The Art of Tea
For those of you who are new to the exciting world of tea, diving in may be a bit confusing at first. We hope this page and our herbal tea page will help you better understand the complicated but wonderful art of tea.
What is Tea?
Defining tea can be a bit complicated. Some would say "tea is a hot drink made from the infused leaves, fruits, or flowers of other plants", while others would contest that "tea is a hot drink made by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia". In both cases, the person would be correct but to better understand we must take a closer look into teas origins.
The Beginning
According to legend, tea has been known in China since 2700 BCE where it was used as an herbal beverage until the 3rd century CE which then it became a daily beverage.
Herbal Tea
Herbal tea is simply an infusion of any edible plant's (except Camellia sinensis) fresh or dried flower, fruit, leaf, root, seed, spice, or tree bark to capture beneficial components of their medicinal properties. This page will mainly cover beverage tea but we will cover herbal teas on our Herbal Tea page.
Beverage Tea
Most of the Tea the world drinks daily as a beverage comes from the leaves of two varieties of Camellia sinensis. One species C. sinensis 'Senensis' is found throughout China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan and is known for its shorter leaves. The other species C. sinensis 'Assad' is found throughout India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya and is known for having longer leaves.
Types of Beverage Tea
Beverage tea is categorized into several different types which is based on how the tea leaves are processed. The six main types of tea are: white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and dark (post-fermented) tea.
White Tea
Being processed the least, white tea is the most delicate of all other tea types. White tea comes from processing either unopened young buds known as Silver Needles (due to the white hairs protruding from them), or a mix of young buds and immature leaves. The harvested young buds and leaves are placed in the sun and allowed to wither and dry which causes much less oxidation to occur in the process. White Tea has the palest of yellow appearance, visible white hairs, and a subtle taste that needs no additional additives.
Yellow Tea
Yellow tea's processing is far more complicated than white tea, making it a form of art to many. The tea leaves for yellow tea must pass through many complicated processes known as withering (air drying in the shade for several hours to achieve a desired moisture loss of approx. 5%), fixation (stopping oxidation through heat), rolling (shaping), wrapping/heaping (wrapping in cloth, heated and moistened), and drying (by heating at a final temperature of 122°F). The process may even differ depending on the type of yellow tea that is being made. Some do not require withering at all, some require the tea leaves to be rolled into the shape of a “needle”, while others require a “long and curly” shape. Yellow tea may be considered rare and on the expensive side, but the amount of effort that is put into making it, the enticing aroma and sweet taste make this yellow colored tea in the end... well worth it!
Green Tea
Green tea is a tea type that originated in China and Japan which focuses on the lack of oxidation to tea leaves in order to keep the leaves the color green instead of brown. The system that is use to process tea leaves into green tea may be the same in both countries, however their steps in the system are slightly different. The tea leaves for green tea must pass through processes known as withering, fixation, rolling, and drying. One example of the difference between the way China and Japan do things is they each one goes through the withering stage. In China, the leaves are harvested and transported to processing factories where they are quickly placed in relatively cool ambient temperatures and air circulation is blocked in order to limit oxidation. Japan processes it's harvested leaves and is able to skip the withering stage because they have their factories located directly in their tea gardens. Even though Green Tea focuses on the lack of oxidation, oxidation occurs as soon as leaves are harvested. Green teas are still considered green tea as long as the levels of oxidation are 10% or less. Most green teas are enjoyed without any additives, however some are enjoyed when flavored with almonds, saffron, and cinnamon.
Oolong Tea
Oolong Tea origins began in China and Taiwan and focuses partial oxidation and rolling process the most. To make Oolong tea the tea leaves must pass through a process known as withering (freshly picked leaves are left outdoors to wither in the sun for a few hours and then brought indoors and placed on bamboo trays to continue withering in shade), bruising (the withered tea leaves are tumbled and kneaded which bruises the leaves and causes juices to leak out and react to oxygen without the leaf breaking up), partial oxidation (tea leaves are repeated tumbled and checked until the desire oxidation level is reached), oxidation stop (here the lea leaves heated to stop oxygen to stop enzymatic reactions to a stop) rolling (in this stage, leaves are tightly wrap in cloth to become what is known as a bale and then manually or mechanically kneaded until the leaves take on a long and curvy or ball shaped look that Oolong tea is known for), and roasting/drying (in this final step, leaves are finally dried through roasting or air drying the leaves several times) in order to become Oolong tea leaves. Oolong tea has a mild flavor faintly resembles both green and black tea simultaneously.
Black Tea
Black tea is one of the most popular tea types that is enjoyed across the globe and is sometimes referred to as Red tea in China. Black tea has many varieties such as “English Breakfast” favored in the UK, and “Sweet Tea” favored by the Southern United States and many more. To make black tea, the tea leaves must pass through the process of withering (tea leaves are withered indoors in withering troughs or outdoors where the leaves about 30% of their moisture), rolling (the leaves are mechanically rolled several times throughout this stage to break the surfaces of the leaves to allow the juice within to distribute and react to oxygen), oxidation (the leaves are spread in layers of 4-6 at 104°F for several hours where they color becomes mahogany brown or deep black), and drying (here the leaves are now air dried until they have a remaining moisture of 3-6%) must occur. Since black tea leave range in color, their taste also ranges widely from smoky, malty, to even tones of fruit. Black tea is usually enjoyed with additives such as sweeteners, milk, and cinnamon.
Dark Tea
Dark tea is an ancient Chinese tea that specializes in post fermented green tea that was made using large leaves of the Assamica tea bush variety rather than the short leaf variety. While both are known for their lack of oxidation, green tea uses enzymatic reaction processes while dark tea focus more on microbial reaction processes. To make dark tea the tea leaves must pass through the process of withering (here the leaves are spread on bamboo trays and placed outside in the sun when weather permitted or the leaves are dried indoors in well ventilated factories), oxidation stop (here leaves are heated in special ovens to stop oxidation which influences the leafs taste), rolling (in this stage, the leaves are shaped into elongated needles or to have a slight curl by electrical or mechanical appliances), drying (here the leaves are placed back outdoors in the sunlight to dry), ripening (here the leaves are piled up in thick layers and repetitively covered and uncovered inside a hot room for up to three weeks which achieves the fermentation it took years, if not decades to achieve only 50 years ago), and pressing (in this final stage, the leaves are molded and preserved and pressed into bricks, discs, cubes, and other shapes which not only affect the teas ripening, but also makes the dark tea easier to transport and store) must occur. Dark teas are often described as having a subtle mushroom-like taste and normally accompanies by goat milk, yogurt, nuts, or spices.
Now that you have a better understanding of the art of tea, we hope that you no longer purchase low grade teabags from the grocery store that only contain stale tea dust that has lost every drop of its essential oils. Now its time for you to begin your quest of crafting the perfect cup of tea. Happy blending friends.