Introduction to Tea
Tea, a mildly stimulating drink made from the leaves of the tea plant. (Similar drinks made from other kinds of plants are called herbal teas. The term is also applied to the processed leaves. More people drink tea than drink any other prepared beverage. Tea is the staple beverage in most parts of Asia, in parts of Africa, in eastern Europe, and in the United Kingdom; in the United States, it is second only to coffee in popularity. Tea is drunk hot or iced, with or without milk, cream, or sugar. Some tea drinkers add a slice of lemon, and for iced tea, a sprig of mint.
Tea leaves contain chemical compounds called polyphenols, which—with caffeine, alkaloids, and oils—give tea its characteristic flavor. The caffeine in tea also acts as a stimulant. A cup of tea without milk, cream, or sugar provides about four calories.
The Tea Plant and Its Cultivation
The tea plant is an evergreen shrub native to Southeast Asia. It is cultivated widely in warm regions around the world. Leading tea producers are India, China, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Turkey, Indonesia, and Georgia.
The tea plant grows to a height of 3 to 50 feet (90 cm to 15 m), but cultivated plants are kept pruned to a height of 20 to 80 inches (50 to 200 cm) for convenience in harvesting. The slender, glossy green leaves are two to five inches (5 to 13 cm) long and have serrated edges. They are smooth-surfaced and somewhat leathery. The plant has fragrant pale pink or cream-colored flowers and round, nutlike fruit.
The tea plant grows best in well-drained loamy soils in moist, hot climates. However, it is hardy and adaptable and can be cultivated in a wide variety of soils at elevations ranging from sea level to 8,000 feet (2,400 m).
Constant pruning keeps the shrubs at the desired height, makes them live longer, and stimulates production of new shoots, from which the crop is taken. The first harvest is made when the shrubs are three to five years old, and thereafter the leaves are plucked several times a year. In hot regions, plants put out new shoots the year around in quantities sufficient for harvesting every two weeks. In cooler regions, crops are plucked only three or four times a year. It takes about four pounds of leaves to make one pound of finished tea. Tea plants yield for 25 to 50 years.
Kinds of Tea
There are several varieties of tea plants, some of them hybrids. However, the characteristics of the many kinds of commercial tea depend on soil and climatic conditions, cultivating and harvesting practices, and manufacturing processes rather than on the plant varieties.
The general classifications of commercial tea are based on the type of processing. The three most important classes are (1) black tea, leaves that have been fermented; (2) green tea, which is unfermented; and (3) oolong tea, which is partially fermented. Teas are identified also by the location in which they were grown. Most tea in the world market is black tea.
Formerly, black teas were graded according to the age of the leaves. The leaf bud at the tip of the shoot and the youngest, and therefore smallest, leaf made up the leaf grade called orange pekoe. Pekoe was produced from the second youngest leaf, souchong from the third, and congou from the fourth.
In addition, there were broken grades, such as broken orange pekoe and broken pekoe. These grades were given to leaves that had been accidentally broken during processing. Fannings and dust were the grades made up of the smallest pieces of leaves and shoots.
Today, however, these names indicate only the size of the leaves after processing. Leading manufacturers in the modern tea industry process only the leaf bud and two youngest leaves on a shoot, and teas are graded by passing the processed leaves through sieves of varying mesh sizes. In the 20th century, a growing demand for broken grades brought about the development of techniques and machines for cutting and crushing the leaves. (Broken grades brew more quickly, and produce a darker, stronger tea. They are often used in tea bags.) Broken orange pekoe, broken pekoe, fannings, and dust are the principal black tea grades.
Green tea also is graded by sieving. Leaf grades include hyson, gunpowder, and twanky. Oolong tea is not graded according to size.
Tea that reaches the consumer is usually a blend of products from several regions selected according to flavor and aroma, strength, grade, and price. For example, a package of tea may contain various India and Ceylon broken pekoe teas and some India fannings.
Processing and Marketing Tea
There are four basic steps in the manufacturing of black tea: (1) withering, (2) rolling, (3) fermenting, and (4) firing.
Withering is the partial drying of the leaves immediately after they are plucked. They are spread in the sun, or in sheds or chambers where currents of warm or cool air are passed over them. After withering, the leaves are placed in rolling machines, machines that crush them. This operation spreads the leaf juices over the surfaces of the leaves and hastens fermentation. The leaves are then spread out on racks in a fermenting room for several hours, where they develop a characteristic aroma. Firing consists of placing the leaves in a drying machine where hot air is forced over them.
In making green tea, the leaves are not allowed to ferment. They are subjected to high temperatures soon after plucking. Then they are rolled and fired in a manner similar to the processes used in making black tea. Oolong tea is made by withering the leaves in the sun for about one hour, then rolling them by hand a short while before rolling them in machines and drying them. Scented teas, such as jasmine tea, are made by mixing fresh or dried flowers with black, green, or oolong tea leaves in one of the later stages of processing. The flowers are later sifted from the leaves, but some pieces may remain.
Tea is usually processed in a factory located on the plantation. After processing, the tea is placed in large chests and is then shipped to markets. At the markets, the tea is sold by auction to packers. Packers blend the tea and package it in small cartons or in tea bags.
Instant, or powdered, tea is produced by removing the water from a highly concentrated brew. To make tea, the powder is mixed with water. Ready-to-drink tea is tea sold in cans or bottles. Instant tea and ready-to-drink tea are usually drunk cold.
How Tea Is Brewed
In order to get the full flavor and stimulating effect of the beverage, fresh, boiling water is poured over the processed tea leaves, and they are allowed to steep three to five minutes. One rounded teaspoon of tea (or one tea bag) is used for each cup of boiling water. Tea steeped too long has a bitter taste. Flavor also deteriorates if the tea is kept hot for a long time. Iced tea can be made by pouring hot tea (made a little stronger than if it were to be drunk hot) over ice.
History
According to legend, tea was drunk in China and India more than 4,000 years ago. However, the first reference in writing to tea-drinking in China dates from the eighth century A.D. Tea was known in Japan as early as the sixth century, but was not widely used as a beverage until the 11th century, when Zen Buddhist priests began to encourage its use for medicinal reasons and because they thought the ritual of tea-drinking was morally uplifting.
The Dutch introduced tea-drinking into Europe and America in the early 17th century, and the tea trade became of great commercial importance in England in the 17th century and in the United States in the 18th. Attempts to grow tea in North America failed because of high labor costs, but it has been successfully grown in Brazil, where it is of increasing economic importance. Iced tea was introduced at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. Tea bags originated in New York City in 1904.
The tea plant is Camellia, or Thea, sinensis of the family Theaceae.