Tea has been around a long time. Myth has the beginning of tea as a beverage dating back to about 2737 B.C. in China. Although long thought to be older than beer and wine, recent research shows tea to be about as old as beer but wine, as a fermented beverage, is older. Tea is, however, older than coffee.

In addition to being old, tea is a very popular product. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the yield in 2006 was about 3.6 million tonnes. When you consider it takes only about two grams of tea to make a cup of tea, you can see we are swimming in it.

Do you need to worry about the caffeine in your tea? Most teas have less than coffee but it does still contain caffeine and varies from about 8 to 110 mg per cup. As you can see that is a wide range. Where your cup of tea will fall depends upon mostly the type of tea and how long it is steeped.

Drinking tea will also provide you with some health benefits. While drinking, you are ingesting antioxidants which have been shown to protect people from Alzheimer's disease per the Phytotherapy Research magazine. You are also getting minerals which are essential for growing bones and homeostasis of the body. This doesn't even count what the vitamins do for you.

However, most people couldn't care less about the health benefits or how many people drink tea or even the history. We simply love a good cup of tea or a nice glass of iced tea. It soothes away the stresses of the day or centers a quiet conversation. Tea is great.

Throughout time, tea drinking has been both a personal delight for individuals as well as the center of social ceremonies. The tea dance soon followed the opening of the first tea shop in London in the late 1800s. It has even been the center of political unrest as the Boston Tea Party is perhaps the best example.

Even though East and West can seldom agree on anything, one thing we all do agree upon is that wonderful cup of tea. It is savored both in the northern and southern hemispheres of the world and is the center of many social gatherings all around the world. It is even way of life in some places.

You can brew your tea in a clay pot or a floral Staffordshire teapot. You can use tea bags or loose tea. You can serve it in glass cups or the finest china., But one thing the many, many people around the world who drink tea know. Tea is irresistible.