Prologue: Tea : leaf of awareness -- A botanical excursion : the rivals of tea -- The heartstrings of national pride : Southeast Asia and the origins of tea -- A slave of yoghurt : tea in the 1st to 6th centuries -- Go have some tea! : the Tang dynasty -- Cloudy feet in a hare's fur cup : the Song dynasty -- Buying peace with the celestial beverage : the tea and horse trade -- The taste of zen is tea : Japan in the 12th to 15th centuries -- Sen Rikyū the tea master : the perfection of the Japanese tea ceremony -- Han Xin counts the soldiers : tea in the Ming and Qing -- How the Dalai Lama got his name : brick tea in Tibet and Mongolia -- We invented the samovar! : the Russian caravan tea trade -- Conquering new lands : the Islamic world of tea -- Approved by physicians : the advent of tea in Europe -- The progress of this famous plant : tea and the opium wars -- A master teapot maker's midnight ride : tea in America -- Finest tippy golden flowery orange pekoe : India and Ceylon in the 19th century -- The heyday of the clipper ships : British tea -- Vignettes from the global village : tea in our time -- Appendix A: The autobiography of instructor Lu -- Appendix B: A debate between tea and beer -- Appendix C: A genealogy of words for tea.