Tea is well recognised as being the most popular beverage in the world, with a history that stretches back thousands of years. For the real history of tea, you have to go east towards China and the nations of the far east. The common tea plant, Camellia sinensis, originates from East and South Asia, around the point where northeast India, north Burma, southwest China, and Tibet meet. The first evidence of drinking tea was recorded in China, dating back to the 10th century BC. Since this time, tea has spread throughout the world and been enjoyed by millions and millions of people. While Europeans and people from the United Kingdom in particular have a strong relationship with tea and tea culture, it is important to note that tea is a relatively new phenomenon in the west.
Tea was first introduced to Europe in the 16th century, which illustrates just how new it really is in the west. However, since this time, it has become a common beverage in the lives of millions of people, and played an important role in setting up trade routes with the Middle East and Asia. Apart from China and nations such as Japan and Korea, there are also a number of Middle Eastern nations that have a strong tea drinking culture, including Turkey, Morocco, and Iran. While most people have made the choice to drink tea derived from the Camellia sinensis plant, there is also lots of use of alternate tea blends which are made from other plants. For example, the people of Morocco mostly enjoy mint tea, which plays an important role in their daily culture.
While tea originated from China and spread to Europe in the 16th century, there was a lot which happened in between. Tea spread to Japan in the 6th century, and quickly became a drink that was used by the religious classes. It spread to Korea around the same time, and has been documented in a rite to the ancestral gods in the year 661. Tea spread to many other nations throughout Asia as well, including Vietnam, Thailand, and India. Tea continues to be enjoyed by millions of people around the world, as tea cultures becomes more popular in the west all the time.