Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content.
Green tea is a type of tea that is made from Camellia sinensis leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since then its production and manufacture has spread to other countries in East Asia.
Earl Grey tea is a tea blend which has been flavoured with oil of bergamot. The rind's fragrant oil is added to black tea to give Earl Grey its unique taste. However, many if not most Earl Greys use artificial bergamot flavour.
A caffeinated drink, or caffeinated beverage, is a drink that contains caffeine, a stimulant that is legal practically all over the world. Some are naturally caffeinated while others have caffeine added as an ingredient.
In the tea industry, tea leaf grading is the process of evaluating products based on the quality and condition of the tea leaves themselves.
Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves, leaf buds, and stems can be used to produce tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree.
Decaffeination is the removal of caffeine from coffee beans, cocoa, tea leaves, and other caffeine-containing materials. Decaffeinated products are commonly termed by the abbreviation decaf. Decaffeinated drinks contain typically 1–2% of the original caffeine content, but sometimes as much as 20%.
Assam tea is a black tea named after Assam, India, the region of its production. It is manufactured specifically from the plant Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Masters). Assam's people tried to plant the Chinese varieties in Assam soil but did not succeed. Assam tea is now mostly grown at or near sea level and is known for its body, briskness, malty flavour, and strong, bright colour. Assam teas, or blends containing Assam tea, are often sold as "breakfast" teas. For instance, Irish breakfast tea, a maltier and stronger breakfast tea, consists of small-sized Assam tea leaves.
Hōjicha is a Japanese green tea. It is distinctive from other Japanese green teas because it is roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal. It is roasted at 150 °C (302 °F) to prevent oxidation and produce a light golden colour, as opposed to other Japanese teas which are steamed. In general, the base of a hōjicha consists of leaves from the second harvest or after.
The history of tea spreads across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. The tea plant Camellia sinensis is native to East Asia and probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northern Myanmar. One of the earliest accounts of tea drinking is dated back to China's Shang dynasty, in which tea was consumed as a medicinal drink. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It first became known to the western world through Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the early 16th century. Drinking tea became popular in Britain during the 17th century. In order to compete with the Chinese monopoly on tea, the British introduced commercial tea production to British India. Due to the tea leaves being transported by train/road for extended periods of time, the tea leaves fermented and as a result many in the West believed fermented tea is the preferred method of consumption in China. This also contributes to why fermented (black) tea is the most consumed tea in the West.
Tea culture is how tea is made and consumed, how people interact with tea, and the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking.
Tea blending is the act of blending different teas to produce a final product that differs in flavor from the original tea used. This occurs chiefly with black tea, which is blended to make most tea bags, but it can also occur with such teas as Pu-erh, where leaves are blended from different regions before being compressed. The most prominent type of tea blending is commercial tea blending, which is used to ensure consistency of a batch on a mass scale so that any variations between different batches and seasons of tea production do not affect the final product. Commercially, it is considered important that any batch of a particular blend must taste the same as the previous batch, so a consumer will not be able to detect a difference in flavor from one purchase to the next.
English breakfast tea or simply breakfast tea is a traditional blend of black teas originating from Assam, Ceylon and Kenya. It is one of the most popular blended teas, common in indigenous British and Irish tea culture, which developed among native populations since their exposure to Asian tea culture.
Tea tasting is the process in which a trained taster determines the quality of a particular tea. Due to climatic conditions, topography, manufacturing process, and different cultivars of the Camellia sinensis plant (tea), the final product may have vastly differing flavours and appearance. A trained tester can detect these differences and ascertain the tea's quality prior to sale or possible blending.
India is the second largest producer of tea in the world after China, including the famous Assam tea and Darjeeling tea. Tea is the 'State Drink' of Assam. Following this the former Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia had plans to officially recognise tea as the Indian "National Drink" in 2013. According to the ASSOCHAM report released in December 2011, India is the world's largest consumer of tea, consuming nearly 30% of global output. India is also the second-largest exporter of tea, after China.
Sencha is a type of Japanese ryokucha which is prepared by infusing the processed whole tea leaves in hot water. This is as opposed to matcha, powdered Japanese green tea, where the green tea powder is mixed with hot water and therefore the leaf itself is included in the beverage. Sencha is the most popular tea in Japan.
Masala chai is a popular beverage throughout South Asia, originating in India. It is made by brewing black tea in milk and water, and then by sweetening with sugar. Adding aromatic herbs and spices creates masala chai, although chai is often prepared unspiced.
Black tea is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white, and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis, though Camellia taliensis is also, rarely, used.
Madame Flavour is a tea and tisane company based in Australia. It was established by Corinne Noyes in 2007 after she found a market gap for high-quality loose leaf tea.
