Tea

Tea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods. “Tea” also refers to the aromatic beverage prepared from the cured leaves by combination with hot or boiling water, and is the common name for the Camellia sinensis plant itself. Although tea contains various types of polyphenols, “contrary to widespread belief, tea does not contain tannic acid.”
After water, tea is the most widely-consumed beverage in the world.It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavour which many enjoy.

Origin myths

In one popular Chinese legend, Shennong, the legendary Emperor of China and inventor of agriculture and Chinese medicine was drinking a bowl of just boiled water some time around 2737 BC when a few leaves were blown from a nearby tree into his water, changing the color. The emperor took a sip of the brew and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and restorative properties. A variant of the legend tells that the emperor tested the medical properties of various herbs on himself, some of them poisonous, and found tea to work as an antidote.Shennong is also mentioned in Lu Yu's famous early work on the subject, Cha Jing.A similar Chinese legend goes that the god of agriculture would chew the leaves, stems, and roots of various plants to discover medicinal herbs. If he consumed a poisonous plant, he would chew tea leaves to counteract the poison.
Whether or not these legends have any basis in fact, tea has played a significant role in Asian culture for centuries as a staple beverage, a curative, and a status symbol. It is not surprising, therefore, that theories of its origin are often religious or royal in nature.

Countries

The Chinese have consumed tea for thousands of years. People of the Han Dynasty used tea as medicine (though the first use of tea as a stimulant is unknown). China is considered to have the earliest records of tea consumption,with records dating back to the 10th century BC.
In Hong Kong, apart from the yum cha culture of southern China, a localised version of English tea was developed, the Hong Kong-style milk tea.
The cultivation and brewing of tea in India has a long history of applications in traditional systems of medicine and for consumption. Tea had been known for millennia in India as a medicinal plant. The consumption of tea in India was first clearly documented in the ancient epic Ramayana (circa 500 BC). Research shows that tea is also indigenous to eastern and northern India, and was cultivated and consumed there for thousands of years. However, commercial production of tea in India did not begin until the arrival of the British East India Company, at which point large tracts of land were converted for mass tea production.
Tea use spread to Japan about the sixth century. Tea became a drink of the religious classes in Japan when Japanese priests and envoys, sent to China to learn about its culture, brought tea to Japan.
Green tea became a staple among cultured people in Japan—a brew for the gentry and the Buddhist priesthood alike. Production grew and tea became increasingly accessible, though still a privilege enjoyed mostly by the upper classes. The tea ceremony of Japan was introduced from China in the 15th century by Buddhists as a semi-religious social custom. The modern tea ceremony developed over several centuries by Zen Buddhist monksIn fact, both the beverage and the ceremony surrounding it played a prominent role in feudal diplomacy.
In 1738, Soen Nagatani developed Japanese sencha (煎茶), literally roasted tea, which is an unfermented form of green tea. It is the most popular form of tea in Japan today.

Tea became a very important item in Britain's global trade, contributing to Britain's global dominance by the end of the eighteenth century. To this day tea is seen worldwide as a symbol of 'Britishness', but also, to some, as a symbol of old British colonialism.
There are at least six varieties of tea: white, yellow, green, oolong, black and pu-erh of which the most commonly found on the market are white, green, oolong and black. All teas are made from the same species of plant, though different varieties may be used, and the leaves are processed differently, and, in the case of fine white tea, grown differently. Pu-erh tea, a post-fermented tea, is also often used medicinally.
The term “herbal tea” usually refers to an infusion or tisane of leaves, flowers, fruit, herbs or other plant material that contains no Camellia sinensis.The term “red tea” refers to an infusion made from either black tea (mainly in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and other East Asian languages) or the South African rooibos plant (containing no Camellia sinensis).

In South Africa, the non-Camellia sinensis
beverage rooibos is popular. In South America, yerba mate, a tisane, is popular.

Sideritis (Ironwort)is a very common and immensely popular tea in Greece which grows in the mountains. It also goes by the name of “Mountain Tea” and “Shepherd's Tea.”

Language

Afrikaans - tee
English - tea
French - thé
Hungarian - tea
Korean - 茶,다 da [ta]
Swedish - te [tʰeː]
Czech - té or thé
Indonesian - teh
scientific Latin - thea
Malay - teh
German - Tee
Norwegian - te
Spanish - té
Finnish - tee
Hebrew - תה, te
Italian - tè or thè
Albanian - çaj
Japanese - 茶, チャ, cha;お茶,オチャ,ocha
Persian - چای chai
Serbian - чај, čaj
Turkish - çay
Vietnamese - trà and chè
Korean - 茶,차, cha
Arabic - شاي shāy
Greek - τσάι tsái
Portuguese - chá
Thai - ชา, chaa
Persian - chaay
Hindi - चाय chai
Russian - чай, chai

Tea culture

In many cultures, tea is often had at high class social events, such as afternoon tea and the tea party. It may be consumed early in the day to heighten alertness; it contains theophylline and bound caffeine (sometimes called “theine”), although there are also decaffeinated teas. In many cultures such as Arab culture tea is a focal point for social gatherings. Moreover, the history of tea in Iran - in the Persian culture- is another to explore. One source cites: “the first thing you will be offered when a guest at an Iranian household is tea.”
There are tea ceremonies which have arisen in different cultures, Japan's complex, formal and serene one being one of the most well known. Other examples are the Chinese tea ceremony which uses some traditional ways of brewing tea. One form of Chinese tea ceremony is the Gongfu tea ceremony, which typically uses small Yixing clay teapots and oolong tea.
The American poet Wallace Stevens, a tea-fancier, is credited by Eleanor Cook with a “delicately implicit trope of drinking tea as a metaphor for reading (ingesting a drink from leaves).

There are a lot of kind of teas...but there are the most common ones:
Black tea

Green tea

Chinese Jasmine tea, with jasmine oil or flowers...

Indian Masala chai and Earl Grey tea, which contains oil of bergamot...

Masala lemon tea contains hot tea with roasted cumin seed powder,lemon juice,black salt and sugar which gives it tangy, spicy taste...

Alcohol may also be added to tea, such as whisky or brandy or rum...

Tea Party

In Anglo-American culture, a tea party is typically a formal, ritualized gathering (traditionally of women) for afternoon tea, although men may be invited to participate.
The afternoon tea party was a feature of great houses in the Victorian and Edwardian ages in the United Kingdom and the Gilded Age in the United States.
Formal tea parties are often characterized by the use of prestige utensils, such as bone china or silver. The table, whatever its size or cost, is made to look its prettiest, with cloth napkins and matching cups and plates. In addition to tea, larger parties may provide punch, or in cold weather, hot chocolate. The tea is accompanied by a variety of easily managed foods: thin sandwiches, such as cucumber or tomato, cake slices, buns or rolls, and cookies are all common.

And Alice lovers can also join...