Tea Tuesdays

Resham Gellatly and Zach Marks spent eight months traveling through India, meeting with hundreds of India's chai wallahs — or tea vendors — who highlight the country's culture and diversity.

Boba is the Taiwanese beverage that allows you to chew your drink. In its latest incarnations (think horchata and cocktail bobas), it's playing ambassador to a whole host of other foods and trends.

British tea drinking is on the decline. U.K. leaders might have welcomed such news in the 1970s, when the length of the tea break became a major point of political contention.

In 1936, the surrealist Meret Oppenheim wrapped a teacup, saucer and spoon in fur. In the age of Freud, a gastro-sexual interpretation was inescapable. Even today, the work triggers intense reactions.

In the 1700s, steep taxes made tea too pricey for most. Smugglers like the notorious Hawkhurst Gang helped feed England's growing taste for tea, operating with a mix of popular support and fear.

Archaeologists found the 2,100-year-old tea leaves in the tomb of a Han dynasty emperor, suggesting tea was highly valued. But was the emperor drinking tea as we do, or using it as medicine?

In some fancy hotels, Christmas tea has become a refined respite for harried shoppers. But the tradition's roots are much rowdier: efforts to fight public drunkenness.

This week marks the 242nd anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. This year is the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland. If you'll follow us down the rabbit hole, you'll find some surprising links.

Hot or cold, in a soda, hot toddy or beer — people are finding all sorts of ways to imbibe cascara. It's a caffeinated, tea-like drink with a fruity flavor made from dried coffee cherries.

Dozens of green tea drinks and pills for sale claim to help you burn more fat. But there's scant evidence that green tea, or any other food or drink product, can have a lasting impact on metabolism.