Short answer: we don’t know for sure.
Longer answer: the discovery of tea is tied to legend, oral history, and thousands of years of daily life. What we have is a widely shared origin story that speaks more to how tea entered human culture than to a single, verifiable moment.
The Legend of Shennong
The most commonly cited figure in tea’s origin story is Shennong, a legendary ruler and herbalist from ancient China.
According to tradition, Shennong lived around 2700 BCE and was known for studying plants and their effects on the human body. He is said to have required all drinking water to be boiled for safety.
One day, while water was boiling outdoors, leaves from a nearby wild tea plant drifted into the pot. Shennong tasted the infusion and felt refreshed and clear-minded. That accidental brew is said to be the first cup of tea.
Whether or not this moment happened exactly as described, Shennong became forever associated with the discovery of tea and the medicinal study of plants.
What History Can Actually Confirm
While Shennong is a legendary figure rather than a documented historical person, archaeological and botanical evidence shows that Camellia sinensis is native to regions of southwest China, as well as parts of Southeast Asia.
Tea plants were likely used long before written records existed. Early use probably looked very different from how we drink tea today. Leaves may have been chewed, cooked, fermented, or used medicinally before becoming a brewed beverage.
The earliest written references to tea as a drink appear in Chinese texts from the Han dynasty, around the first century BCE. By this time, tea was already established enough to be discussed casually, which suggests a much earlier origin.
Discovery Versus Domestication
It is important to separate discovery from domestication.
No single person “discovered” Camellia sinensis in the way someone discovers a new invention. More likely, communities living near wild tea plants gradually learned their effects through observation and use.
Over generations, people began cultivating the plant intentionally, selecting varieties, refining preparation methods, and passing down knowledge.
Tea as we know it today is the result of centuries of shared experience rather than one defining moment.
Why the Shennong Story Still Matters
Even though the Shennong story is mythological, it reflects something true about tea’s role in human history.
Tea was valued early on not just for taste, but for how it made people feel. Clear, steady, refreshed. It was part of early herbal knowledge and daily care.
Legends like this survive because they capture meaning, not because they function as scientific records.
A Plant Discovered Many Times Over
In reality, Camellia sinensis was likely “discovered” repeatedly by different groups across regions where it grew naturally. Each culture developed its own relationship with the plant.
What connects them all is the same realization. These leaves, when prepared with water, offer something worth returning to.
The Real First Tea Drinkers
The first people to discover tea were not emperors or scholars. They were everyday people paying attention to plants around them.
Farmers. Healers. Families.
Tea’s origin story belongs to human curiosity, patience, and shared knowledge more than to any single name.
And that may be the most fitting beginning of all.
