Cindy Gonier, age 11, of East Burnswick, N.J., for her question:

WHERE DOES TEA COME FROM?

To make a pot of tea, you pour boiling water on a small helping of dried leaves which have a slightly tangy fragrance. They are picked, very carefully, from the tea plant, an evergreen shrub that grows in warm climates. It will grow at sea level, but the most tasty tea leaves are grown on mountain slopes, often as high as 7,000 feet. Most of the world's tea is grown on mountain slopes in India. China and Japan, Ceylon and several other countries also produce tea.

Cultivated tea plants are allowed to grow about three or four feet high. At the age of 3 to 5 years they are ready for the first harvest, when the plant sprouts new twigs. The new leaves are picked tenderly,    dried and sorted. To make sure the flavor is just right, an expert tea taster sips a brew of this sample and that sample.In North America most of us prefer coffee, but in other countries tea is more popular.