China brought tea and tea culture to the world about 5,000 years ago and there are many legends about its discovery. One narrative tells of a Chinese emperor whose passion was gathering herbal remedies. One day he tried an herb and was poisoned. He lay down and prepared to die, but quite unexpectedly a dew drops from a tea plant fell into his open mouth. He also chewed the leaves of this strange plant and felt better and after making and drinking infusion brewed from it he completely recovered and regained his strength and physical energy.Tea first was considered as a medicinal beverage, then was also used by monks in sacred rituals. In the 6th Century tea had become a popular drink among the prosperous upper classes and by the 10th Century it was consumed by everyone in China, soon thereafter conquering the world.
