Tea Culture Tea Overview Tea Preparation

Tea Overview Tea-a beverage made by steeping processed leaves, buds, or twigs of the tea bush (Camellia sinensis) in hot water for a few minutes Tea is the most widely-consumed beverage after water. It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent #avour. The !ve types of tea most commonly found on the market are black tea, oolong tea, green tea, white tea, and pu-erh tea. Tea Culture Tea culture is de!ned by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking. Tea is commonly drunk at social events, and many cultures have created intricate formal ceremonies for these events. Western examples of these are afternoon tea and the tea party. In the east, tea ceremonies di"er among countries, Japan's complex, formal and serene one being the most known. Other examples are the Korean tea ceremony or some traditional ways of brewing tea in Chinese tea culture. Unique customs also exist in Tibet, where tea is commonly brewed with salt and butter, or in the Middle East and Africa where tea plays an important role in many countries. The British empire spread its own interpretation of tea to its colonies, including places like Hong Kong, or Pakistan which had existing tea customs. Di"erent regions also favor di"erent varieties of tea, black, green, or oolong, and use di"erent #avourings, such as milk, sugar or herbs. The temperature and strength of the tea likewise varies widely. Tea Preparation The traditional method of making a cup of tea is to place loose tea leaves, either directly, or in a tea infuser, into a tea pot or teacup and pour hot water over the leaves. After a couple of minutes the leaves are usually removed again, either by removing the infuser, or by straining the tea while serving. Most green teas should be allowed to steep for about three minutes, although some types of tea require as much as ten. The strength of the tea should be varied by changing the amount of tea leaves used, not by changing the steeping time. The amount of tea to be used per amount of water di"ers from tea to tea but one basic recipe may be one slightly heaped teaspoon of tea (about 5 ml) for each teacup of water (200 ml) (8 oz) prepared as above. Stronger teas, such as Assam, to be drunk with milk are often prepared with more leaves, and more delicate high grown teas such as a Darjeeling are prepared with a little less (as the stronger mid-#avors can overwhelm the champagne notes). The best temperature for brewing tea depends on its type. Teas that have little or no oxidation period, such as a green or white tea, are best brewed at lower temperatures between 60 °C and 85 °C (140-185 °F), while teas with longer oxidation periods should be brewed at higher temperatures around 100 °C (212 °F).[43] The higher temperatures are required to extract the large, complex, #avorful phenolic molecules found in fermented tea, although boiling the water reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. Some tea sorts are often brewed several times using the same tea leaves. Historically, in China, tea is divided into a number of infusions. The !rst infusion is immedi- ately poured out to wash the tea, and then the second and further infusions are drunk. The third through !fth are nearly always considered the best infusions of tea, although di"erent teas open up di"erently and may require more infusions of hot water to bring them to life. One way to taste a tea, throughout its entire process, is to add hot water to a cup containing the leaves and after about 30 seconds to taste the tea. As the tea leave unfold (known as "The Agony of the Leaves") they give up various parts of themselves to the water and thus the taste evolves. Continuing this from the very !rst #avours to the time beyond which the tea is quite stewed will allow an appreciation of the tea throughout its entire length. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea //// Images: http://peonyteahouse.com/Pictures/tea_leaves.gif, http://sevencups.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/tea-in-hands.jpg, http://static.howstu"works.com/gif/tea-6.jpg.

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