Tea

Tea (Camillia sinensis), evergreen shrub, related to the camellia; also, the leaves of the plant and the beverage made from the leaves. The drink is prepared by pouring boiling water over dry processed tea leaves. Types of tea drunk include green, black (which is fermented), and oolong (which is partly fermented). Tea has been drunk in China since early times, but it was not until the early 1600s that the Dutch introduced it into Europe. Although expensive, it soon became fashionable. In the United Kingdom and the British colonies, the East India Company enjoyed a monopoly of the China tea trade until 1833; it was the attempt of the British government to levy a tax on tea imports into the American colonies that led to the Boston Tea Party of 1773. Today, the chief producers are India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Tea contains the stimulant caffeine. The term tea is also used to describe many other local drinks produced from the leaves of a vast array of plants.