Tea is becoming an essential part of millions of people’s lives. It’s now one of the most popular beverages around the world. Below are some facts you might find interesting about tea.
Tea was discovered nearly 5,000 years ago.
In the early 1900s afternoon tea became the fashion in Britain and, with the introduction of tango dancing from Argentina, the best hotels added string quartets and tea dances to the menu.
In the last 40 or 50 years tea production has expanded by over 156 percent with more than 3,000 million tons of tea produced every year.
Tea plants grow best in hot, humid places with temperatures of 50-85 degrees fahrenheit, and many of the world’s most famous teas — high-altitude Ceylons, China’s Weyi, India’s best Darjeelings — come from bushes cultivated above 4,000 feet.
The aroma of black tea is complex, with more than 500 chemicals so far identified, including hydrocarbons, alcohols, and acids.
Caffeine is one of the most important constituents of tea. Although the caffeine in coffee is absorbed rapidly into the body, this is not so with tea. The rate of absorption is much slower and the caffeine remains in the body longer, making tea the more refreshing, revitalizing drink.
More tea is drunk around the world than any other beverage.
Reference: http://katiepickardfawcett.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/2433/
