15 December, is international tea day.

International tea day – December 15
Winter, outside the window snow, chilly wind. And you are at the laptop (or with a smartphone in your hand), warm, with a mug of fragrant tea. Beauty! December 15 is a great opportunity to say thank you to this drink for a cozy evening.

1. Tea plant Camellia Sinensis Plant Camellia Sinensis is the source material for green and black tea. Camellia sinensis grows in the mountain forests of South-East Asia. 2. Tea-for pleasure And health at first tea was expensive, and the drink was used only for medical purposes. Ginger, onion, mint, orange were added to it. Knowing about the many antioxidants contained in the famous drink, we use tea to improve health, for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The tea Bush, Camellia sinensis, can yield a harvest for 50 years. 3. The most popular tea According to the first mention, tea appeared in the IV century ad. And, of course, everyone knows that this happened in East Asia. If we talk about modern China, now there is a tea boom in the city of Annecy, where the most popular tea with the same name is grown today. The Chinese city became the center of cultivation of the most popular tea.
2. One plant and different varieties of tea until the XIX century, China stubbornly kept the secret that different varieties of tea are made from one plant. In Europe for many centuries believed that each tea has its own special way. According to statistics, 75% of the tea leaf turns into black tea, and 25% - into green. From 500 grams of leaf tea you can brew about 200 cups.
3. Buddha's eyelashes in Japanese use one word to refer to the concepts of "tea" and "eyelash". According to legend, the Buddha cut off his eyelashes so that they do not interfere in night meditation, and buried them in the ground. In the morning there grew a tea Bush. Good tea has miraculous properties.
4. Tea in the us In 1904, Richard Blechynden invented iced tea. In the U.S. 80% of tea
   it is served as a chilled drink, as an alternative to homemade lemonade. Especially popular for its aroma and taste tea Te Guan Yin. Tea is the most popular drink in the world, beer is the next most popular. 7. How did tea bags Tea bags were also invented by the Americans. According to legend, Thomas Sullivan, a supplier from new York, noticed that tea in metal cans is quite expensive for consumers. Creative tea bag in the form of fish. In the early twentieth century, he began to sell tea in paper bags. One day his client accidentally dropped the package into the water, and everyone found that the glass turned out exactly the same tea. 8. How tea is produced the technology of making tea has not changed for centuries. The upper leaves of tea bushes Camellia Sinensis are usually collected by hand. Then during the day they are dried, and to improve the flavor rolled between metal rollers. After leave to oxidize in the open air. Only then the leaves are subjected to heating and final drying. As mentioned earlier, green and black tea is obtained from the same plant, differ only in ways of processing raw materials. To obtain green tea, the leaves are gently dried, then packaged and sent for sale. To obtain a special taste and color of black tea, the leaves are dried and twisted, subjected to fermentation. The price per kilogram of the most expensive tea reaches $685,000. 9. The largest tea plantations are owned by China, India, Sri Lanka (or Ceylon), Japan and Taiwan. High-mountain tea plantations. 10. Decaf tea? In a Cup of tea caffeine is twice less than in a Cup of coffee. By the way, it can be removed from the drink – up to 80%, if you drain the boiling water, which poured green tea leaves for 30 seconds, and brew the tea again.