TEA DRINKING: ORIGIN, PERCEPTIONS, HABITS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ASSAM, ITS TRIBES, AND ROLE OF TOCKLAI

摘要

Tea is the most popular drink in the planet and it occupies that position only after water. Its first use is believed to be about 5,000 years back and has remained popular as the most pleasurable and efficacious beverage in the world. Tea drinking has rather been gaining further acceptance now due to its natural health benefiting properties. The heritage drink has withstood the test of time and it may well be the drink of the future. The journey of the beverage through the passage of time has been glorious and fascinating. The origin of tea in China, myths associated with it, spread across the world, perceptions, culture and habits, discovery in wild forests of Assam, and tea drinking habit of the tribes of the state are all amazing like the mystic brew itself.