Conclusion

Here is a video of Kim Pham telling you how to make a lovely cup of green tea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vtmd0R6YH4&feature=relmfu

She also has lots of other tea videos, they can be found here:

http://www.differenttypesofteas.com/basics-of-tea

These are the websites I used to write my blog:

www.wtea.com

www.greysteas.co.uk

www.the-tea-site.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea

http://www.tea.co.uk/tea-growing-and-production

www.aboutcoffeeandtea.com

www.enjoyingtea.com

www.planet-tea.com

www.kew.org

I also used a tea time recipe book, 100 Top Teatime Treats by Marguerite Patten.

This will be my last post, so I hope you learned as much as I did about tea!

I began with a tea quote, so I will finish with a tea quote.

"It is better to go three days without food, than one without tea"

-Ancient Chinese proverb.

Tea Around the World

Tea has been around for a long time, and it has been adapted in different ways in different places and has become a key component of everyday life for many people. In different places, the ways of preparing and drinking tea are very diverse.


Starting with the most boring - America. Very little proper appreciation for tea here. 80% of the tea consumed in the USA is cold, iced tea, and any hot tea is mostly black with milk and/or sugar added. Tea isn't an especially popular drink here, most people preferring coffee.


Now, Britain and Ireland. This is one of the top places for tea - drinking in the world. Black tea was the most popular here for a long time, but more recently green and herbal teas have become more sought - after. Britain actually was the first place to try putting milk into tea - and this is one of the most popular ways to consume tea now. Afternoon Tea, the light meal between breakfast and dinner, was created focusing on the tea that was drunk with the meal and this was a huge tradition for many years in Britain and still is to a certain extent.
Ireland especially consumes huge amounts of tea for its size, well over 46 billion cups per year (and I'm only responsible for like half of that). Irish tea is often served stronger than tea in Britain.




Tea is also one of the most popular drinks in India. Darjeeling tea is widely consumed in India, and is considered to be one of the best teas in the world. Indians also consume a lot of black tea, normally with lots of milk, a tradition remaining from the British colonial rule over India. Sometimes spices are also added. Tea is often served with biscuits which are dipped in the tea and eaten before drinking the tea. This is done all over the world now but is thought to have started in India.




And now for China, the 'home' of tea. The tea ceremony in China may be conducted for any number of reasons: to apologise to someone, to express thanks and appreciation for something, as part of a family gathering,the list goes on and on. The ceremony must be conducted in utter peace and in a harmonious environment. The host and participants smell, drink and appreciate all the flavours of the tea. The ceremony symbolises the need to appreciate every time tea is drunk and to find beauty in everything, following Chinese philosophy. Tea is also used in Chinese medicine and cooking.




Finally, the Japanese tea ceremony. In Japan, the tea ceremony is also called the 'Way of Tea'. It is more strict in Japan than in China. It is ideally conducted in a specially - built tatami room in the house of the host. However not everybody has access to one of these so it may be performed in other areas that are equipped for the ceremony. The Japanese ceremony is about focusing yourself on the tiny details in life and perfecting them to induce harmony and tranquility among the participants in the ceremony. This tea ceremony is not conducted much any more as is is a long process needing very exact attention to detail. Not many people have the time to do this every day any more, so it is kept for very special occasions and such. However some people go to special tea schools to perfect the art of tea and hosting a tea ceremony.

Varieties of Tea

The next step in the story of tea is the actual process of changing the magic leaves into the makings of a wonderful cup of happiness. After plucking, all the tea leaves are brought to the tea factory, and from here there are a number of different paths a tea leaf may take, all very different, which is why now I think it's time to explore the different kinds of tea!

We'll start off with the world - widely popular black tea. The leaves arrive at the tea factory and are spread out on mats in the sun for vapourisation, or, as in more modern times, warm air is blown over the leaves. This is the drying process and it takes 60% of the moisture out of the leaves, strengthening and preserving them. This is called drying. Next the leaves are rolled using a rolling machine. The purpose of this is to further remove the liquid from the leaf, to ready the tea for fermentation and oxidisation which are coming next!
Fermentation is essentially what makes black tea black. It is done by exposing the leaves to humid currents of air, to bind the enzymes within the leaves to the oxygen in the air. This will take about 3 hours to complete. Finally there is another drying session which stops the leaves from oxidising too much and is similar to the first drying. At the end of all this, you have some lovely processed black tea leaves to brew!


Green tea (which is my favourite kind!) is next. All these different kinds of tea come from the same kind of tea plant, interestingly. Tea leaves destined to become green tea are first laid out on bamboo mats in the sun for a few hours, like black tea. The next stage is roasting, in which the leaves undergo a stir-frying like operation is a giant pan to allow extra moisture to evaporate and give it its unique flavour. Then the leaves are rolled, but unlike black tea this is done manually as it must be done very gently since the leaves are so delicate. Finally they are heated again and this gives the leaves their shape. And there you have some beautiful green tea.

Now for white tea. White tea is rare and it can be very expensive. It has a very light, delicate texture and soft taste. It receives almost no processing, but the buds are harvested before they are ripe and open. This sets it apart from all the other teas. In the factory, the buds are sun-dried and that is all. This preserves the delicate and refreshing flavour of this tea. It is produced in small quantities, since it is so expensive.

Oolong tea is interesting because it is said to have a flavour between that of black and green tea. The processing is very similar to that of black tea. They are dried on mats for a short period of time, and then there is a process called bruising. This involves placing the leaves in a big basket and shaking it about for a while. This bruises the edges of the leaves which is the main difference between Oolong tea and other teas, because the bruising begins the oxidisation process. However, we don't want them to oxidise too much, so the leaves are brought to the firing room to stop the oxidisation. Finally, they are dried again.

Well, there you have the four main teas and their processing methods. Also, many variations on these teas are available, flavours such as green tea with mint, black tea with citrus and many more.