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After plain water, the most socially shared drink in the world is tea. More than 36 billion cups are drunk every year in the UK and Ireland. For most of us in Northern Ireland, life without tea would be hard to imagine, but there is so much more to our humble cuppa than we know.

The Ulster-Scots, the Irish, French and Spanish all call it ‘tay’. For the Chinese it’s ‘cha’, in India it’s ‘chai’, but whatever you call it, behind every sip of tea there is an army of people, centuries of history and a wealth of traditions.

In this warm and accessible film, Ulster-Scots broadcaster and blogger Mark Thompson explores tea’s multi-faceted story, past and present. From the tea gardens of Western Uganda to afternoon tea with chef Paula McIntyre and the members of Garvagh’s historic Women’s Institute, Mark reveals a story of imperialism and exploitation, of espionage and addiction, and how a drink that was once exclusive to royalty became an everyday essential.

Mark tells how Samuel Cleland Davidson, a young Ulster-Scot from a family of tea importers, revolutionised global tea production. Samuel realised that tea production was labour-intensive and inefficient. Though he had no engineering training, Samuel invented a revolutionary system for drying tea leaves, which later became the world’s first mechanical air conditioner. His family’s Sirocco tea blending factory became one of the world’s largest mechanical engineering works, and a huge employer in Belfast.

As well as tea’s rich and fascinating history, Mark also explores contemporary narratives. He meets people from some of Northern Ireland’s other tea-loving cultures, and hears the international success stories of long-established Northern Irish family firms with enduring connections to India and Africa.