Tea has been used as money, as medicine, as a reason to go to war and as an excuse to stop working for ten minutes. This is a collection of short histories and curious episodes about the world’s most consumed drink: how it was found, how it traveled, who tried to ban it, who smuggled it, and how it ended up as a daily habit for billions of people who never think about it.

What is inside

• Fifteen chapters, each one a self-contained story
• Five thousand years, from a legend in China to the mug on your desk
• The trade routes, the bans, the thefts and the accidents
• Written to be read in any order

It is not a technical manual and not a health guide. It is a book for curious readers who want to know the story behind their cup.

If you would rather start with the subject than the book, the full guide to tea covers the plant, the processing and the regions.

Next in the collection: The Curious Unknown History of Chocolate.