At last count, the Camellia plant had given us some 3400 different Teas. When left to nature, the bush will grow into a tree of some 15m in height all the while producing the tender buds and shoots we use for Tea.

The Tea most of us think of when we think of Tea. Dark, rich

Ah, Pu-Erh Tea, the secret of the Ancients. The only Tea that increases in value, and many would say taste, with age. How? Bacteria. It also happens to be the backbone of Chinese Pharmacology as well as a newly traded commodity. Is it really as good as they say for all that money? An acquired taste, to be sure. Reminiscent, if not outright, of dried fish, horse stable, dung, leather, earth....and it really does taste amazingly good. Aged in a cave, or factory nowadays, just how and what goes on is as secret as Willy Wonka's Chocolate recipes.

All things of the earth and steeped in water that are not Teas are what we refer to as Botanicals. Why we are drawn to herbs and things in hot water is a question for Carl Jung or perhaps Julia Childor even that science guy. Anyway, most of them are free of caffeine.