Most people know that Tea has a long history and rich heritage. But there are still a lot of things that the world at large does not know about Tea.

Here is a quick read about a few things you probably didn’t know.

1. Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Theaceae whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea.  In Sri Lanka, we call Tea – ‘Thae’. Wonder where we get that from? Now you know! 2. Plain tea or black tea (sans the addition of milk/ sugar) is calorie-free.
2. An 8-ounce cup (240 ml) of freshly brewed black tea offers barely 2 calories, which is considered negligible. The same goes for most infusions, according to the USDA Nutrient Database. As such, plain tea makes an excellent substitute for sugar-sweetened beverages.
3. Tea is a natural antioxidant, rich in vitamin B1, B2, B6, potassium, manganese, folic acid and calcium.
4. Yup, there in fact is social etiquette for adding milk to your tea and it goes something like this. Once everybody is seated, the host or hostess pours the tea and ensures that each guest’s cup is full. The hostess then offers milk (never cream, since it is too heavy for tea), sugar, or lemon. Milk and lemon must never be added to the same cup since citrus instantly spoils the milk.
5. A Tea Caddy – is still the preferred method for storing tea.
   What is a tea caddy? Once a treasured and valuable item – it was kept under lock and key, with the lady of the housekeeping guard of the keys to the caddy in order to keep its precious contents of loose tea leaves safe. Caddies were, and still are, airtight so they hold the teas’ flavour in.
6. According to the Telegraph (Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/qi/7594234/QI-Quite-Interesting-facts-about-tea.html?fb) in the olden days due to the high demand for tea – many tea drinkers would mix twigs, sawdust and other impurities to make their limited supply of tea go a long way. In fact, in 1770 one village near London was quoted as producing more than 20 tons of tea a year which included ash leaves boiled with sheep dung (to give it colour).
   Cut to modern-day, and we now have very strict rules regarding the quality of tea and does not allow for the addition of any impurities. Tea Producers and Exporters have to meet the ISO 3720:2011 standard, which specifies that parts of a named plant are suitable for making black tea for consumption, indicating that tea from that source has been produced in accordance with good production practice.
7. Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey was born in 1764. According to his government biography, “he reputedly received a gift, probably a diplomatic present, of tea that was flavoured with bergamot oil. It became so popular that he asked British tea merchants to recreate it.” Cut to present day, and we’ve all had a cup of Earl Grey – named after Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey.
8. There are more than 3,000 different types of tea! Flavour of teas, like wines, depends on where they grow as well as the type of bush. Teas you buy are sometimes made up of different sorts blended together and a record 3,000 have been named by the Eden Project. View more here: https://www.edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone/plant-profiles/tea
9. Tea is the national drink of India, Iran and Afghanistan, Taiwan, Egypt, Morocco, UK & North Ireland, Tunisia, Hong-Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh and of course Sri Lanka Tea was actually confirmed as the national drink of India in 2013; it is the national drink of Iran and usually served with cubed sugar (Ghand); as well as is the national drink of Sri Lanka, UK & North Ireland, Tunisia, Hong-Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh. It is Afghanistan’s unofficial national drink and is offered to guests within moments of arrival for an official meeting or a social get-together. Variations of tea such as Boba (bubble) Tea is the national drink of Taiwan; black tea is the national drink of Egypt; Morocco’s national drink is Morocco Mint Tea. It is also one of 2 national drinks in the Maldives, along with ‘Raa’.

10. Ceylon tea became one of the most popular teas in the world thanks to ‘Devastating Emily’. In a very few years the blight known by colonial English planters as “Devastating Emily”, and later its scientific name Himileia Vastatrix, destroyed the coffee economy of the Island. In the 19th century, Ceylon was mainly known for coffee, but James Taylor introduced tea plants from India just around the time that a coffee rust called ‘Devastating Emily’ was ravaging the coffee plantations.