Tea is a drink made by pouring hot water over dried leaves from the tea plant, which grows mainly in warm, mountainous regions of Asia. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world.

The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) produces leaves that, depending on how they're processed, become different types of tea: black, green, white, or oolong. Black tea, the most common type in America and Britain, has a strong, rich flavor. Green tea, popular in Japan and China, tastes lighter and grassier. People often add milk, sugar, honey, or lemon to their tea.

Tea has shaped world history in remarkable ways. Britain's love of tea led to huge trade with China and India. The Boston Tea Party of 1773, when American colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to protest unfair taxes, helped spark the American Revolutionary War. Tea also connects to the tradition of afternoon tea in Britain, where people pause mid-afternoon for tea with sandwiches and pastries.

In casual conversation, people sometimes use tea as slang for gossip or interesting information, as in “spill the tea,” meaning “tell me the story.” But that's a recent, playful twist on a drink that has connected cultures and fueled conversations for centuries.