Tea has long been used as an umbrella term for several different meals. English writer Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes meals of various kinds and provides menus for the "old-fashioned tea", the "at-home tea", the "family tea", and the "high tea".
Afternoon tea with scones, jam, and little cakes at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
Thé avec des artistes ("Tea with the artists"), Jules Grün, 1929
Afternoon tea on a silver serving tower at a Hotel in Edinburgh
Finger sandwiches: cucumber, egg, cheese, curried chicken, with prawn canapés served during tea at the Savoy in London.
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content.
Longjing green tea being infused in a gaiwan
Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from Köhler's Medicinal Plants, 1897
A 19th-century Japanese painting depicting Shennong: Chinese legends credit Shennong with the invention of tea.
Tea with ingredients, China