Although tea is consumed everywhere, it is produced only in certain regions where the climate and the soil are ideal. The foremost tea regions are in China, Japan, Taiwan, India and Sri Lanka. China and Japan produce some of the finest green tea in the world. Taiwan has some of the best oolongs. India and Sri Lanka are the home of some of the best black tea found anywhere.

The tea plant was first cultivated centuries ago in China, and from those ancient tea estates came the world's first teas. This agricultural effort gave rise to what became one of our major commodities. Today, as always, far more people drink tea than drink coffee--in fact, tea is a close second to water as the world's most commonly consumed beverage--and as we enter the twenty-first century, the tea business is exploding with expanding markets, including a small and healthy specialty market.

Most tea is not sold as premium tea. The majority is the ordinary tea drunk daily from London to Bombay with such casual acceptance that tea drinkers think little about it's qualities. Some people are fortunate enough to live in places where the tea sold for everyday consumption is first-rate; others are not so lucky and content themselves with weakly flavored hot water.

To find more more about each major tea region of the world click on a country in the map above, or use the navigation below:

China | India | Taiwan | Japan | Sri Lanka | Other Tea Producing Countries