SIP Magazine Feature: 'Chai, Tii or Tea?'

Mar 31, 2025

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by Cerys Jones

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Ever wondered how tea is consumed in different countries, or what vessels are used? Check out Cerys Jones’s very own map of all things tea.

Our names for this now common drink are  inextricably linked to historical land and sea trade routes. I came across a map by historian Kelly Macquire and cartographer and educator Simeon Netchev, who explains: “There are plenty of variants of this map floating on the internet. Some are wrong, others not. I thought it would be interesting to develop it as far as I can.” He has gotten lots of feedback, mostly on social media, since the map was published. “It’s been having its own life since then. At the end of the day, it’s a collaborative project.”

Simeon notes, “Today, it is something you buy from the supermarket casually, but it (tea) has been a very big cultural driver.”

This ancient, caffeinated concoction made from the dried leaves of the Camellia Sinensis, is known as shay in Arabic, chai in Urdu and chay in Russian. In Javanese, Māori and French, it is respectively known as teh, tii and thé. It is drunk in kulhars in India, hayati in Morocco and yunomi in Japan. You’ve probably worked out by now that I’m referring to tea, the good old cuppa. But why do countries on opposite sides of the globe have such linguistic similarities when speaking about tea? What does Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Russia have in common that Java, New Zealand and France do not?

Simeon's map visually represents the evolution of tea’s names as the product has been traded across continents and centuries. Tea originating from central China traded via land routes such as the historical Silk Roads, were referred to as tcha, chay or chai, all derived from the Mandarin, cha. Similarly, tea sourced from southern and eastern China, known as tê in Min Chinese (Hokkien/Fujian Province), was traded mostly via maritime routes. Countries on these sea routes, such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the majority of Western Europe adopted the Min root for the word, hence names like teh and tii.

I was inspired to create my own visual exploration (see below), based on Simeon’s research, combined with how vessels and cultural practices have evolved over time. 

Will Battle, founder of Fine Tea Merchants and author of numerous books including The World Tea Encyclopaedia, (£30.00, Matador) comments on the cultural and social importance of the global tea trade. “It is a wonderful trade. Not without its problems, like any trade that sources products from the global south, but it’s a trade that has great capacity to do good and bring people together.”

Will discusses the importance of the drinking vessel when consuming tea, as he sips an infusion from a Dutch glass mug. He likes to see the black tea but says “It doesn’t look as nice if you use tea with milk in there somehow. I do think it has a bearing both for glassware, porcelain, or earthenware”.

Vessels not only affect the way we experience a drink, but each one is also better suited to a particular kind of tea, influenced by factors such as the variety, addition of milk or sugar, and where the tea is sourced from.

Will says: “That’s the thing that we all need to remember. Everybody’s tea preparation tradition works for them.”

You can find Simeon Netchev’s incredible map (and the inspiration behind the one on the next page) on worldhistory.org. Simeon also regularly posts his maps on his Instagram @simeon.netchev

Will Battle’s The World Tea Encyclopaedia is available to buy online. A third edition is due to be released this summer.

Image credit: Cerys Jones

Zoom in to explore how tea is consumed around the world. Larger, extended captions to accompany the map are also included below:

Türkiye

Vessel: Ince belli (small glasses)

Popular serving method: black, accompanied with sweets, usually baklava.

Will says: “Turkey is actually an enormous tea producer. I really love the Turkish consuming tradition. I can’t wait to have their baklava with a cup of their Turkish tea.That’s perfect for Turkish tea. And if I were to serve one of my (English) teas in their tradition, it just wouldn’t taste right. It tastes too strong and it wouldn’t work. But a Turkish tea works perfectly in that setting.”

Germany- East Frisia

Vessel: Dainty, porcelain cups. One signals they are done by putting the spoon in the cup.

Serving: strong, malty black tea, with a kluntje (large sugar crystal) at the bottom of the cup. The tea is poured over it and then cream is added around the edge of the cup to create “clouds.”

Will talks about the tradition of East Frisian tea. “They drink really nice Assam tea with a sort of bit of sugar, and a bit of cream on the top. It’s a really interesting, unique tradition and they drink lots of it as well. They’re big consumers.” East Frisia is a region in Germany, bordering the Netherlands.

England

Vessels: cup and saucer

Popular serving method: with milk and sugar as desired, often afternoon or high tea, although many brits have a all times of day

Will reflects: “It’s like an important meal of the day. Somebody from outside may say drinking tea is just the hot liquid with leaves.”

Simeon agrees: “It is interesting how something like drinking hot water, basically, is a meal.”

Afternoon tea and high tea are both renowned British tea traditions, although Will stresses the difference between them. Afternoon tea refers to the social gathering where tea is accompanied with various assortments like cake and sandwiches. High tea is a more working-class evening meal, also known as supper.

USA

Vessel: glass or tumbler

Popular serving method: sweet, iced tea more common than hot tea here. Frequently garnished with lemon, this form of tea is most popular in the Southern United States.

Morocco

Vessel: berrad teapot and hayati (decorated glasses).

Popular serving method: green tea, fresh mint and sugar are brewed in a berrad. It is crucial to pour the tea from a height to aerate it.

Argentina

Vessel: gourd or calabash and straw

Popular serving method: Yerba mate, traditional caffeinated drink that comes from the ilex paraguariensis plant, not camellia sinensis.

The flavour of Yerba mate resembles that of the green tea. It can be served with milk, fruit juice or brown sugar.

Although this is not tea from the traditional camellia sinensis, it is considered a form of tea by many.

Kenya

Vessels: glasses or mugs

Popular serving method: chai, tea with milk and sugar

“Another global superpower is Kenya.” Will explains, the seasonality and geographic location making it an ideal growing environment. “This and the climate come together to create the perfect place for growing tea in many respects.” He says. “Just growing tea all year round is therefore proven to be a good smallholder crop. And it’s proven to be ideal from the perspective of buying. The tea produced is bright, golden, and it works well pretty much everywhere. For that reason, Kenya’s proving to be a very successful place to grow tea.”

China

Popular serving method: Gongfu Cha ceremony, a traditional tea preparation method which literally translates to “making tea with skill”. Teas may be infused more than once, and the emphasis is on careful extraction of the flavours and nuances.

Vessel: small, handless cups

Will explains: “China is the biggest tea producing country and an enormous consuming market in their own right, chiefly of green tea. Tea is something that’s treated with immense respect. You will often brew the same tea more than once in the Gongfu Cha ritual.

Chinese Zisha (purple clay) teapots.

“The idea is that you never wash them out and the inside isn’t glazed.” Will says. This is so the flavour of the tea will mature in the teapot after every use. “You might have one for oolongs, one for your green teas, and the inside of the pot slowly acquires a coating of tea and you get this lovely quality.”

Russia

Vessels: Samovar to brew, porcelain tea cups

Popular serving method: serve tea involves brewing zavarka, a strong concentrate of loose tea, then diluting it with hot water in a cup. Typically served with sugar and sometimes jam stirred in. The Samorva is used on special occasions. Accompanying snacks include crunchy bread-like rings called sushki.

Iran

Vessels: Estakan (thin-waisted glass)

Popular serving method: to sweeten, holding a sugar cube or rock candy between the teeth while sipping, rather than stirring it into the tea.

 Japan

Vessel: Chawan (tea bowl) and whisk

Popular serving method: (Chanoyu/Chadō) matcha tea ceremony, a traditional Japanese method for preparation and savouring of the tea. The ritual is centred on respect and mindfulness.

Indonesia

Vessels: Some Javanese cities such as Tegal, have traditionally brewed and served the tea in clay tea sets, known as Teh Poci. 

Popular serving method: the Teh Tubruk method is a traditional brewing style where loose black tea leaves are boiled with sugar in a pot, without straining.

Sri Lanka

Vessel: glass

Popular serving method: Ceylon tea served with a splash of milk, and sugar, served with snacks.

Will explains Sri Lanka is a perfect demonstration of “the impact of altitude on tea and on how it tastes”. He explains the difference between the lowland areas near Galle, and the high-altitude areas: daily temperature differences between them are like that of London and in Tehran. But yet they’re very close to each other. The speed of growth is also different.” He also explains that the teas grown on the West and East coasts taste very different to each other, due to different monsoon seasons within the same island.

“I love that about Sri Lanka, that you can get this great variety within such a small, beautiful, incredible island.”

India

Vessel: kulhar, chai glass

Popular serving method: masala chai (with spices and milk) or simple chai (without spice)

“India is a massively significant tea producing country. I sometimes think of the Indian tea drinking tradition as being a meal in a cup, with the strength and the body and the spice mix and the different options: do you use Buffalo milk? Do you use cow milk? Different parts of India might use different milks. We generalise about the way that tea is drunk in India. But that’s an oversimplification. Darjeeling and Assam (located in North Eastern India) are two iconic global tea producers, but the teas they make are almost chalk and cheese.” Will explains.