Caring Tea

Entertainment & Pop CultureFood tea beverage Actions Written by Sinnathurai Sivasubramaniam Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jun 28, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents tea, beverage produced by steeping in freshly boiled water the young leaves and leaf buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved China plant (C. sinensis variety sinensis) and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. sinensis variety assamica). Hybrids of these two varieties are also grown. The leaves may be fermented or left unfermented. History of the tea trade  The secret to brewing a good cup of tea Learn about tea, from cultivation to brewing. See all videos for this article  tea cultivation See all media Key People: Thomas Lipton Related Topics: kombucha bubble tea green tea black tea instant tea See all related content → According to legend, tea has been known in China since about 2700 bce. For millennia it was a medicinal beverage obtained by boiling fresh leaves in water, but around the 3rd century ce it became a daily drink, and tea cultivation and processing began. The first published account of methods of planting, processing, and drinking came in 350 ce. Around 800 the first seeds were brought to Japan, where cultivation became established by the 13th century. Chinese from Amoy brought tea cultivation to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) in 1810. Tea cultivation in Java began under the Dutch, who brought seeds from Japan in 1826 and seeds, workers, and implements from China in 1833. In 1824 tea plants were discovered in the hills along the frontier between Burma and the Indian state of Assam. The British introduced tea culture into India in 1836 and into Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1867. At first they used seeds from China, but later seeds from the Assam plant were used. The Dutch East India Company carried the first consignment of China tea to Europe in 1610. In 1669 the English Eas