More tea is drunk, worldwide, than any other beverage- except water. From China to England, from India to America, has acquired a vast multitude of followers, leaving its mark on every civilization. Each day, over one and a half billion cups of tea are consumed on the planet. This success is due to the fact that tea has been able to adapt itself to the cultures it has encountered. For unlike modern soft drinks that sweep across the planet with the help of colossal advertising campaigns, tea has never been perceived as a threat to a way of life, has never been synonymous with uniformity. It is not generally a ready made beverage consumed straight from a can or bottle. To the contrary, tea requires a sometimes lengthy rite of preparation, stimulating an inventiveness that is conducive to the free expression of individual taste. Many different attitudes and cultures are thus encountered along the route that leads from a steaming bowl of cha with yak butter to a tall glass of iced tea with lemon from ceremonial Matcha to the au lait.

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