There is a popular legend about the discovery of tea as a drink that goes all the way back to China in 2700 BC. In the story, the Emperor, Shen Nung, was drinking boiled water. The emperor was concerned about his hygiene so he insisted that his water be boiled if he was to drink it. A tree nearby shed some leaves into his cup which turned the water a deep shade of brown. Instead of being disgusted, the emperor was intrigued and drank it. Shen Nung was an proponent of herbal medicine, so this wasn't the first time he had tasted something made from a plant. He found that after drinking the new "tea" all of the problems he had in his body went away.
The plant that tea comes from is called Camellia Sinesis and it is found in India, China, and Southeast Asia. Even so, outside of China, little was known about how tea could be used till the sixth century.
In another fable, the Indian Prince Bhodidharma, who was known in China as Ta-mo and in Japan as Daruma, traveled from South India to China to teach about Buddhism. The prince had decided that he was going to meditate, sleepless, for nine years. After meditating for 5 years he started to feel drowsy, so he picked leaves from a tree to chew on. He was able to continue his meditation because the leaves were from a tea tree and they gave him the life he needed to go on. Prince Bhodidiharma's used meditation combined with drinking tea to continue to stay alert.
There are so many fascinating stories about the origins of tea.
