All About Tea

Tea is an infusion made by steeping processed leaves, buds, or twigs of the tea bush, Camellia sinensis, in hot water for several minutes, after which it is drunk.

The processing can include oxidation, heating, drying, and the addition of other herbs, flowers, spices, and fruits.

The four basic types of true tea are black tea, oolong tea, green tea, and white tea.

The term "herbal tea" usually refers to infusions or tisane of fruit or herbs that contain no Camellia sinensis.

Tea is one of the most widely-consumed beverages in the world, second only to water.It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavor. It has almost no carbohydrates, fat, or protein. Tea is a natural source of the amino acid theanine, methylxanthines such as caffeine and theobromine, and polyphenolic antioxidant catechins (often referred to as tannins).

The word tea came into the English language from the Chinese word for tea, which is pronounced tê in the Min Nan spoken variant. The British English slang word "char" for "tea" arose from its Mandarin Chinese pronunciation "cha" with its spelling affected by British English arhotic dialect pronunciation.

Types of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo. Leaves of Camellia sinensis soon begin to wilt and oxidize if not dried quickly after picking. The leaves turn progressively darker because chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released. This process, enzymatic oxidation, is called fermentation in the tea industry although it is not a true fermentation: it is not caused by micro-organisms, and is not an anaerobic process. The next step in processing is to stop the oxidation process at a predetermined stage by heating, which deactivates the enzymes responsible. With black tea this is done simultaneously with drying. Without careful moisture and temperature control during its manufacture and thereafter, fungi will grow on tea. This form of fungus causes real fermentation that will contaminate the tea with toxic and sometimes carcinogenic substances and off-flavours, rendering the tea unfit for consumption.

Tea leaf processing methods (Simplified)

Tea is traditionally classified based on producing technique:

White tea: Un-Wilted and unoxidized
Yellow tea: Un-wilted and unoxidized but allowed to yellow
Green tea: Wilted and unoxidized
Oolong: Wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized
Black tea: Wilted, crushed, and fully oxidized
Post-fermented tea: Green Tea that has been allowed to ferment/compost

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July 23rd, 2008 - 3:55 AM

The History of Tea

It is said that tea was discovered accidentally by emperor Shen Nung back in 2700BC. After a large meal one day, he was relaxing in the garden with a cup of boiling water. On this occasion, some leaves from a nearby tree fell into the cup unnoticed and he consumed the drink. He enjoyed the taste of the tea and the pain relief of the drink so much, that the cup of tea was born.

The first tea used in England came from China, and it wasn't until the 19th century that tea growing spread to other countries and indigenous tea was discovered in Assam. The UK is the largest importer of tea.