8 mind blowing facts you didn't know about tea

July 2, 2015 7:20 PM

Its easy to assume that teas have been around for ages, especially when you have no particular interest in them.

Tea plantation

Its easy to assume that teas have been around for ages, especially when you have no particular interest in them.

Truth is, in this day and age, there are at least a thousand different kinds of tea out there, more than you may have imagined.

Fact is, very people know this and even fewer care.

We will help you change that.

Here are 5 mind blowing facts about tea we are ready to bet you never knew about!

1) Tea is one of the most popular drinks around the world, unique to different cultures.

2) Archaeologists have discovered, after 10 years of analysis, that people have been brewing tea for over 6000 years.

3) There's actually a Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences.

4) Experts found 7,000 year-old tea relics at a site on the same mountain they have been escavating.

5) Tea is believed to be first brewed in China for medicinal reasons although people soon began drinking it to refresh the body and clear the mind.

6) Emperor Shennong, whose name means Divine Farmer, is credited with the discovery of tea in China.

7) Myth states that Shennong had decided to take some rest under a Camellia tree, where he boiled some water to drink. Dried leaves from the tree began to fall into the hot water and infused to make the first pot of tea.

8) It wasn't until the Tang Dynasty came to power in 608 BC that tea became a drink to be enjoyed by all social classes.

So you might want to look at tea a little more differently as well as respect its rich heritage.

See this clip for a documentary on the revolution of brewing tea.