Which country grows the most tea? The answer is India. It grows three times as much as China. Which country drinks the most tea? It’s neither China nor Japan. It’s Great Britain.
In the wild, tea plants may be 30 feet tall. But a plant grown for market is pruned. Pruning keeps the plant only three or four feet tall. This is an easy height for tea picking. Only the two top leaves and bud of each new shoot are picked. So to make money, tea plantations must be huge.
In general, there are two kinds of tea. Black tea and green tea. Black tea is fermented. In the process, the tea loses nearly all of its healthy qualities. Green tea is steamed right after the leaves are picked. Green tea retains its healthy qualities. For example, it may prevent heart disease.
How did we get tea bag? The answer: by accident. Tea merchants used to send samples in tin boxes. This was costly. One merchant thought of a cheaper way. He sent samples in small silk bags. Customers would cut open the bag. They would brew the leaves as usual. One customer put the bag into a pot. Then he just poured hot water over it. And the tea bag was born.
Shen Nong was the first to drink tea. (Shen was a Chinese emperor.) This was about 2737 B.C. Shen had bad digestion. So he drank several cups of hot water daily. One day something happened. Leaves from a wild tea tree fell into the hot water pot. The next cup was poured. The water was now colored. Shen sipped it. He liked it. He drank it all. Shen was proud of his new drink. He served it to his guests. Word spread. People thought this way. Tea is good enough for the Emperor. So it must be good enough for the people. Tea became the drink of China.
【小题1】The best title for this passage should be ________________.