Tea’s Global Journey: How It Became the World’s Drink

Water may be life’s essential elixir, but tea—humble leaves steeped in hot water—has risen to become humanity’s most beloved beverage. Across empires and centuries, tea has shaped economies, fueled revolutions, inspired rituals, and comforted billions. Its journey from wild shrub to global staple is as tangled and fascinating as the roots of the plant itself.

From Myth to Medicine in China
Legend traces tea’s discovery to 2737 BCE, when Emperor Shen Nong, the mythical father of Chinese agriculture, sat beneath a wild Camellia sinensis tree. A breeze carried leaves into his boiling pot of water, and the first infusion was born. While the story veers toward myth, historical evidence shows tea was cultivated and consumed in China by the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), prized for its medicinal qualities. By the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), tea was a refined cultural art, with poets and monks extolling its virtues as a stimulant for body and spirit.

The Silk Road’s Steaming Cargo
Tea’s journey beyond China began along the Silk Road, traded across Central Asia into Tibet, where it became the foundation of yak butter tea. By the 9th century, it had reached Japan with Buddhist monks, who incorporated tea into Zen practices. The Japanese tea ceremony, refined centuries later, transformed simple drinking into an aesthetic and spiritual ritual of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.

Europe and Empire
Tea’s leap to Europe came in the 17th century via Portuguese and Dutch traders. Initially a luxury item reserved for elites, tea captivated aristocratic circles in France, Britain, and Russia. In Britain, it became a national obsession. By the 18th century, the East India Company held a monopoly on its trade, turning tea into both a commodity and a symbol of empire. Tea gardens sprouted in India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as colonial plantations expanded, forever changing landscapes and economies.

Tea and Revolutions
Tea is no passive beverage—it has stirred rebellion. In 1773, American colonists, furious at British taxation, dumped chests of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party ignited tensions that would help fuel the American Revolution. In another era, the opium-for-tea trade imbalance between Britain and China led to the devastating Opium Wars, reshaping global power.

The Everyday Cup
Despite its tumultuous history, tea became democratized. No longer the preserve of emperors or merchants, it entered kitchens and cafes across the globe. Russians embraced the samovar; Moroccans blended green tea with mint; Indians created masala chai with spices and milk; the British built an empire of teatime, complete with scones and sandwiches. Each culture bent the leaf to its own traditions, weaving it into daily rituals.

The World’s Most Consumed Drink (After Water)
Today, tea is second only to water in global consumption. Over 3 billion cups are drunk daily. It cuts across class, creed, and continent: a factory worker in Kolkata, a grandmother in Cairo, a businessman in London, all pausing for tea. Whether it’s a builder’s strong brew, a delicate oolong, or a frothy matcha, tea remains humanity’s comfort and companion.

More Than a Drink—A Bond
Tea is not just steeped leaves; it is steeped history. It is empire and revolution, ritual and rebellion, solace and society. Behind every cup lies thousands of years of cultivation, trade, and tradition. In the end, tea’s power is simple: it gathers people. It is the warmth in the hand, the pause in the day, the shared pot between friends and strangers.

From Shen Nong’s mythical accident to the bustling cafes of the modern world, tea has endured because it nourishes more than the body—it nourishes connection. And perhaps that is why, after water, it remains the world’s most favorite drink.

Modern Marvels: The History of Tea (S12, E53)