How are teas made?
A tea plant which grows naturally in the wild is cultivated in a variety of settings. The best teas have been known to grow at higher elevations, and often, on steep slopes. These leaver are then hand plucked, taking around 2,000 tiny leaves to make just one pound of finished tea. Despite these teas being known as premium teas, large scale commercial production are grown in flat areas making it convenient for machine harvesting. However, there are some known hand plucked teas that come from flat fields and lower altitudes. So, how the tea is grown is only one of many factors to be considered.
Teas processed traditionally are called Orthodox teas. Orthodox teas generally contain only the top two tender leaves and an unopened leaf bud, which are plucked carefully by hand and then processed using five basic steps, creating the thousands of varieties of tea we know and love today. Something to note is that while tea plants have small flowers, the "buds" tea people refer to are the young, unopened leaves, not flowers.
The more common way of making tea is to crush, tea, and curl tea leaves. This is also known as CTC (crush-tear-curl) method. This faster style was specifically created for black tea, which may or may not be plucked by hand. For commercial production, harvesters use large machines to "mow" the top of the bushes and get new leaves. A leaf shredder macerates the leaves into fine pieces. They are then rolled into little balls to enable the leaves to brew faster and produce a stronger, more potent cup of tea. This is now used for other teas to maintain its flavor and seeping potency.
The three primary components of brewed tea:
Essential Oils: provide the aromas and flavors of tea.
Polyphenols: carries most of the health benefits of tea. It is what gives it the astringency in the mouth and briskness.
Caffeine: provides a natural energy boost found naturally in coffee, chocolate, tea and Yerba Mate.
Polyphenols: carries most of the health benefits of tea. It is what gives it the astringency in the mouth and briskness.
Caffeine: provides a natural energy boost found naturally in coffee, chocolate, tea and Yerba Mate.
Learn More About Each Type of Tea
Black Tea
Black tea offeres the strongest flavor of all other teas and at times the greatest astringency. It is usually a dark brown to a deep red liquor that is produced. For this reason, in China it is also referred to as Red tea. Black teas use 5 basic, linear steps to oxidize the tea leaves and are generally not repeated. Is the most completed process of all the other teas.
The major regions where black tea is created are China, India, and Sri Lanka. Different varieties of black tea include Ceylon, Darjeeling, Keemum, and Assam to name a few.
While tea plants thrive in tropical and sub-tropical climates grown in well-drained soil, an additional variety of teas are also grown at high or low elevations. In these areas, larger amounts of rain are good, but slightly less than ideal for these teas.
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Oolong Tea
Oolong tea translates in China to "Black Dragon". The appearance of these twist oolong leaves actually resemble to look of a black dragon, the origins of its name are unknown. The oolong is a semi-oxidized tea made from larger, more mature leaves. You will find a range of color with oolongs where dark colored oolongs which are highly oxidized and the greener variety of oolongs are lightly oxidized making steeping times a little diffrent for each tea.
While there are no scientific facts that suggest Oolong teas are any more effective than other teas in aiding weight loss, various oolong teas contain additional ingredients that naturally do the trick. The tea will take after its activie ingredients such as ginger and chamomile when added to the mix.
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Pu'erh Tea
Pu'erh tea is one of the more complex of teas. It is the only one of them that is considered to be fermented and not just oxidized. Pu'erhs are only produced in the Yunnan Province of China and are made from a variety of the Camellia Sinenesis plant called assamica.
Two versions of processing are done to create Pu'erh teas. Raw Pu'erhs production remebled more of a green tea with the combination of withering, rolling, and pan-firing. The aging of this tea brings out flavors unlike any other variety, but it can take up to years to complete. The other version of processing is Ripened Pu'erh which undergoes a faster, deeper aging process that only takes about 3 months and significantly less expensive.
Pu'erh tea is most known for boosting metabolism and aiding in digestion.
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Green Tea
Asia is the birthplace of green teas and primarily produced in China and Japan. In China, the traditional method for making green tea is to hand make them, particularly in the manufacturing of the finest green teas. They are generally mechanically dried and use leaf rollers throughout the producton process. However, in Japan, tea production is slightly different in creating their signiture teas. A calibrated machine cutter is used to harvest tea leaves to collect only the most tender leaves from bushes.
Green teas are also separated into steeping categories based on whether they were pan-fired or steamed. Steamed teas, mainly Japanese style greens should not be steeped no longer than a minute, as they become bitter in taste and flavor. While pan-fired steeping times start at about 3-4 minutes to bring out its flavor.
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Herbal Tea
Better known by tea professionals as "Tisanes", these herbal infusions do not contain any part of the tea plant. Herbal teas are made from fruits, herbs and flowers. The most common of these are the Chamomile flower, Lemons, Strawberries, Hibiscus flowers, Oranges, Lavender leaves, and Peppermint to name just a few.
Knowing the background of these herbal infusions, it goes without saying that they are usually filled with Vitamin C. These herbal teas carry the natural flavors and oils of into the teas giving these the most potent aromatic qualities.
Additional versions of these Tisanes exist such as Rooibos or "Red Bush Tea" usually grown in South Africa, and Yerba Mate, a member of the holly family, found mainly in Brazil, Paraguay, Uraguay, and Argentina.
Steeping times vary based on its components.
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White Tea
White tea is the most delicate of all varieties. It uses the newest of tea leaves and goes through the minimal amount of processing, it is considerend more of a gourmet tea in comparison the the rest. It is as close to consuming a living tea bush there is other than eating it raw.
Most white teas originated in China, but some are now being grown in India and Sri Lanka. The varying styles of white tea include unopened buds, to fine white hairs on hand plucked harvests. These are naturally sweet and generally have smooth, delicate tastes making them more pricey at times.
Steeping times vary based on its components, but a good starting time is ususally about 3-7 minutes per cup.
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