Tea Harvested Area by Country

This chart shows Tea Harvested Area by Country.

Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Asia.After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some teas, like Darjeeling and Chinese greens, have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral or grassy notes.

Tea originated in Southwest China, where it was used as a medicinal drink. It was popularized as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century.

The term herbal tea usually refers to infusions of fruit or herbs made without the tea plant, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or rooibos. These are sometimes called tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent confusion with tea made from the tea plant.

The tea industry often confusingly uses the term fruit tea to refer to what are in fact fruit-flavored black teas, not fruit teas. Tea plants are propagated from seed and cuttings; about 4 to 12 years are needed for a plant to bear seed and about three years before a new plant is ready for harvesting.In addition to a zone 8 climate or warmer, tea plants require at least 127 cm  of rainfall a year and prefer acidic soils.

Many high-quality tea plants are cultivated at elevations of up to 1,500 m  above sea level. Though at these heights the plants grow more slowly, they acquire a better flavour.

Indian tea culture is strong – the drink is the most popular hot beverage in the country. It is consumed daily in almost all homes, offered to guests, consumed in high amounts in domestic and official surroundings, and is made with the addition of milk with or without spices, and usually sweetened. At homes it is sometimes served with biscuits to be dipped in the tea and eaten before consuming the tea.