What is tea & how is it grown?
That is a good question! Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world surpassed only by water. Black, Green, Oolong, White, and Pu'erh tea come from the same plant. The tea plant grows best in sub-tropical climates. "Tea" is anything derived from the Camellia sinensis plant. Anything else, while sometimes called "tea", is more accurately referred to as an herbal tea or tisane. Tisanes include chamomile, rooibos, and fruit teas. The best tea is usually grown at higher elevations, and often, on steep slopes. The terrain requires these premium teas to be hand plucked, and it takes about 2,000 tiny leaves to make just one pound of finished tea.
Orthodox Teas
Orthodox teas generally contain only the top two tender leaves and an unopened bud, which are plucked carefully by hand and processed using five basic steps - plucking, withering, rolling, oxidation, and sun drying. A true art form, the tea is handled by artisans with often generations of training from the moment of plucking to when the tea is finished and served. For some teas, one batch can take several days of work.
Unorthodox Tea
The other way of making tea is the unorthodox method, of which the most common type is CTC (crush-tear-curl). This much faster style of production was specifically created for black tea. These teas are not plucked by hand, large machine harvesters are used to "mow" the top of the bushes to get the new leaves. The leaf shredder macerates the leaves by crushing, tearing, and curling them into fine pieces. Crush-tear-curl tea brews very quickly and produce a bold, and powerful cup of tea.
What is in tea?
The three primary components of brewed tea (also called the "liquor") are:
1. Essential Oils - these provide the tea's delicious aromas and flavors.
2. Polyphenols - these provide the "briskness" or astringency in the mouth and are the components that also carry most of the health benefits of tea.
3. Caffeine - found naturally in tea, and Yerba Mate, caffeine provides tea's natural energy boost.