We came to Brazil to find coffee and learn about the future of one of the world’s top commodities, especially in the midst of a changing climate and rising population. A legacy farmer in Santos, the small port city that exports more than three-quarters of Brazil’s coffee, called it humanity’s favorite drink.

But is it? We did some digging. The world’s most consumed beverage—not counting water, which has no equal—is actually a dark horse, the kind you don’t suspect. It’s not coffee, as Brazilian kids learn at early age, nor Coca Cola, as I grew up hearing in America. It’s surprisingly not even beer.

It’s tea.

Disclaimer: I’m a tea guy, unapologetically. It’s nothing against coffee, other than that I get jittery and