Explore wonder facts about your favorite brew ‘tea’
Welcome to the world of tea drinkers! Tea is a divine beverage that is power-packed with multiple health benefits and a refreshing sip that seems irresistible. It relaxes your mind and gives a soothing taste that blocks many illnesses. You might be just aware of 4 main types of tea, but there are thousands of other variations that you are unaware of. Let’s get along to know about every bit of tea types, making, characteristics, and its role in the global markets.
History of tea
What’s the origin of this globally popular beverage? Well, it comes from a plant named Camellia sinesis. You can find it in tea gardens and in climates that are cool and pleasant. The origin of tea is known far back in China at almost 5000 years ago. Historians say that Emperor Shen Nung, in 2732 B.C. found tea when some wild leaves got into his boiling water resulting in a fresh aroma. India is a significant tea producer globally, but due to the high number of tea lovers, 70% of its tea sales are in India itself. Assam and Darjeeling are significant hubs for tea production.
Qualities and characteristics of tea
Tea leaves harvesting follows by drying up process, after which they go through rolling and fermentation. The latter method is vital that it decides the tempting tea flavors that allures you to enjoy its every sip. The fineness of authentic tea is evident from the fact that it blends in your mouth and leaves a taste that you could fall in love with. Essential characteristics of tea are as follows:
- Five significant flavors bring out the richness of tea, such as a minty freshness, bitter, sour, astringent, and sweet.
- The necessary texture of tea is soft, mouth-melting, and tricky.
- A premium quality tea would go down your mouth naturally, and you do not need to push it. Test with a pinch of tea and put it on the tongue to determine its quality and preparation.
- An excellent tea travels within your mouth, and you sense its aromatic flavors throughout.
- While you prepare the tea, the tea must release a strong aroma as soon as you add it to the boiling water.
- Chinese calculation for good tea is ‘Hui gan.’ ‘Gan’ means a peppermint coolness, and ‘hui’ refers to remembering the refreshment. This term brings the crux of good tea.
- Premium tea relaxes you and rejuvenates the brain cells with a distinct dose of refreshment.
How to assess the quality of tea?
Irrespective of whether you have just begun drinking this beverage or a long time tea drinker, identification of a premium tea leaf is always a task. Do you own a will to become a tea connoisseur? If yes, here are a few assessing parameters that can help in figuring out the best tea.
- Sight- Two primary tea types include CTC and orthodox. Under the CTC process, tea leaves undergo deep processing and cut down to small pallets. It is the kind of tea you enjoy in teabags and lenders a dark brew instantly. The other ‘long leaf’ or orthodox tea leaves do not break down and retain the actual crumbled look. The identity of good quality and flavorful tea is it unfurls slowly when you steep it down.
- Touch- High quality tea should appear smooth and sturdy. If it is very light, it might indicate that the tea is getting old. Look for soft and slippery tea leaves.
- Smell- Good quality tea owns a specific aroma that you can trace with the scent. The absence of fresh and prominent aroma from tea signifies that the tea is getting old. Green tea lovers must disperse a grassy and sweet smell, while black tea must hold an earthy smell.
- Taste- Do you love having a few cups of green tea every day? Then you must recognize the rich taste and feel which travels through various parts of your tongue. Good tea tastes intense and more profound, with enhancing flavors that soothe your tongue. If you find that the characters are unpleasant or astringent, it indicates that the tea is of inferior quality.
Process of tea blending
Tea processing starts with plucking the leaves from the Camellia sinesis plant and stretches to further units to transform in a perfect tea package. Let’s overview of the tea blending process briefly:
- • Withering- Have you ever visited a tea garden? You can find there a hot air blower to wither leaves plucked from the garden. After gathering them, the next process of rolling starts up.
- • Rolling- Black tea divides mainly into CTC and orthodox styles. CTC tea leaves processing carries out mechanically, while the conventional ones are carefully done using a cylindrical roller or rotor vane.
- • Oxidation- Next step involves the oxidization of leaves under proper temperature controls with high oxygen levels and humidity. With this step, the tea leaves develop into amazing flavors and other aromatic compounds.
- • Drying- Drying ensures that the leaves are good enough for packaging. Their variations are whole leaf, broken leaf, and fanning particles.
How to brew the perfect cup of tea?
With three major components, you can get a perfect cup of tea, namely boiling water, fresh tea leaves, and the ideal steeping times. To make one cup, add one teaspoon of a loose tea and around 8 ounces of clean hot water. If you are experimenting with herbal, white, oolong, or yellow teas, you might need to add 2 teaspoons. Once your tea gets brewed, add some sugar and filter it to the cup before it starts over-processing. The choice of adding milk or sugar is optional. Enjoy the brew!
Popular tea types in the world
List of widely available tea types in the world include:
- • White Tea
- • Green Tea
- • Oolong Tea
- • Black Tea
- • Pu’erh Tea
Market share of tea in global business
As per a report, the tea market is ready to witness the CAR of 4.5% in 2020-2025. Among others, black tea holds a distinct market share, and herbal/green tea market is slowly expanding after the realization of health benefits. With the increasing craze for carbonated tea drinks, the global tea business is widely increasing. Inclining market share towards fruity, green, and herbal tea is a good indication for tea business owners. Asia –Pacific green tea market is recording a good splurge in the new scenario.
Summary
Now that you are known to all aspects and elements of a quality tea, it is easy for you to figure out the best of all. But are the actual farmers getting lucrative earnings for their hard work? No, the fair deals go inside the boxes, and some peanut rates stay with the real producers. If possible, do buy from direct tea companies as they can connect you to the farms. With this, you would get the first premium tea leaves, and the happy producers would shower some blessings for the fair deals they get!