The world's top tea drinkers are in Germany

While Germany itself ranks as number 84 on the list of tea-drinking countries, with a per capita consumption of 28 liters, the natives of East Frisia drink, on average, more than anyone else in the world, as now confirmed by the Records Institute for Germany. Annual tea consumption there is about 300 liters per capita—a whopping 100 liters more than the average consumption in the UK.

In East Frisia on Germany's North Sea coast, a tea ritual for staving off the rainy cold has developed over the years. A strong black mix consisting mainly of Assam leaves, the tea is brewed in a pot and served in porcelain cups with a piece of white or brown rock sugar (known as Kluntje) in the bottom. Add a spot of cream afterward for a milky effect — though be warned, stirring is not allowed!

The common Sunday ritual of enjoying a leisurely chat over coffee and cake can also include a pot of hot tea and waffles. With tea the leading drink the world over, it's no wonder coffee isn't on the menu for everyone. In East Frisia, where the tea ritual is strong, it is said to be rude to your host if you walk away after having anything less than three cups.

The Hamburg-based German Tea Association holds an annual Tea Tasters' Panel to assess tea samples for their characteristics and verify the claims on the labels as regards origin and quality. If you're not a part of the panel, you can book your own tea sampling at the Bünting Teemuseum in Leer.

Tea is the most popular drink in the world—even beating coffee. Worldwide consumption is forecast to reach to 297 billion liters by 2021. According to the German Tea Association, Germans prefer black to green at a ratio of nearly 3:4. They're more evenly divided about whether loose or bagged is better, with 60% preferring loose leaves to tea bags.

While British people take their tea and scones very seriously, the notion of putting cream into your black tea turns off many Germans, who prefer their tea black or with a lump of sugar.

In cafes around the country, menus include fresh ginger and fresh peppermint herbal teas—a hot drink that many have come to love, but which the German Tea Association does not count as tea. For a drink to be considered tea, it needs to contain black or green tea leaves—something these homeopathic cold remedies do not do.

A cure for what ails you. Whole supermarket aisles are dedicated to a diverse assortment of teas with names that might astound you. While some prefer to refer to the herbal concoctions by the names of their ingredients—a la cinnamon or sage tea—marketing brains have begun labeling tea according to ailments. There's now digestion tea, liver detox tea, post-partum tea and even sleepytime tea.