The story of tea begins in China. According to legend, in 2737 BC, the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water when some leaves from the tree blew into the water. Shen Nung, a renowned herbalist, decided to try the infusion that his servant had accidentally created. The tree was a Camellia sinensis, and the resulting drink was what we now call tea.

Tea was utilized as a medicine, and it took a few centuries for tea to become a drink. The Tang Dynasty (618 AD – 906 AD) marked the rise in tea consumption, with recorded taxes placed on the plant. And during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD), Chinese farmers began to roast or ferment tea leaves, so that they could be stored for longer, and traded with other kingdoms.

Tea became a popular drink in Buddhist monasteries after the caffeine proved to keep the monks awake during long hours of meditation. For this reason, many monasteries cultivated vast tea fields. Lu Yu, the author of The Book of Tea, was an orphan brought up and educated in a monastery. It is likely that his knowledge of growing up surrounded by tea inspired his book written during the Tang Dynasty. In The Book of Tea, Lu Yu recorded a detailed account of ways to cultivate and prepare tea, tea drinking customs, the best water for tea brewing, and different categories of tea.

Pakistan inherited its tea culture from the time of British India, and tea usually came from Sylhet in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) until 1971. Tea time is common in every Pakistani household. you can find tea shops easily in any city in Pakistan, where people sit together and enjoy tea with friends and families.