Tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub (bush) native to East Asia.. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some, like Darjeeling and Chinese greens, have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans primarily due to its caffeine content.

Tea originated in the region encompassing today's Northeast India, north Myanmar, Southwest China and Tibet, where it was used as a medicinal drink by various ethnic groups in the region. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Hua Tuo.It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century.During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in India. Combined, China and India supplied 62% of the world's tea in 2016.

The term herbal tea refers to drinks not made from Camellia sinensis: infusions of fruit, leaves, or other parts of the plant, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or rooibos. These are sometimes called tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent confusion with tea made from the tea plant.

 

Cultivation and harvesting

Tea plants are propagated from seed and cuttings; about 4 to 12 years are needed for a plant to bear seed and about three years before a new plant is ready for harvesting. In addition to a zone 8 climate or warmer, tea plants require at least 127 cm (50 in) of rainfall a year and prefer acidic soils. Many high-quality tea plants are cultivated at elevations of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level. Though at these heights the plants grow more slowly, they acquire a better flavour.

 

Their are several type of tea’s some of them are below

Black tea

Common varieties of black tea include Assam, Nepal, Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Rize, Keemun, and Ceylon teas. Western black teas are usually brewed for about four minutes. In many regions of the world, actively boiling water is used and the tea is often stewed. In India, black tea is often boiled for fifteen minutes or longer to make Masala chai, as a strong brew is preferred. Tea is often strained while serving.

A food safety management group of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a standard for preparing a cup of tea (ISO 3103: Tea – Preparation of liquor for use in sensory tests), primarily intended for standardizing preparation for comparison and rating purposes. It is defined as 2.0 grams of tea leaves steeped for 6 minutes per 100 ml of boiling water.

 

Green tea

In regions of the world that prefer mild beverages, such as the Far East, green tea is steeped in water around 80 to 85 °C (176 to 185 °F). Regions such as North Africa or Central Asia prefer a bitter tea, and hotter water is used. In Morocco, green tea is steeped in boiling water for 15 minutes.

The container in which green tea is steeped is often warmed beforehand to prevent premature cooling. High-quality green and white teas can have new water added as many as five or more times, depending on variety, at increasingly higher temperatures.

Cold brew tea

While most tea is prepared using hot water, it is also possible to brew a beverage from tea using room temperature or cooled water. This requires longer steeping time to extract the key components, and produces a different flavour profile. Cold brews use about 1.5 times the tea leaves that would be used for hot steeping, and are refrigerated for 4–10 hours. The process of making cold brew tea is much simpler than that for cold brew coffee.

Cold brewing has some disadvantages compared to hot steeping. If the leaves or source water contain unwanted bacteria, they may flourish, whereas using hot water has the benefit of killing most bacteria. This is less of a concern in modern times and developed regions. Cold brewing may also allow for less caffeine to be extracted.

 

Here are the top 10 health benefits of tea and some options for delicious teas to try

1. Tea contains antioxidants.
2. Tea has less caffeine than coffee.
3. Tea may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.
4. Tea may help with weight loss.
5. Tea may help protect your bones.
6. Tea may keep your smile bright.