Green, black, white & oolong, there’s such a rich variety of tea to savor. Learn all about this amazing drink with these fun facts about tea!
What kind of tea is your favorite to drink? A rich black tea with milk and sugar? A clean and soothing green tea? Or a tall glass of iced tea in the summer sun?
One thing’s for sure, we have been enjoying tea for a really long time. Which means there are tons of fascinating fun facts about tea to get through here.
In fact, the earliest physical evidence of tea-drinking dates back to the Han Dynasty in the 2nd century BC – that’s over 2,200 years ago!
Even more impressive, it’s believed that the Chinese were drinking tea as far back as 2,700 BC. Yes, tea really is that old.
With all this rich history, you probably think China drinks the most tea per capita. Well, one of our tea facts will either confirm or deny this suspicion. We’ll let that one steep in your mind for a bit.
And here’s another that really surprised us. Did you know that tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world? That’s right, the only beverage that beats it is water.
But what fun is boring old water when you can add delicious flavoured leaves to create delicious, comforting tea?
So how about making yourself a cup of your favorite tea variety and getting cozy while learning some new tea facts? Cheers!
Contents:
23 Fun Facts About Tea
1. What variety of tea has the most caffeine?
While tea may not be able to compete with coffee when it comes to caffeine levels, it can still pack a zippy punch.
If you’re looking for a morning wake me up, black tea is the way to go. Black tea leaves are fermented the longest, so the caffeine content is the highest.
2. Is green tea decaffeinated?
This is one of the facts about tea that is often misunderstood. Green tea does in fact have caffeine. 30-50 milligrams to be exact.
If you’re looking for a tea without caffeine make sure the label says herbal or decaffeinated. Some popular decaf teas include chamomile, mint and rooibos.
3. Where does tea grow best?
If you live in a temperate to warm location with a high-elevation, then you have the perfect tea growing conditions. In fact, tea grows best at altitudes between 3,000 (914 m) and 7,000 ft (2,134 m) above sea level.
4. What the heck is tisane?
To be classified as a true tea, the leaves must come from the Camellia Sinensis plant. So the herbals we mentioned earlier (mint, chamomile, and rooibos) are actually classified as tisanes.
But why over-complicate it? If it can be steeped in water and it’s not coffee, to us that’s tea!
5. What is the origin story of Lipton?
One of the most recognized tea brands is, of course, Lipton. The company started when Sir Thomas Lipton of Scotland started importing tea to the British Isles from Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Lipton was founded in 1890 when tea was a very rare and expensive imported item. They were the first company to package and ship tea at a large scale and lower cost.
6. What country produces the most tea?
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that China leads the world in tea production. Each year they produce an astonishing 2 million tons!
China is considered the birthplace of tea as it was first used in traditional Chinese medicine years before it was consumed as a stimulant beverage.
7. India isn’t far behind China in tea production
India has been cultivating and growing tea since the early 1800s and now produces over 1.2 million tons of tea per year.
They also have some of our favorite tea varieties that are world-renowned. Assam, Nilgiri, Noon Chai, and Darjeeling, just to name a few!
8. The king of African tea
Kenya is the largest producer of tea in Africa, currently producing close to 500,000 tons of tea per year. Because tea grows best in elevation, Kenya’s tea farms are centred around Mount Kenya and its vast foothills.
Here’s a fun tea fact that surprised us – Up to 50% of the tea drunk in the UK comes from Kenya!
9. The history of matcha powder
Have you ever tried the curiously green matcha tea latte from Starbucks? Well, the trendy green powder is actually a product of the Tang Dynasty in China.
It was then adopted by the Japanese and was often used in tea ceremonies. The famous powder is stone ground, so it is quite unique in the tea world of steeping leaves!
10. What are the origins of bubble tea?
In the past few decades, bubble tea has been taking the world by storm! Many chalk this up to the influx of immigrants and international students to Western countries like the US, Canada, UK and Australia.
Bubble tea originated in Taiwan and is now popular worldwide with a $2.9 billion market value.
11. What are the four main varieties of tea?
If we’re looking to classify tea into neat little categories, it’s next to impossible! However, it’s widely accepted that black, green, white and oolong are the four main varieties, with hundreds of off-shoots branching from these staples. What variety of tea is your fave?
12. What is oolong tea anyway?
What makes oolong tea different from other teas is that the leaves are oxidized before curling and twisting.
When we consider the level of oxidation, oolong can vary between 8%-85%, whereas green tea is 0% oxidized and black tea is 100%. So oolong has the greatest range of taste of all the varieties of tea.
13. What is the champagne of teas?
Darjeeling is called the Champagne of teas for many reasons. First, it’s the geographical location. Champagne can only be from Champagne in France, and Darjeeling can only be from Darjeeling in West Bengal.
Second, is its incomparable taste and expensive price tag. If you want to impress your friends, offer them a pot of delicious Darjeeling!
14. What country drinks the most tea?
If you had to guess, what country do you think drinks the most tea?
China? India? Japan? UK? Nope. It’s actually Turkey who are the biggest lovers of tea. The average Turk consumes 7 pounds (3.16 kg) of tea each year!
15. What kind of tea do they drink in Turkey?
Since they can’t get enough tea in Turkey, you may be curious what they’re drinking exactly.
The most common tea in Turkey is called Rize tea from the growing region of Rize on the coast of the Black Sea. Turkish tea is typically prepared in a double-stacked teapot known as a çaydanlik.
16. Who loves iced tea?
The US loves iced tea. We are talking serious numbers here. 85% of all tea sales in the US are iced tea.
This is absolutely one of the tea facts that completely floored us! It seems like Americans just want to be refreshed and not have to bother with boiling water.
17. Where does Ceylon tea come from?
The country of Sri Lanka is a teardrop-shaped island off the southern tip of India. Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka is world famous for the aptly named Ceylon tea.
Pivotal to Sri Lankan culture and identity, look out for the famous lion logo on their tea products to make sure the Ceylon tea you’re drinking is actually from Sri Lanka!
18. What’s the most expensive tea in the world?
Get ready to be shocked and a little disgusted. Panda poop tea is the world’s most expensive.
Grown in a small area in the Chinese province of Sichuan, the tea plants are fertilized exclusively with panda poop. The unique tea will set you back $260 per cup! Do you think you’d drink a cup of panda poop tea? We’re not too sure we would!
19. What are the health benefits of tea?
Tea is known to contain multiple antioxidants and has been researched extensively for its health properties.
Some of the most intriguing benefits include lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. It’s also linked to lowering the risk of depression too.
20. How many plants does it take to make a pound of tea?
Did you know that over 2,000 tea plants are needed to create one pound of tea? No wonder the tea plantations around the world take up vast expanses of land. Tea production worldwide employs over 13 million people.
21. Is slurping tea rude?
Many believe that you shouldn’t slurp your tea, however, that’s actually how it’s supposed to be tasted.
By slurping, the flavor is able to come through more strongly while simultaneously cooling the tea down. However, unlike wine, tea should never be spat out!
22. What is chai tea?
Masala chai is a popular tea beverage that has its origins in India, but has spread across the globe.
Chai is made from brewing black tea in milk with sugar and other spices. The word Chai actually comes from the Chinese word cha which simply means tea.
23. When should you celebrate tea?
Every year International Tea Day is celebrated on May 21st. This day serves as an awareness campaign for the cultural and economic significance of tea worldwide. This day is actually recognized by the United Nations.
Who wants more fun facts?
If you’re looking for some recommendations, these are a few of our favorite fact books to buy. We use these when planning fun trivia nights with family and friends!
We really hope you enjoyed all our fun facts about tea! Did you learn something new?
If there’s any tea facts we missed, you can let us know in the comments below and we’ll add them to this article!