As Khongsit handed me a cup of piping-hot red tea, served without milk and with a generous helping of sugar, I asked her about the origin of this practice. "Nobody can say for sure when it began, yet most agree that it has been around ever since Kongthong came into being," she replied. "Kongthong itself has been here even before the kingdom of Sohra was established by our people and by those from other villages in the area."