Tea and Tea Types
Tea
First planted and founded in China. The plant named Tea if imported by sea. The plant named Cha if imported by land. Tea is producing by fermenting, drying and cutting the leaves of a perennial plant called ‘Camellia Sinesis’.
Types of Tea
White tea is minimally processed. It is basically plucked and dried in the sun and the shade. White tea normally gives a light cup with sweet or flowery flavors. Green tea has no oxidation. The oxidation is halted by pan-frying (Chinese teas) or steaming (Japanese) steps. The additional processing brings out more flavor. Characteristic flavors are grassy, vegetal, and earthy, with sweet notes. Oolong tea gets partially oxidized. Oolong can range in color from dark green to black. The combination of bruising and partial oxidation give many oolongs distinct flowery & earthy flavors. Darker oolongs may have buttery or smoky tastes to them. Black tea is fully oxidized, which blackens the leaves Black teas are distinct for their briskness and bold taste. Pu'erh Tea (pu-ARR or pu-ERR) is a completely different art. It first undergoes a process similar to Green tea, but before the leaf is dried, it's aged either as loose-leaf tea or pressed into dense cakes and decorative shapes. Pu'erh is a fermented tea (and the use of 'fermentation' is correct here, although not the type which produces alcohol). Rather than using the word tea, Europeans use the word tisane to describe herbal teas. Tisane is any infusion or drink, especially medicinal or curative, made by steeping in hot water. A herbal tea Kombucha Tea Kombucha is a fermented, slightly alcoholic, lightly effervescent, sweetened black or green tea drink commonly intended as a functional beverage for its supposed health benefits. A kombucha Scoby is one of the five ingredients necessary for making kombucha tea.
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