茶

茶 (chá) is the Chinese word for tea — the leaf, the drink, and by extension the social ritual built around it. In daily speech 茶 covers everything from green tea (绿茶) and black tea (红茶, literally 'red tea') to oolong, jasmine, and bubble tea (奶茶). The register is fully neutral: you can use it with friends, in a restaurant, or in writing. Two things differ from English: first, the default 茶 in Chinese culture is hot and unsweetened, so when ordering iced or sweet tea you have to say so; second, 红茶 means what English calls 'black tea' — Chinese names the tea after the color of the liquid, not the leaves. Native speakers also say 喝茶 (hē chá, 'drink tea') casually to mean 'come over and hang out.'

Memory hook: The 艹 (grass) radical sits on top of a tree (木) with a 人 (person) in between — a person picking tea leaves under the bushes.