

Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant

that grows mainly in tropical and
subtropical climates.[53] Some varieties
can also tolerate marine climates and are
cultivated as far north as Cornwall in
England,[54] Perthshire in Scotland,[55]
Washington state in the United States,[56]
and Vancouver Island in Canada.[57] In
the Southern Hemisphere, tea is grown
as far south as Hobart on the Australian
island of Tasmania[58][59] and Waikato in
New Zealand.[60]
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.[53] In addition to a zone 8
climate or warmer, tea plants require at
least 127 cm (50 in) of rainfall a year and
prefer acidic soils.[61] 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
flavour.[62]

Two principal varieties are used: Camellia

sinensis var. sinensis, which is used for
most Chinese, Formosan and Japanese
teas, and C. sinensis var. assamica, used
in Pu-erh and most Indian teas (but not
Darjeeling). Within these botanical
varieties, many strains and modern
clonal varieties are known. Leaf size is
the chief criterion for the classification of
tea plants, with three primary
classifications being,[63] Assam type,
characterised by the largest leaves; China
type, characterised by the smallest
leaves; and Cambodian type,
characterised by leaves of intermediate
size. The Cambod type tea (C. assamica
subsp. lasiocaly) was originally
considered a type of assam tea.
However, later genetic work showed that
it is a hybrid between Chinese small leaf
tea and assam type tea.[64] Darjeeling tea
also appears to be hybrids between
Chinese small leaf tea and assam type
tea.[65]

A tea plant will grow into a tree of up to

16 m (52 ft) if left undisturbed,[53] but
cultivated plants are generally pruned to
waist height for ease of plucking. Also,
the short plants bear more new shoots
which provide new and tender leaves and
increase the quality of the tea.[66]

Only the top 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) of

the mature plant are picked. These buds
and leaves are called 'flushes'.[67] A plant
will grow a new flush every seven to 15
days during the growing season. Leaves
that are slow in development tend to
produce better-flavoured teas.[53]

Pests of tea include mosquito bugs of

the genus Helopeltis (which are true bugs
that must not be confused with the
dipteran) that can tatter leaves, so they
may be sprayed with insecticides. In
addition, there may be Lepidopteran leaf
feeders and various tea diseases.

Chemical composition
Physically speaking, tea has properties of
both a solution and a suspension. It is a
solution of all the water-soluble
compounds that have been extracted
from the tea leaves, such as the
polyphenols and amino acids, but is a
suspension when all of the insoluble
components are considered, such as the
cellulose in the tea leaves.[68]

Caffeine constitutes about 3% of tea's

dry weight, translating to between 30
milligrams (0.0011 oz) and 90 milligrams
(0.0032 oz) per 8-oz (250-ml) cup
depending on the type, brand,[69] and
brewing method.[70] A study found that
the caffeine content of 1 gram (0.035 oz)
of black tea ranged from 22–28
milligrams (0.00078–0.00099 oz), while
the caffeine content of 1 gram (0.035 oz)
of green tea ranged from 11–20
milligrams (0.00039–0.00071 oz),
reflecting a significant difference.[71] Tea
also contains small amounts of
theobromine and theophylline, which are
stimulants, and xanthines similar to
caffeine.[72]

Fresh tea leaves in various stages of growth.

Black and green teas contain no

essential nutrients in significant
amounts, with the exception of the
dietary mineral, manganese at 0.5
milligrams (1.8 × 10−5 oz) per cup or 26%
of the Daily Value.[73] Because of modern
environmental pollution, fluoride
sometimes occur in tea. Certain types of
brick tea made from old leaves and
stems have the highest levels.[74]

The astringency in tea can be attributed

to the presence of polyphenols. These
are the most abundant compounds in tea
leaves, making up 30–40% of their
composition.[75] Polyphenols include
flavonoids, epigallocatechin gallate
(EGCG), and other catechins.[76][77]

It has been suggested that green and

black tea may protect against cancer[78]
or other diseases such as obesity[79] or
Alzheimer's disease,[80] but the
compounds found in green tea have not
been conclusively demonstrated to have
any effect on human diseases.[81][82]

Processing and classification

Teas of different levels of oxidation (L to R): green,

yellow, oolong, and black

Tea is generally divided into categories

based on how it is processed.[83] 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 (called 紅茶 [hóngchá],
"red tea" in Chinese tea culture);
Post-fermented: green tea that has
been allowed to ferment/compost
(called ⿊茶 [hēichá] "black tea" in
Chinese tea culture).

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.

Additional processing and additives

Common processing methods of tea leaves

After basic processing, teas may be

altered through additional processing
steps before being sold,[84] and is often
consumed with additions to the basic tea
leaf and water added during preparation
or drinking. Examples of additional
processing steps that occur before tea is
sold are blending, flavouring, scenting,
and decaffeination of teas. Examples of
additions added at the point of
consumption include milk, sugar and
lemon.

Blending

Tea blending is the combination of

different teas together to achieve the
final product. Almost all tea in bags and
most loose tea sold in the West is
blended. Such teas may combine others
from the same cultivation area or several
different ones. The aim is to obtain
consistency, better taste, higher price, or
some combination of the three.

Flavouring
Flavoured and scented teas add new
aromas and flavours to the base tea. This
can be accomplished through directly
adding flavouring agents, such as ginger
or dried ginger, cloves, mint leaves,
cardamom, bergamot (found in Earl
Grey), vanilla, and spearmint.
Alternatively, because tea easily retains
odours, it can be placed in proximity to
an aromatic ingredient to absorb its
aroma, as in traditional jasmine tea.[85]

Milk
Black tea is often taken with milk

The addition of milk to tea in Europe was

first mentioned in 1680 by the epistolist
Madame de Sévigné.[86] Many teas are
traditionally drunk with milk in cultures
where dairy products are consumed.
These include Indian masala chai and
British tea blends. These teas tend to be
very hearty varieties of black tea which
can be tasted through the milk, such as
Assams, or the East Friesian blend. Milk
is thought to neutralise remaining
tannins and reduce acidity.[87][88] The Han
Chinese do not usually drink milk with tea
but the Manchus do, and the elite of the
Qing Dynasty of the Chinese Empire
continued to do so. Hong Kong-style milk
tea is based on British colonial habits.
Tibetans and other Himalayan peoples
traditionally drink tea with milk or yak
butter and salt. In Eastern European
countries (Russia, Poland and Hungary)
and in Italy, tea is commonly served with
lemon juice. In Poland, tea with milk is
called a bawarka ("Bavarian style"), and is
often drunk by pregnant and nursing
women. In Australia, tea with milk is
white tea.

The order of steps in preparing a cup of

tea is a much-debated topic, and can
vary widely between cultures or even
individuals. Some say it is preferable to
add the milk before the tea, as the high
temperature of freshly brewed tea can
denature the proteins found in fresh milk,
similar to the change in taste of UHT
milk, resulting in an inferior-tasting
beverage.[89] Others insist it is better to
add the milk after brewing the tea, as
black tea is often brewed as close to
boiling as possible. The addition of milk
chills the beverage during the crucial
brewing phase, if brewing in a cup rather
than using a pot, meaning the delicate
flavour of a good tea cannot be fully
appreciated. By adding the milk
afterwards, it is easier to dissolve sugar
in the tea and also to ensure the desired
amount of milk is added, as the colour of
the tea can be observed. Historically, the
order of steps was taken as an indication
of class: only those wealthy enough to
afford good-quality porcelain would be
confident of its being able to cope with
being exposed to boiling water
unadulterated with milk.[90] Higher
temperature difference means faster
heat transfer, so the earlier milk is added,
the slower the drink cools. A 2007 study
published in the European Heart Journal
found certain beneficial effects of tea
may be lost through the addition of
milk.[91]

Preparation
 This section needs additional citations for
verification.

This section contains instructions, advice, or

how-to content.

Black tea

Popular varieties of black tea include

Assam, Nepal, Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Rize,
Keemun, and Ceylon teas.

Many of the active substances in black

tea do not develop at temperatures lower
than 90 °C (194 °F).[92] As a result, black
tea in the West is usually steeped in
water near its boiling point, at around
99 °C (210 °F). Since boiling point drops
with increasing altitude, it is difficult to
brew black tea properly in mountainous
areas.

Western black teas are usually brewed

for about four minutes. In many regions
of the world, however, actively boiling
water is used and the tea is often
stewed. In India, black tea is often boiled
for fifteen minutes or longer to make
Masala chai, as a strong brew is
preferred. Tea is often strained while
serving.

A food safety management group of the

International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) has published a
standard for preparing a cup of tea (ISO
3103: Tea – Preparation of liquor for use
in sensory tests), primarily intended for
standardizing preparation for
comparison and rating purposes.

Green tea

In regions of the world that prefer mild

beverages, such as the Far East, green
tea is steeped in water around 80 to
85 °C (176 to 185 °F). Regions such as
North Africa or Central Asia prefer a
bitter tea, and hotter water is used. In
Morocco, green tea is steeped in boiling
water for 15 minutes.

The container in which green tea is

steeped is often warmed beforehand to
prevent premature cooling. High-quality
green and white teas can have new water
added as many as five or more times,
depending on variety, at increasingly
higher temperatures.

Oolong tea

Oolong tea is brewed around 82 to 96 °C

(185 to 205 °F), with the brewing vessel
warmed before pouring the water. Yixing
purple clay teapots are the traditional
brewing-vessel for oolong tea which can
be brewed multiple times from the same
leaves, unlike green tea, seeming to
improve with reuse. In the southern
Chinese and Taiwanese Gongfu tea
ceremony, the first brew is discarded, as
it is considered a rinse of leaves rather
than a proper brew.

Pu-erh tea

Pu-erh teas require boiling water for

infusion. Some prefer to quickly rinse pu-
erh for several seconds with boiling
water to remove tea dust which
accumulates from the ageing process,
then infuse it at the boiling point (100 °C
or 212 °F), and allow it to steep from 30
seconds to five minutes.

Masala chai
Meaning "spiced tea", masala chai tea is
prepared using black or green tea with
milk (in which case it may be called a
"latte"), and may be spiced with
ginger.[93]

Cold brew tea

While most tea is prepared using hot

water, it is also possible to brew a
beverage from tea using room
temperature or cooled water. This
requires longer steeping time to extract
the key components, and produces a
different flavour profile. Cold brews use
about 1.5 times the tea leaves that would
be used for hot steeping, and are
refrigerated for 4–10 hours. The process
of making cold brew tea is much simpler
than that for cold brew coffee.

Cold brewing has some disadvantages

compared to hot steeping. If the leaves
or source water contain unwanted
bacteria, they may flourish, whereas
using hot water has the benefit of killing
most bacteria. This is less of a concern
in modern times and developed regions.
Cold brewing may also allow for less
caffeine to be extracted.

Pouring from height

The flavour of tea can also be altered by
pouring it from different heights,
resulting in varying degrees of
aeration.[94] The art of elevated pouring is
used principally to enhance the flavour of
the tea, while cooling the beverage for
immediate consumption.[94]

In Southeast Asia, the practice of pouring

tea from a height has been refined
further using black tea to which
condensed milk is added, poured from a
height from one cup to another several
times in alternating fashion and in quick
succession, to create a tea with
entrapped air bubbles, creating a frothy
"head" in the cup. This beverage, teh tarik,
literally, "pulled tea" (which has its origin
as a hot Indian tea beverage), has a
creamier taste than flat milk tea and is
common in the region.

Tea culture

Masala chai from India with garnishes

k h d l ll l d
Turkish tea served in typical small glass and
corresponding plate

Iced tea with a slice of lemon

Tea may be consumed early in the day to

heighten calm alertness; it contains L-
theanine, theophylline, and bound
caffeine[5] (sometimes called theine).
Decaffeinated brands are also sold.
While herbal teas are also referred to as
tea, most of them do not contain leaves
from the tea plant. While tea is the
second most consumed beverage on
Earth after water, in many cultures it is
also consumed at elevated social events,
such as the tea party.

Tea ceremonies have arisen in different

cultures, such as the Chinese and
Japanese traditions, each of which
employs certain techniques and
ritualised protocol of brewing and serving
tea for enjoyment in a refined setting.
One form of Chinese tea ceremony is the
Gongfu tea ceremony, which typically
uses small Yixing clay teapots and
oolong tea.
In the United Kingdom 63% of people
drink tea daily[95] and is perceived as one
of Britain's cultural beverages. 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. In
southwest England, many cafés serve a
cream tea, consisting of scones, clotted
cream, and jam alongside a pot of tea. In
some parts of Britain and India 'tea' may
also refer to the evening meal.

Ireland has long been one of the biggest

per capita consumers of tea in the world.
The national average is four cups per
person per day, with many people
drinking six cups or more. Tea in Ireland
is usually taken with milk or sugar and is
slightly spicier and stronger than the
traditional English blend.

Tea is prevalent in most cultures in the

Middle East. In Arab culture, tea is a focal
point for social gatherings.

Turkish tea is an important part of that

country's cuisine, and is the most
commonly consumed hot drink, despite
the country's long history of coffee
consumption. In 2004 Turkey produced
205,500 tonnes of tea (6.4% of the
world's total tea production), which made
it one of the largest tea markets in the
world,[96] with 120,000 tons being
consumed in Turkey, and the rest being
exported.[97] In 2010 Turkey had the
highest per capita consumption in the
world at 2.7 kg.[98] As of 2013, the per-
capita consumption of Turkish tea
exceeds 10 cups per day and 13.8 kg per
year.[99] Tea is grown mostly in Rize
Province on the Black Sea coast.[100]

In Iranian culture, tea is so widely

consumed, it is generally the first thing
offered to a household guest.[101]

Russia has a long, rich tea history dating

to 1638 when tea was introduced to Tsar
Michael. Social gatherings were
considered incomplete without tea,
which was traditionally brewed in a
samovar, and today 82% of Russians
consume tea daily.

In Pakistan, both black and green teas

are popular and are known locally as
sabz chai and kahwah, respectively. The
popular green tea called kahwah is often
served after every meal in the Pashtun
belt of Balochistan and in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, which is where the Khyber
Pass is found. In central and southern
Punjab and the metropolitan Sindh region
of Pakistan, tea with milk and sugar
(sometimes with pistachios, cardamom,
etc.), commonly referred to as chai, is
widely consumed. It is the most common
beverage of households in the region. In
the northern Pakistani regions of Chitral
and Gilgit-Baltistan, a salty, buttered
Tibetan-style tea is consumed.

In the transnational Kashmir region,

which straddles the border between India
and Pakistan, Kashmiri chai or noon chai,
a pink, creamy tea with pistachios,
almonds, cardamom, and sometimes
cinnamon, is consumed primarily at
special occasions, weddings, and during
the winter months when it is sold in
many kiosks.
Indian tea

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. At homes it is
sometimes served with biscuits to be
dipped in the tea and eaten before
consuming the tea. More often than not,
it is drunk in "doses" of small cups
(referred to as "Cutting" chai if sold at
street tea vendors) rather than one large
cup. On 21 April 2012, the Deputy
Chairman of Planning Commission
(India), Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said tea
would be declared as national drink by
April 2013.[102][103] The move is expected
to boost the tea industry in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi said a special
package for the tea industry would be
announced in the future to ensure its
development.[104] The history of tea in
India is especially rich.
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 laphet, are also a national
delicacy. Pickled tea is usually eaten with
roasted sesame seeds, crispy fried
beans, roasted peanuts and fried garlic
chips.

In Mali, gunpowder tea is served in series

of three, starting with the highest
oxidisation or strongest, unsweetened
tea, locally referred to as "strong like
death", followed by a second serving,
where the same tea leaves are boiled
again with some sugar added ("pleasant
as life"), and a third one, where the same
tea leaves are boiled for the third time
with yet more sugar added ("sweet as
love"). Green tea is the central ingredient
of a distinctly Malian custom, the "Grin",
an informal social gathering that cuts
across social and economic lines,
starting in front of family compound
gates in the afternoons and extending
late into the night, and is widely popular
in Bamako and other large urban areas.

In the United States, 80% of tea is

consumed as iced tea.[105] Sweet tea is
native to the southeastern US, and is
iconic in its cuisine.[106]
Production
Tea production – 2016

Country Tonnes

 China 2.4M

 India 1.3M

 Kenya 500k

 Sri Lanka 300k

 Turkey 200k

World 5.95M

Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[107]

In 2016, global production of tea was

about 6 million tonnes, led by China with
40% and India with 22% of the world total
(table). Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Turkey were
other major producers.[107]

The tea fields in the foothills of Gorreana, Azores

 e tea e ds t e oot s o Go ea a, o es
Islands, Portugal: the only European region other
than Georgia to support green tea production.

Economics

Tea factory in Taiwan

Tea is the most popular manufactured

drink consumed in the world, equaling all
others – including coffee, chocolate, soft
drinks, and alcohol – combined.[4] Most
tea consumed outside East Asia is
produced on large plantations in the hilly
regions of India and Sri Lanka, and is
destined to be sold to large businesses.
Opposite this large-scale industrial
production are many small "gardens,"
sometimes minuscule plantations, that
produce highly sought-after teas prized
by gourmets. These teas are both rare
and expensive, and can be compared to
some of the most expensive wines in this
respect.

India is the world's largest tea-drinking

nation,[108] although the per capita
consumption of tea remains a modest
750 grams (26 oz) per person every year.
Turkey, with 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lb) of tea
consumed per person per year, is the
world's greatest per capita consumer.[109]

Labor and consumer safety

problems

Multiple recent reports have found that

most Chinese and Indian teas contain
residues of banned toxic
pesticides.[110][111][112][113]

Tea production in Kenya, Malawi,

Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda has been
reported to make use of child labor
according to the U.S. Department of
Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child
Labor or Forced Labor[114] (a report on
the worst forms of child labor).

Certification

Workers who pick and pack tea on

plantations in developing countries can
face harsh working conditions and may
earn below the living wage.[115]

A number of bodies independently certify

the production of tea. Tea from certified
estates can be sold with a certification
label on the pack. The most important
certification schemes are Rainforest
Alliance, Fairtrade, UTZ Certified, and
Organic, which also certify other crops
such as coffee, cocoa and fruit.
Rainforest Alliance certified tea is sold by
Unilever brands Lipton and PG Tips in
Western Europe, Australia and the US.
Fairtrade certified tea is sold by a large
number of suppliers around the world.
UTZ Certified announced a partnership in
2008 with Sara Lee brand Pickwick tea.

Production of organic tea has risen since

its introduction in 1990 at Rembeng,
Kondoli Tea Estate, Assam.[116] 6,000
tons of organic tea were sold in 1999.[117]
About 75% of organic tea production is
sold in France, Germany, Japan, the
United Kingdom, and the United States.
Trade

In 2013, China – the world's largest

producer of tea – exported 325,806
tonnes, or 14% of their total crop.[118]
India exported 254,841 tonnes or 20% of
their total production.[118]

In 2013, the largest importer of tea was

the Russian Federation with 173,070
tonnes, followed by the United Kingdom,
the United States, and Pakistan.[118]

Packaging
Tea bags
Tea bags

In 1907, American tea merchant Thomas

Sullivan began distributing samples of
his tea in small bags of Chinese silk with
a drawstring. Consumers noticed they
could simply leave the tea in the bag and
reuse it with fresh tea. However, the
potential of this distribution and
packaging method would not be fully
realised until later on. During World War
II, tea was rationed in the United
Kingdom. In 1953, after rationing in the
UK ended, Tetley launched the tea bag to
the UK and it was an immediate success.

The "pyramid tea bag" (or sachet),

introduced by Lipton[119] and PG
Tips/Scottish Blend in 1996,[120]
attempts to address one of the
connoisseurs' arguments against paper
tea bags by way of its three-dimensional
tetrahedron shape, which allows more
room for tea leaves to expand while
steeping. However, some types of
pyramid tea bags have been criticised as
being environmentally unfriendly, since
their synthetic material is not as
biodegradable as loose tea leaves and
paper tea bags.[121]
Loose tea

A blend of loose-leaf black teas

The tea leaves are packaged loosely in a

canister, paper bag, or other container
such as a tea chest. Some whole teas,
such as rolled gunpowder tea leaves,
which resist crumbling, are sometimes
vacuum-packed for freshness in
aluminised packaging for storage and
retail. The loose tea must be individually
measured for use, allowing for flexibility
and flavour control at the expense of
convenience. Strainers, tea balls, tea
presses, filtered teapots, and infusion
bags prevent loose leaves from floating
in the tea and over-brewing. A traditional
method uses a three-piece lidded teacup
called a gaiwan, the lid of which is tilted
to decant the tea into a different cup for
consumption.

Compressed tea

Compressed tea (such as pu-erh) is

produced for convenience in transport,
storage, and ageing. It can usually be
stored longer without spoilage than loose
leaf tea.
Compressed tea is prepared by loosening
leaves from the cake using a small knife,
and steeping the extracted pieces in
water. During the Tang dynasty, as
described by Lu Yu, compressed tea was
ground into a powder, combined with hot
water, and ladled into bowls, resulting in
a "frothy" mixture.[122] In the Song
dynasty, the tea powder would instead be
whisked with hot water in the bowl.
Although no longer practiced in China
today, the whisking method of preparing
powdered tea was transmitted to Japan
by Zen Buddhist monks, and is still used
to prepare matcha in the Japanese tea
ceremony.[123]
Compressed tea was the most popular
form of tea in China during the Tang
dynasty.[124] By the beginning of the Ming
dynasty, it had been displaced by loose-
leaf tea.[125] It remains popular, however,
in the Himalayan countries and
Mongolian steppes. In Mongolia, tea
bricks were ubiquitous enough to be
used as a form of currency. Among
Himalayan peoples, compressed tea is
consumed by combining it with yak
butter and salt to produce butter tea.[126]

Instant tea

"Instant tea", similar to freeze-dried

instant coffee and an alternative to
brewed tea, can be consumed either hot
or cold. Instant tea was developed in the
1930s, with Nestlé introducing the first
commercial product in 1946, while Redi-
Tea debuted instant iced tea in 1953.

Delicacy of flavour is sacrificed for

convenience. Additives such as chai,
vanilla, honey or fruit, are popular, as is
powdered milk.

During the Second World War British and

Canadian soldiers were issued an instant
tea known as "Compo" in their Composite
Ration Packs. These blocks of instant
tea, powdered milk, and sugar were not
always well received. As Royal Canadian
Artillery Gunner, George C Blackburn
observed:

But, unquestionably, the

feature of Compo rations
destined to be remembered
beyond all others is Compo
tea...Directions say to "sprinkle
powder on heated water and
bring to the boil, stirring well,
three heaped teaspoons to one
pint of water."

Every possible variation in the

preparation of this tea was
tried, but...it always ended up
the same way. While still too
hot to drink, it is a good-
looking cup of strong tea. Even
when it becomes just cool
enough to be sipped gingerly, it
is still a good-tasting cup of
tea, if you like your tea strong
and sweet. But let it cool
enough to be quaffed and
enjoyed, and your lips will be
coated with a sticky scum that
forms across the surface,
which if left undisturbed will
become a leathery membrane
that can be wound around
 your finger and flipped
away...[127]

Bottled and canned tea

Canned tea is sold prepared and ready to

drink. It was introduced in 1981 in Japan.

The first bottled tea introduced by

Indonesian tea company PT. Sinar Sosro
in 1969 with brand name Teh Botol Sosro
(or Sosro bottled tea).[128]

In 1983, Swiss-based Bischofszell Food

Ltd., was the first company to bottle iced
tea on an industrial scale.[129]
Storage
Storage conditions and type determine
the shelf life of tea. Black tea's is greater
than green's. Some, such as flower teas,
may last only a month or so. Others, such
as pu-erh, improve with age.

To remain fresh and prevent mold, tea

needs to be stored away from heat, light,
air, and moisture. Tea must be kept at
room temperature in an air-tight
container. Black tea in a bag within a
sealed opaque canister may keep for two
years. Green tea deteriorates more
rapidly, usually in less than a year. Tightly
rolled gunpowder tea leaves keep longer
than the more open-leafed Chun Mee tea.
Storage life for all teas can be extended
by using desiccant or oxygen-absorbing
packets, vacuum sealing, or refrigeration
in air-tight containers (except green tea,
where discrete use of refrigeration or
freezing is recommended and
temperature variation kept to a
minimum).[130]

Gallery
Da Hong Pao tea, an oolong tea

Fuding Bai Hao Yinzhen tea, a white tea

Sheng pu-erh tuo cha, a type of
compressed aged raw pu-erh

Huoshan Huangya tea, a yellow tea

Loose dried tea leaves

Taiwanese High Mountain oolong

 A spicy Thai salad made with young,
fresh tea leaves

Milk tea

See also
Tea leaf grading
 Chifir', Russian extra-strong tea brew
Frederick John Horniman
Kombucha, drink produced from
bacteria and yeast grown on tea
List of Chinese teas
List of hot beverages
List of national drinks
List of tea companies
Herbal tea
Phenolic content in tea
Tea classics, influential historical
monographs of East Asian tea
Indian Tea Association
International Tea Day

References
1. Fuller, Thomas (21 April 2008). "A
Tea From the Jungle Enriches a
Placid Village" . The New York
Times. New York. p. A8.
2. Mair & Hoh 2009, pp. 29–30.
3. Martin, p. 8
4. Macfarlane, Alan; Macfarlane, Iris
(2004). The Empire of Tea. The
Overlook Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-
58567-493-0.
5. Penelope Ody (2000). Complete
Guide to Medicinal Herbs. New York:
Dorling Kindersley Publishing. p. 48.
ISBN 978-0-7894-6785-0.
6. Heiss & Heiss 2007, pp. 6–7.
 7. Martin, p. 29: "beginning in the third
century CE, references to tea seem
more credible, in particular those
dating to the time of Hua T'o, a
highly respected physician and
surgeon"
8. Bennett Alan Weinberg; Bonnie K.
Bealer (2001). The World of Caffeine:
The Science and Culture of the
World's Most Popular Drug .
Psychology Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-
415-92722-2.
9. "Google Ngram Viewer" . Retrieved
30 May 2018.
10. Albert E. Dien (2007). Six Dynasties
Civilization . Yale University Press.
 p. 362. ISBN 978-0-300-07404-8.
11. Bret Hinsch (2011). The ultimate
guide to Chinese tea . ISBN 978-974-
480-129-6.
12. Nicola Salter (2013). Hot Water for
Tea . ArchwayPublishing. p. 4.
ISBN 978-1-60693-247-6.
13. Peter T. Daniels, ed. (1996). The
World's Writing Systems . Oxford
University Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-
19-507993-7.
14. Keekok Lee (2008). Warp and Weft,
Chinese Language and Culture .
Eloquent Books. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-
60693-247-6.
15. Mair & Hoh 2009, pp. 264–65.
16. "Why we call tea "cha" and "te"?" ,
Hong Kong Museum of Tea Ware
17. Mair & Hoh 2009, pp. 265–67.
18. Dahl, Östen. "Feature/Chapter 138:
Tea" . The World Atlas of Language
Structures Online. Max Planck Digital
Library. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
19. Chrystal, Paul (2014). Tea: A Very
British Beverage . ISBN 978-1-4456-
3360-2.
20. Sebastião Rodolfo Dalgado; Anthony
Xavier Soares (1988). Portuguese
Vocables in Asiatic Languages: From
the Portuguese Original of
Monsignor Sebastiao Rodolfo
Dalgado, Volume 1 . South Asia
 Books. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-81-206-
0413-1.
21. "Tea" . Online Etymology Dictionary.
Retrieved 29 June 2012.
22. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 262.
23. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 263.
24. "Chai" . American Heritage
Dictionary. Archived from the
original on 18 February 2014. "Chai:
A beverage made from spiced black
tea, honey, and milk. ETYMOLOGY:
Ultimately from Chinese (Mandarin)
chá."
25. "tea" . Online Etymology Dictionary.
"The Portuguese word (attested
from 1550s) came via Macao; and
 Rus. chai, Pers. cha, Gk. tsai, Arabic
shay, and Turk. çay all came overland
from the Mandarin form."
26. "Definition of CHAI" . www.merriam-
webster.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
27. Yee, L.K., Tea's Wonderful History ,
The Chinese Historical and Cultural
Project, archived from the original
on 3 August 2002, retrieved 17 June
2013, "year 1996–2012"
28. Yamamoto, T; Kim, M; Juneja, L R
(1997). Chemistry and Applications
of Green Tea. CRC Press. p. 4.
ISBN 978-0-8493-4006-2. "For a long
time, botanists have asserted the
dualism of tea origin from their
observations that there exist distinct
differences in the morphological
characteristics between Assamese
varieties and Chinese varieties...
Hashimoto and Shimura reported
that the differences in the
morphological characteristics in tea
plants are not necessarily the
evidence of the dualism hypothesis
from the researches using the
statistical cluster analysis method.
In recent investigations, it has also
been made clear that both varieties
have the same chromosome number
(n=15) and can be easily hybridised
with each other. In addition, various
types of intermediate hybrids or
 spontaneous polyploids of tea plants
have been found in a wide area
extending over the regions
mentioned above. These facts may
prove that the place of origin of
Camellia sinensis is in the area
including the northern part of the
Burma, Yunnan, and Sichuan
districts of China."
29. Meegahakumbura, MK; Wambulwa,
MC; Thapa, KK; et al. (2016).
"Indications for three independent
domestication events for the tea
plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O.
Kuntze) and new insights into the
origin of tea germplasm in China and
India revealed by nuclear
 microsatellites" . PLOS One. 11 (5):
e0155369.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155369 .
PMC 4878758 . PMID 27218820 .
30. Meegahakumbura MK, Wambulwa
MC, Li MM, et al. (2018).
"Domestication origin and breeding
history of the tea plant (Camellia
sinensis) in China and India based
on nuclear microsatellites and
cpDNA sequence data" . Frontiers in
Plant Science. 8: 2270.
doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.02270 .
PMC 5788969 . PMID 29422908 .
31. Benn 2015, p. 22.
32. Kit Boey Chow; Ione Kramer (1990).
All the Tea in China . Sinolingua.
pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-0-8351-2194-1.
33. "Archaeologists discover world's
oldest tea buried with ancient
Chinese emperor" . The
Independent. Independent Print
Limited.
34. Houyuan Lu; et al. (7 January 2016).
"Earliest tea as evidence for one
branch of the Silk Road across the
Tibetan Plateau" . Nature. 6: 18955.
doi:10.1038/srep18955 .
PMC 4704058 . PMID 26738699 .
Retrieved 11 January 2016.
35. "World's oldest tea found in Chinese
emperor's tomb" . Phys.org. 28
January 2016. "The oldest written
reference to tea is from the year 59
BC."
36. Mair & Hoh 2009, pp. 30–31.
37. Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K.
Bealer (2001). The World of Caffeine:
The Science and Culture of the
World's Most Popular Drug .
Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-415-
92722-2.
38. Benn 2015, p. 42.
39. Mair & Hoh 2009, pp. 39–41.
40. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 118.
41. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 165.
42. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 106.
43. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 169.
44. Paul Chrystal (2014). Tea: A Very
British Beverage . Amberley
Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-
4456-3360-2.
45. Peter Mundy Merchant Adventurer,
2011, ed. R.E. Pritchard, Bodleain
Library, Oxford
46. "Tea" . In Our Time. 29 April 2004.
BBC Radio 4.
47. "A Social History of the Nation's
Favourite Drink" . United Kingdom
Tea Council. Archived from the
original on 30 July 2009.
48. Lysaght, Patricia (1987). "When I
makes Tea, I makes Tea: the case of
Tea in Ireland". Ulster Folklife. 33:
48–49.
49. Lovell, Julia (2012). The Opium War:
Drugs, Dreams and the Making of
China. Picador. ISBN 978-1-4472-
0410-7.
50. Colleen Taylor Sen (2004). Food
Culture in India . Greenwood
Publishing Group. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-
313-32487-1. "Ironically, it was the
British who introduced tea drinking
to India, initially to anglicized
Indians. Tea did not become a mass
drink there until the 1950s when the
 India Tea Board, faced with a surplus
of low-grade tea, launched an
advertising campaign to popularize it
in the north, where the drink of
choice was milk."
51. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 214.
52. Sarah Rose (2010). For All the Tea in
China: How England Stole the
World's Favorite Drink and Changed
History. Penguin Books. pp. 1–5, 89,
122, 197.
53. "Camellia Sinensis" . Purdue
University Center for New Crops and
Plants Products. 3 July 1996.
Retrieved 26 October 2010.
54. Levin, Angela (20 May 2013).
"Welcome to Tregothnan, England's
only tea estate" . The Telegraph.
Retrieved 5 December 2013.
55. Hilpern, Kate (17 November 2014).
"The world's first Scottish tea (at £10
a cup)" . The Independent.
56. "Tea" (PDF). The Compendium of
Washington Agriculture. Washington
State Commission on Pesticide
Registration. 2010. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 10 August
2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
57. "Tea farm on Vancouver Island, a
Canadian first" . Vancouver Sun. 5
May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
58. Crawley, Jennifer (13 August 2013).
"Tassie tea crop brewing" . The
Mercury (Hobart). Archived from the
original on 11 March 2014.
59. "Episode 36 – Produce of Two
Islands" . The Cook and the Chef.
Episode 36. 29 October 2008. ABC
Australia.
60. "Tea growing is tough going" . The
New Zealand Herald. 17 August
2013.
61. Rolfe, Jim & Cave, Yvonne (2003).
Camellias: A Practical Gardening
Guide. Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-
88192-577-7.
62. Pruess, Joanna (2006). Tea Cuisine:
A New Approach to Flavoring
Contemporary and Traditional
Dishes. Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-1-
59228-741-3.
63. Mondal, T.K. (2007). "Tea". In Pua,
E.C.; Davey, M.R. (eds.).
Biotechnology in Agriculture and
Forestry. 60: Transgenic Crops V.
Berlin: Springer. pp. 519–20.
ISBN 978-3-540-49160-6.
64. Wambulwa, MC, MK
Meegahakumbura, R Chalo, et al.
2016. Nuclear microsatellites reveal
the genetic architecture and
breeding history of tea germplasm of
 East Africa. Tree Genetics &
Genomes, 12.
65. Meegahakumbura MK, MC
Wambulwa, M Li, et al. 2018.
Domestication origin and breeding
history of the tea plant (Camellia
sinensis) in China and India based
on nuclear microsatellites and
cpDNA sequence data. Frontiers in
Plant Science, 25.
66. Harler, Campbell Ronald (26 August
2014). "Tea production" .
Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved
1 June 2007.
67. Hayes, Elizabeth S. (1980). Spices
and Herbs: Lore and Cookery .
 Courier Dover Publications. p. 74.
ISBN 978-0-486-24026-8.
68. Shoane, John (21 November 2008).
"Tea Chemistry" . The Teatropolitan
Times. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
69. Weinberg, Bennett Alan & Bealer,
Bonnie K. (2001). The World of
Caffeine: The Science and Culture of
the World's Most Popular Drug .
Routledge. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-415-
92722-2.
70. Hicks MB, Hsieh YP, Bell LN (1996).
"Tea preparation and its influence on
methylxanthine concentration"
(PDF). Food Research International.
29 (3–4): 325–330.
 doi:10.1016/0963-9969(96)00038-
5.
71. Chatterjee A, Saluja M, Agarwal G,
Alam M (2012). "Green tea: A boon
for periodontal and general health" .
J Indian Soc Periodontol. 16 (2):
161–167. doi:10.4103/0972-
124X.99256 . PMC 3459493 .
PMID 23055579 .
72. Graham, HN (1992). "Green tea
composition, consumption, and
polyphenol chemistry". Preventive
Medicine. 21 (3): 334–350.
doi:10.1016/0091-7435(92)90041-f .
PMID 1614995 .
73. "Tea, brewed, prepared with tap
water [black tea], one cup, USDA
Nutrient Tables, SR-21" . Conde
Nast. 2014. Retrieved 25 October
2014.
74. Fung KF, Zhang ZQ, Wong JW, Wong
MH (1999). "Fluoride contents in tea
and soil from tea plantations and the
release of fluoride into tea liquor
during infusion". Environmental
Pollution. 104 (2): 197–205.
doi:10.1016/S0269-7491(98)00187-
0.
75. Harbowy, ME (1997). "Tea
Chemistry". Critical Reviews in Plant
 Science. 16 (5): 415–480.
doi:10.1080/713608154 .
76. Ferruzzi, MG (2010). "The influence
of beverage composition on delivery
of phenolic compounds from coffee
and tea". Physiol Behav. 100 (1): 33–
41.
doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.01.035 .
PMID 20138903 .
77. Williamson G, Dionisi F, Renouf M
(2011). "Flavanols from green tea
and phenolic acids from coffee:
critical quantitative evaluation of the
pharmacokinetic data in humans
after consumption of single doses of
beverages". Mol Nutr Food Res. 55
 (6): 864–873.
doi:10.1002/mnfr.201000631 .
PMID 21538847 .
78. Yang, CS; Chen, G; Wu, Q (2014).
"Recent scientific studies of a
traditional Chinese medicine, tea, on
prevention of chronic diseases" . J
Tradit Complement Med. 4 (1): 17–
23. doi:10.4103/2225-4110.124326 .
PMC 4032838 . PMID 24872929 .
79. Meydani, M; Hasan, ST (2010).
"Dietary polyphenols and obesity" .
Nutrients. 2 (7): 737–751.
doi:10.3390/nu2070737 .
PMC 3257683 . PMID 22254051 .
80. Darvesh, AS; et al. (2010). "Oxidative
stress and Alzheimer's disease:
dietary polyphenols as potential
therapeutic agents". Expert Rev
Neurother. 10 (5): 729–45.
doi:10.1586/ern.10.42 .
PMID 20420493 .
81. "Green Tea" . National Center for
Complementary and Integrative
Health, US National Institutes of
Health, Bethesda, MD. 2014.
Retrieved 25 October 2014.
82. "Summary of Qualified Health Claims
Subject to Enforcement
Discretion:Green Tea and Cancer" .
Food and Drug Administration, US
 Department of Health and Human
Services. October 2014. Retrieved
25 October 2014.
83. Liu Tong (2005). Chinese tea.
Beijing: China Intercontinental Press.
p. 137. ISBN 978-7-5085-0835-1.
84. Tony, Gebely (October 2016). Tea : a
user's guide. pp. Chapter 6.
ISBN 978-0-9981030-0-6.
OCLC 965904874 .
85. "What is Chai? A Brief History of Chai
Tea | Oregon Chai Blog" . 13 March
2014.
86. "Brief Guide to Tea" . BriefGuides.
2006. Archived from the original on
 22 August 2006. Retrieved
7 November 2006.
87. "Some tea and wine may cause
cancer – tannin, found in tea and red
wine, linked to esophageal cancer" ,
Nutrition Health Review, 22
September 1990.
88. Tierra, Michael (1990). The Way of
Herbs. Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-
671-72403-0.
89. "How to make a perfect cuppa" . BBC
News. 25 June 2003. Retrieved
28 July 2006.
90. Dubrin, Beverly (2010). Tea Culture:
History, Traditions, Celebrations,
Recipes & More . Charlesbridge
 Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-60734-
363-9.
91. Lorenz, M.; Jochmann, N.; Von
Krosigk, A.; Martus, P.; Baumann, G.;
Stangl, K.; Stangl, V. (2006). "Addition
of milk prevents vascular protective
effects of tea". European Heart
Journal. 28 (2): 219–23.
doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehl442 .
PMID 17213230 .
92. Gulati, Ashu; Sharma, Vaishali
(November 2005). "Extractability of
tea catechins as a function of
manufacture procedure and
temperature of infusion". Food
Chemistry. 93 (1): 141–48.
 doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2004.10.01
6.
93. Lindsey Goodwin (3 November
2018). "The history of masala chai" .
The Spruce Eats. Retrieved
20 November 2018.
94. Jeff Koehler (21 October 2014). "Tea
in Morocco: 'It's in the blood' " . The
Washington Post. Retrieved
20 November 2018.
95. https://www.statista.com/statistics/
681635/tea-consumption-daily-
amount-united-kingdom-uk/
96. "World tea production reaches new
highs" . fao.org.
97. About Turkey: Geography,
Economics, Politics, Religion and
Culture, Rashid and Resit Ergener,
Pilgrims' Process, 2002, ISBN 0-
9710609-6-7, p. 41
98. "Capacity Building Program on
International Trade" (PDF) (Press
release). Ministry of Agriculture.
Archived from the original (PDF) on
11 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January
2013.
99. Turkish Statistical Institute (11
August 2013). "En çok çay ve karpuz
tüketiyoruz (in Turkish)/ We
consume a lot of tea and
 watermelon" . CNN Turk. Retrieved
24 August 2013.
100. "tea"
101. Burke, Andrew; Elliott, Mark;
Mohammadi, Kamin & Yale, Pat
(2004). Iran . Lonely Planet. pp. 75–
76. ISBN 978-1-74059-425-7.
102. "Tea will be declared a national drink,
says Montek" . The Hindu. 21 April
2012.
103. "Tea to get hotter with national drink
tag?" . The Times Of India. 30 April
2012.
104. "Tea will be declared national drink:
Montek Singh Ahluwalia – India –
 IBNLive" . Ibnlive.in.com. 21 April
2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
105. "Tea". Modern Marvels television
(program). The History Channel.
Broadcast 15 October 2010.
106. Powers, Sean. "Sweet Tea: A History
Of The 'Nectar Of The South' " .
Retrieved 14 March 2019.
107. "World tea production in 2016;
Crops/World Regions/Production
Quantity from picklists" . Food and
Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, Statistics Division
(FAOSTAT). 2017. Retrieved 4 April
2018.
108. Sanyal, Amitava (13 April 2008).
"How India came to be the largest
tea drinking nation" . Hindustan
Times. New Delhi. p. 12. Archived
from the original on 11 June 2014.
109. Euromonitor International (13 May
2013). "Turkey: Second biggest tea
market in the world" . Market
Research World. Archived from the
original on 17 January 2013.
Retrieved 25 November 2012.
110. Blanchard, Ben (24 April 2012).
"Greenpeace says finds tainted
Lipton tea bags in China" . Reuters.
Beijing. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
111. Griffith-Greene, Megar (8 March
2014). "Pesticide traces in some tea
exceed allowable limits" . CBC
News. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
112. Borreli, Lizette (22 August 2013).
"Could Tea Be Bad For You? 5 Tea
Ingredients That Are Harming Your
Health" . Medical Daily. IBT Media.
Retrieved 25 March 2015.
113. "Tea contains harmful pesticide
residues: Study" . The Times of
India. Mumbai. 12 August 2014.
Retrieved 26 March 2015.
114. "List of Goods Produced by Child
Labor or Forced Labor" . dol.gov.
115. "A Bitter Cup" . War on Want.
Archived from the original on 19
September 2010. Retrieved 27 July
2010.
116. Tocklai Tea Research Station Report
117. United Nations. Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(2002). Organic Agriculture and Rural
Poverty Alleviation: Potential and
Best Practices in Asia. United
Nations Publications. pp. 62–63.
ISBN 92-1-120138-1
118. "World tea trade in 2013;
Crops/Trade/World Regions/Export
or Import Quantity from picklists" .
Food and Agriculture Organization of
 the United Nations, Statistics
Division (FAOSTAT). 2017. Retrieved
4 April 2018.
119. "Lipton Institute of Tea – Interview of
Steve, Tea technology manager,
Chapter: A Culture of Innovation" .
Lipton. 2008. Archived from the
original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved
26 June 2008.
120. "PG Tips – About Us" . pgtips.co.uk.
Archived from the original on 20
January 2007. Retrieved 17 February
2009.
121. Smithers, Rebecca (2 July 2010).
"Most UK teabags not fully
 biodegradeable, research reveals" .
The Guardian. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
122. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 50.
123. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 62.
124. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 48.
125. Mair & Hoh 2009, p. 110.
126. Mair & Hoh 2009, pp. 124–36.
127. Blackburn, George (2012). The Guns
of Normandy: A Soldier's Eye View,
France 1944 . Random House
Digital, Inc. ISBN 978-1-55199-462-8
128. "PT. Sinar Sosro" . Retrieved
29 January 2016.
129. "Bischofszell Food Ltd" . Bina.ch.
Archived from the original on 17
 January 2013. Retrieved
25 November 2012.
130. "Green Tea Storage" (PDF).
Retrieved 15 July 2009.

Sources

Benn, James A. (2015). Tea in China: A

Religious and Cultural History . Hong
Kong University Press. ISBN 978-988-
8208-73-9.
Heiss, Mary Lou; Heiss, Robert J.
(2007). The Story of Tea: A Cultural
History and Drinking Guide . Ten Speed
Press. ISBN 978-1-58008-745-2.
Mair, Victor H.; Hoh, Erling (2009). The
True History of Tea . Thames &
 Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-25146-1.
Martin, Laura C. (2007). Tea: The Drink
that Changed the World . Tuttle
Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8048-3724-8.

External links
Tea at Curlie
Tea on In Our Time at the BBC
 Species directories
from Wikispecies

Travel guides
from Wikivoyage

News stories
Find out
from Wikinews
more on
Wikipedia's Definitions
from Wiktionary
Sister
projects Quotations
from Wikiquote

Source texts
from Wikisource

Data
from Wikidata
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Tea&oldid=906559155"

Last edited 6 days ago by Nemo bis

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.