You love tea, we love tea, the whole world loves tea. But did you know these 7 facts about the nation’s favourite drink?
1. China produces almost 30% of the world’s supply of tea.
China produces over 2 billion kilos of tea each year, they also consume the vast majority of the tea they produce.2. The UK consumes less than 2% of the world’s tea.
We may be a nation of passionate tea drinkers, but we're a small island, it's all relative.3. Chai Latte is tea, not coffee.
The word 'Chai' means tea in Hindi, and the word 'Latte', is Italian for milk. So if a Caffe Latte is a coffee with milk; then a Chai Latte is simply tea with milk. The same principle applies with a Matcha Latte which uses finely ground green tea powder and...milk.
Chai, or Masala Chai, is a specific blend of tea, and is often referred to as a spiced tea. It's a black tea, blended with a spices such as cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
4. Tea first tea arrived in the UK in the 1650's
The first reported sale of tea was at Garraway’s Coffee Shop in London in the 1650s, although the exact date varies depending on the source. It sold for an eye-watering price, the equivalent of over £1,000 per kg today.5. Tea does NOT contain more caffeine than coffee.
This often gets people confused, so here's the facts.Tea typically contains more caffeine per gram in its dry weight, however coffee often requires 2-3 times more grams per cup to brew, compared to tea. On average, a cup of tea contains half the caffeine of a cup of coffee.
A note to remember - teas and coffees come from a naturally grown plant, therefore the caffeine content fluctuates with growing conditions.
6. Over 75% of tea volume is lost during the production process.
It takes approximately 4.5kg of fresh, green tea leaves to make 1kg of finished tea. During the tea making process, a large volume of water is removed from the leaves during different stages of the process. This means that hundreds of tea leaves have been picked to produce one pack of tea.
7. Tea fuelled the industrial revolution in the UK.
Tea was offered in factories at regular intervals to help keep the workers refreshed and alert, and hence the ‘Tea Break’ was born.
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