Tea, together with coffee, is the second most popular drink in the world after water. In fact every day an average of 27milion cups of tea are consumed around the world. And each cup carries a different story. Made of people, places, nature, cultures and traditions. All in just that one cup of tea. Think about it!

But where does tea come from? How is it produced? Who produces it? Have you ever asked yourself these questions?

The origins of tea

There are many different legends around the discovery of tea, the most famous of which brings us in China 5000 years ago. The Emperor Shen Nung considered today the founder of the Chinese agriculture and medicine, is said to have been the first to discover tea and its amazing benefits by pure chance.

The producer countries

And today China is the top tea producing nations (2,44 millions of tons) followed by India (1,27 millions of tons), Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Kenya. These 5 countries alone produce 77% of all teas in the world and export 80% of their product worldwide. Other producing countries go from Malawi, Ruanda, Uganda and Tanzania in Africa to Brasil and Argentina in South America, to Japan, Iran, Turkey, and Russia. Today even the UK has recently become a small tea producing nation!

The consumer countries

But who are the main tea drinkers in the world? Again its the Chinese, who drink 2,1 tons of tea in one year, followed by the Indians, Turkish, Russians, North Americans, Pakistan, Japanese and the British. Italy doesn’t even appear within the first 15 hot tea drinking countries.

Why?

But let’s come to the most important question… why drink tea everyday? why is tea such an essential part of everyday life for millions of people around the globe?

There is more than one answer to this question of course. But here is ours…. First of all because tea is good for our body. If chosen with care, following our personal needs and prepared accordingly, tea is very healthy. Tea is refreshing, thirst quenching, invigorating, relaxing, draining , soothing and is known for its many benefits.

Secondly tea is good for our spirit. Preparing tea, drinking tea, sharing tea is a treat for us and for those we share it with. It gives us the chance to stop for a moment in this very busy world and enjoy a small yet priceless gratification.

Which is made possible thanks to the many people who in faraway countries take care and nurture the tea plants, pluck the tea leaves and process them. Each sip of our tea carries with it different cultures and traditions, which often date back thousands of years, and that are still unknown to most of us and yet are part of so many lives.

Babingtons

Like ours at Babingtons, where for 125 years, every day we have been serving teas to our customers from all around the world. Can you imagine how many pots of tea have been served since Babingtons’ opening in 1893? Millions! And each of the teas we serve is carefully selected following a stricht process which tells our story and that of the many people who make this possible. Today we want to celebrate this amazing journey.

Don’t you?