The History of Tea — From a Chinese Legend to the World's Favourite Drink

After water, tea is the most consumed drink on Earth — more than two billion cups are poured every single day. This documentary follows tea's extraordinary five-thousand-year journey: from the legend of the emperor Shennong and the leaves that fell into his pot, to Lu Yu's Classic of Tea, the book that turned a medicine into an art, and the Zen monks who carried tea to Japan and refined it into the tea ceremony. Watch tea sail to Europe with Portuguese missionaries and the Dutch East India Company, conquer Britain so completely that smugglers supplied half the nation, and then ignite a revolution when colonists hurled 342 chests of it into Boston Harbour. Follow the scandalous sequel — opium traded for tea, two wars, and a Scottish botanist in disguise who stole China's greatest secret — before Assam and Darjeeling build a rival tea empire, and two happy accidents give the world iced tea and the tea bag. This is the complete history of tea. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to History Lens 00:05 Shennong and the First Tea — Ancient China 01:11 Lu Yu and the Classic of Tea 02:04 Tea Reaches Japan — The Tea Ceremony 02:57 Tea Comes to Europe — Portugal and Holland 03:48 Britain Falls for Tea 04:37 The Boston Tea Party 05:27 Opium for Tea — The Trade That Led to War 06:15 Robert Fortune Steals China's Tea 07:05 Assam and Darjeeling — India's Tea Empire 07:54 The Tea Bag and Iced Tea Accidents 08:47 Tea Today — The World's Second Drink #history #tea #documentary #historyoftea Subscribe to History Lens for more fascinating documentaries about the hidden histories behind everyday things!