Teacup of good cheer

THINK you make the perfect cup of tea? Even better varieties could be in reach after botanists unlocked the genetic code of the tea plant.

Scientists spent more than five years mapping the genome of tea, and hope the knowledge can be used to develop a range of new flavours.

Professor Lizhi Gao, a plant geneticist at the Kunming Institute of Botany in China, said: “It is our hope that more new tea tree varieties would finally satisfy and attract more tea drinkers worldwide.’’

The discovery could open the door to naturally caffeinefree tea.