Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. The first is water.

All tea comes from the same plant, known as Camellia Sinensis. The different categories of tea (black, oolong, green, white) are the result of variations in the way the leaves are processed after they are harvested.

The Camellia Sinensis (tea tree) is an evergreen plant native to China. It can grow to a height of 30 feet, but is usually pruned to a height of 2-3 feet in cultivation.

As legend has it, tea was accidentally discovered around 2737 B.C by a Chinese emperor who was sitting beneath a tree waiting for his water to boil when a few leaves fell into his pot. The invention of the tea bag was also an accident. In 1904, Thomas Sullivan, and American tea importer, began sending tea samples to customers in small silk bags to avoid the high cost of using tins. Rather than cutting open the bags and pouring the tea into tea pots as Sullivan had anticipated, his customers left the tea in the sachets for steeping. Sullivan's "invention" was a hit, and orders for tea in the sample bags came rolling in. In the 1920's gauze was substituted, followed by paper.

All true teas (black, white, green, oolong) contain flavenoids, which are a type of antioxidant. Antioxidants protect healthy cells from damage-causing free radicals, which are unstable molecules thought to contribute to cancer and heart disease.

All true teas are naturally caffeinated. Caffeine levels in tea vary depending on the region where the plant is grown and how the leaves are processed. The size of the leaf, temperature of the water, and how long you brew the tea are also factors. Brewing your tea longer and using hotter water yields a more caffeinated cup. You can eliminate 97% of the caffeine if you brew your tea pod once, discard the liquor, and then brew the pod a second time and drink the resulting infusion.

According to the USDA, an 8-oz cup of brewed tea contains 25-50 mg of caffeine. Generally speaking, an 8-oz cup of green tea has about 30 milligrams of caffeine, and black tea has around 40 milligrams.

Coffee beans contain less caffeine than tea leaves when measured in their dry form. However, the caffeine content of a prepared cup of coffee is about three times that of a prepared cup of tea. Still, many tea enthusiasts claim that tea gives an equivalent caffeine boost without the jitters. Even decaffeinated tea is not 100% caffeine free. In the US, as long as the caffeine content is not more than 2.5% the product can be labeled "decaffeinated." Moreover, the decaffeination process is said to remove some of the potentially health promoting compounds found in the leaf.