Answer: Tea

All we need to survive, hydration-wise, is plain old water, but humans have been altering water to make it sweet, bitter, bubbly, alcoholic, or any combination thereof since prehistory. We might have to drink to live, but based on our preference for a wide array of elixirs, we don’t really consider it “living” unless there’s a flavor or two involved in our drinks.

Among all the processed drinks around the world, there is none so popular and produced in such quantity as tea. Tea is so popular, in fact, that the global production of tea doesn’t just push it to the top of the list, but helps tea equal all other processed drink types (coffee, chocolate, soft drinks, alcohol, etc.) combined.

What kinds of numbers do you need to top the global beverage charts like that? In 2013, the global production of tea was over 5.34 million tonnes with the bulk of that tea originating in China (1.94 million tonnes) and India (1.21 million tonnes). Thanks to the diverse methods of processing, local preparation, and the way tea is incorporated into the daily rituals of people around the planet, it is consumed in some form and by some cultural group in the majority of countries on Earth.