0:00:07.261,0:00:11.090 During a long day spent roaming the forest[br]in search of edible grains and herbs, 0:00:11.090,0:00:16.839 the weary divine farmer Shen Nung[br]accidentally poisoned himself 72 times. 0:00:16.839,0:00:19.139 But before the poisons could end his life, 0:00:19.139,0:00:21.620 a leaf drifted into his mouth. 0:00:21.620,0:00:24.130 He chewed on it and it revived him, 0:00:24.130,0:00:26.701 and that is how we discovered tea. 0:00:26.701,0:00:29.562 Or, so an ancient legend goes, at least. 0:00:29.562,0:00:31.461 Tea doesn't actually cure poisonings, 0:00:31.461,0:00:33.082 but the story of Shen Nung, 0:00:33.082,0:00:35.540 the mythical Chinese inventor [br]of agriculture, 0:00:35.540,0:00:38.682 highlights tea's importance [br]to Ancient China. 0:00:38.682,0:00:41.811 Archaeological evidence suggests tea[br]was first cultivated there 0:00:41.811,0:00:44.271 as early as 6,000 years ago, 0:00:44.271,0:00:48.535 or 1,500 years before the pharaohs built[br]the Great Pyramids of Giza. 0:00:48.535,0:00:50.080 That original Chinese tea plant 0:00:50.080,0:00:52.952 is the same type that's grown [br]around the world today, 0:00:52.952,0:00:55.631 yet it was originally consumed[br]very differently. 0:00:55.631,0:00:59.291 It was eaten as a vegetable[br]or cooked with grain porridge. 0:00:59.291,0:01:02.751 Tea only shifted from food[br]to drink 1,500 years ago 0:01:02.751,0:01:06.252 when people realized that a combination[br]of heat and moisture 0:01:06.252,0:01:10.992 could create a complex and varied taste[br]out of the leafy green. 0:01:10.992,0:01:14.032 After hundreds of years of variations[br]to the preparation method, 0:01:14.032,0:01:16.101 the standard became to heat tea, 0:01:16.101,0:01:17.992 pack it into portable cakes, 0:01:17.992,0:01:19.706 grind it into powder, 0:01:19.706,0:01:21.203 mix with hot water, 0:01:21.203,0:01:25.634 and create a beverage called matcha. 0:01:25.634,0:01:30.141 Matcha became so popular that a distinct[br]Chinese tea culture emerged. 0:01:30.141,0:01:32.192 Tea was the subject of books and poetry, 0:01:32.192,0:01:33.983 the favorite drink of emperors, 0:01:33.983,0:01:35.853 and a medium for artists. 0:01:35.853,0:01:38.703 They would draw extravagant pictures[br]in the foam of the tea, 0:01:38.703,0:01:42.932 very much like the espresso art[br]you might see in coffee shops today. 0:01:42.932,0:01:45.373 In the 9th century [br]during the Tang Dynasty, 0:01:45.373,0:01:49.354 a Japanese monk brought the first[br]tea plant to Japan. 0:01:49.354,0:01:53.243 The Japanese eventually developed[br]their own unique rituals around tea, 0:01:53.243,0:01:56.394 leading to the creation [br]of the Japanese tea ceremony. 0:01:56.394,0:01:59.034 And in the 14th century [br]during the Ming Dynasty, 0:01:59.034,0:02:01.284 the Chinese emperor [br]shifted the standard 0:02:01.284,0:02:04.845 from tea pressed into cakes[br]to loose leaf tea. 0:02:04.845,0:02:08.754 At that point, China still held a[br]virtual monopoly on the world's tea trees, 0:02:08.754,0:02:12.416 making tea one of three [br]essential Chinese export goods, 0:02:12.416,0:02:14.855 along with porcelain and silk. 0:02:14.855,0:02:17.806 This gave China a great deal of power[br]and economic influence 0:02:17.806,0:02:20.585 as tea drinking spread around the world. 0:02:20.585,0:02:23.623 That spread began in earnest[br]around the early 1600s 0:02:23.623,0:02:27.195 when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe[br]in large quantities. 0:02:27.195,0:02:30.725 Many credit Queen Catherine of Braganza,[br]a Portuguese noble woman, 0:02:30.725,0:02:33.785 for making tea popular with[br]the English aristocracy 0:02:33.785,0:02:37.915 when she married King Charles II in 1661. 0:02:37.915,0:02:41.834 At the time, Great Britain was in the[br]midst of expanding its colonial influence 0:02:41.834,0:02:44.766 and becoming the new dominant world power. 0:02:44.766,0:02:48.586 And as Great Britain grew,[br]interest in tea spread around the world. 0:02:48.586,0:02:53.195 By 1700, tea in Europe sold for ten times[br]the price of coffee 0:02:53.195,0:02:56.287 and the plant was still [br]only grown in China. 0:02:56.287,0:02:57.844 The tea trade was so lucrative 0:02:57.844,0:03:00.531 that the world's fastest sailboat, [br]the clipper ship, 0:03:00.531,0:03:04.926 was born out of intense competition[br]between Western trading companies. 0:03:04.926,0:03:07.495 All were racing to bring their tea[br]back to Europe first 0:03:07.495,0:03:09.776 to maximize their profits. 0:03:09.776,0:03:13.656 At first, Britain paid[br]for all this Chinese tea with silver. 0:03:13.656,0:03:15.220 When that proved too expensive, 0:03:15.220,0:03:19.689 they suggested trading tea [br]for another substance, opium. 0:03:19.689,0:03:22.108 This triggered a public health problem[br]within China 0:03:22.108,0:03:24.796 as people became addicted to the drug. 0:03:24.796,0:03:28.038 Then in 1839, a Chinese official [br]ordered his men 0:03:28.038,0:03:30.547 to destroy massive [br]British shipments of opium 0:03:30.547,0:03:33.927 as a statement against [br]Britain's influence over China. 0:03:33.927,0:03:37.598 This act triggered the First Opium War[br]between the two nations. 0:03:37.598,0:03:41.488 Fighting raged up and down [br]the Chinese coast until 1842 0:03:41.488,0:03:45.437 when the defeated Qing Dynasty ceded[br]the port of Hong Kong to the British 0:03:45.437,0:03:48.131 and resumed trading on unfavorable terms. 0:03:48.131,0:03:52.077 The war weakened China's global standing[br]for over a century. 0:03:52.077,0:03:56.818 The British East India company also[br]wanted to be able to grow tea themselves 0:03:56.818,0:03:58.948 and further control the market. 0:03:58.948,0:04:01.391 So they commissioned [br]botanist Robert Fortune 0:04:01.391,0:04:05.108 to steal tea from China [br]in a covert operation. 0:04:05.108,0:04:07.479 He disguised himself [br]and took a perilous journey 0:04:07.479,0:04:09.458 through China's mountainous tea regions, 0:04:09.458,0:04:12.428 eventually smuggling tea trees [br]and experienced tea workers 0:04:12.428,0:04:14.858 into Darjeeling, India. 0:04:14.858,0:04:17.039 From there, [br]the plant spread further still, 0:04:17.039,0:04:21.389 helping drive tea's rapid growth[br]as an everyday commodity. 0:04:21.389,0:04:25.699 Today, tea is the second most consumed[br]beverage in the world after water, 0:04:25.699,0:04:27.449 and from sugary Turkish rize tea, 0:04:27.449,0:04:29.440 to salty Tibetan butter tea, 0:04:29.440,0:04:32.041 there are almost as many ways[br]of preparing the beverage 0:04:32.041,0:04:34.299 as there are cultures on the globe.