Tea comes from a plant called Camellia Sinensis. White tea, green tea, oolong and black tea are all harvested from this species, but are differently processed to attain different levels of oxidation. The name "sinensis" means Chinese in Latin. Older names for the tea plant include Thea bohea, Thea sinensis and Thea viridis. Camellia sinensis is native to mainland South and Southeast Asia but is today cultivated across the world, in tropical and subtropical regions.
Tea has many legendary stories and folklore. The most popular one was the discovery of tea by an emperor in China. Legend has it that in 2737 BC, tea was discovered by a traveling emperor named Shen Nung. While resting under a tree, his servants boiled water for drinking. A breeze went by and leaves from the tea fell in the boiling water. When the emperor drank the water, he refreshed and revitalized. Shen Nung, meaning "Divine Farmer", also is the Father of Medicine in China.
WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF TEA?
Tea (Camellia Sinensis) goes through different kinds of processing to produce a variety of flavors and aroma.
Oolong Tea-Semi-fermented; also known as Blue-green or Wu-Long
Black Tea-Post-fermented; Known as Pu-Erhs (loose-leaf and compressed)
TEA
PRPARATION STEP
ACTION
NOTES/PURPOSE
1
Select Tea and acessories
Select tea and appropriate
acessories, kettle, water and cups.
Determine which brewing
instructions to follow
2
Boil Water to required
temperature
Use fresh water, bring to
required heat using either stove top or electric kettle
Fresh mountain spring water
is the best, filtered water is acceptable.Do not heat water in microwave.
3
Rinse tea pot
Rinse tea pot with hot
water
Removes accumulated odors
and prewarms vessel.
4
Put dry leaves in pot
Measure right quantity of
dry leaves, put in brewing vessel or brewing basket
Different teas require different
quantities of dry leaves for correct brewing
5
Rinse tea leaves
Pour water of right
temperatre over tea leaves and dicard liquid after several seconds of contact
with leaves
Optional step but
recommended for added hygine and required for rolled teas (mostly Oolongs).
6
Brew 1st
infusion
Pour water of right
temperature over tea leaves in the right quantity
The brewing time depends on
the type of tea used.
7
Stop brewing process
Separate liquid from
infused tea leaves by either pouring the brew from one vessel into another or
removing brewing basket
If tea leaves are suitable
for multiple brews make sure tea is not in contact with any water until next
infusion.For clay tea pots put
pot upside down an a mug to let remaing liquid drop out.
8
Tea is ready
You can now enjoy the tea
Do not drink tea that has
been brewed more than 12 hours before since it could cause digestive
problems.
9
Additional Infusions
Follow steps 6-8 for
additional infusions
Some teas require different
water temperatures and brewing times for additional infusions (notably Sencha
and Oolongs).Check brewing
instructions for specifics about that.Also it is not recommended to brew fully fermented teas more than
once, with the exception of Pu-Her.
