After water, tea is the most consumed drink on Earth

Of every beverage humans drink, only plain water is consumed more than tea. The leaves all come from a single evergreen species, Camellia sinensis, whether the result is black, green, oolong, or white - the differences are down to how the picked leaves are withered, rolled, and oxidised.

Tea is also one of the oldest drinks still in daily use. By legend it has been known in China since about 2700 BCE, where for millennia it was a medicinal brew made by boiling fresh leaves in water; only around the 3rd century CE did it become an everyday drink.

Tea cultivation supports the livelihoods of millions of smallholder growers.

Today world tea production runs to roughly 7.3 million tonnes a year. From the gongfu pots of China to the sweet milky chai of South Asia and the builder’s brew of Britain, it is the same humble leaf, infused.