From the Chinese legend of Shennong to the tea fields Japanese immigrants planted in Brazil’s Ribeira Valley, a well-sourced history of tea, along with the technical difference between tea and infusions and the place of yerba mate in Brazilian culture.

From the wild arabica of Ethiopia to the high-altitude farms of Caparaó, this is the history of coffee told with sources, separating legends, like those of Kaldi the goatherd and Palheta’s bouquet, from what the documents show.