The discovery of tea dates back to the year 2737 BC, where legend has it that Emperor Shen Nung was resting under a tea bush ( Camellia Sinensis) when a few tea leaves fell into his pot of boiling water. After finding the drink both flavourful (his prior drink was hot water) and revitalizing he quickly passed on his new found beverage. Now, with the first writing of tea not being penned until the 3rd Century BC by a Chinese surgeon, the actual discovery will remain somewhere between myth and fact. Nonetheless, what is a fact is the Chinese have been drinking and cultivating tea for thousands of years.

Japan began cultivating tea around 800AD and Europe was introduced to tea around 1610 by both the Dutch and Portuguese. In 1658 tea was introduced to Britain and in a little less than 100 years tea became their most popular drink. With Britain and China involved in the Opium wars of the mid 1800's, Britain looked to other regions to fill their appetite for tea. In 1850 The British East India Company began cultivating tea in Northern India (Assam) and by 1870 Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was cultivating the tea bush. China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka are the top four tea producing regions in the world.

The expansion and introduction of additional teas and tea producing regions have continued as consumers begin to experiment with this multi-purposed beverage. Rooibos teas from South Africa and herbal peppermint teas from the United States are two examples of non-traditional teas that have become popular world wide drinks during the last century. A summary of different types of tea are available in the Specialty Tea section.

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