Tea

Tea is an aromaticbeverage prepared by infusion of hot or boilingfresh water with fresh or curedleaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreenshrub native to East Asia that originated in the borderlands of southwestern China, northeast India and northern Myanmar. Tea has a stimulant effect in humans primarily due to its caffeine content.

After plain drinking water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. There are many varieties of tea according to differences in cultivars, processing and blends; some have a cooling, slightly bitter and astringentflavor, while others have taste profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral or grassy notes.

Traditionally, tea is made by steeping loose tea leaves in hot water (usually in a teapot or teacup) for a period of time, or in the case of compressed and fermented tea, via decoction (simmering) in a kettle. Convenient preparations, such as tea bag, infuser and press as well as powderedinstant tea such as matcha, konacha and chai latte, are also common. Tea is most commonly consumed as a hot beverage in a plain hot water infusion, although it can also be in mixed drink forms, such as milk tea and butter tea, sometimes sweetened with added sugar or sugar substitutes, or alternatively flavored with salt and spices. In modern times, tea can also be served as a cold beverage in the form of iced tea or in soft drink mixtures such as bubble tea.

Early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a Chinese medical text written by Eastern Han dynasty physician Hua Tuo. Tea was consumed as a recreational and social beverage during the Tang dynasty, and Chinese tea culture-inspired ceremonial drinking spread to other Sinospheric countries such as Japan (where it is known as chado), Korea (known as darye) and Vietnam (typically as part of a wedding ritual). Tea drinking also spread into Inner Asia and South Asia via the Silk Road and the Tea Horse Road, particularly during the expansion of the Mongols, for whom the salted milk tea (süütei tsai) has remained part of the staple diet. Outside of the Far East, Portuguese priests and merchants introduced tea drinking to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable in Western Europe as part of the rise of Chinoiserie influence, especially among the British, who had such a high import demand of tea that they later started to cultivate tea on a large scale in colonial India and Ceylon, where tea had previously been used only as a herbal medicine.