TEA HISTORY AND TEA PRODUCTION
Tea history is very fascinating. There are many folktales as to how tea was discovered.
Discovery of tea—lost among folktales
Chinese story tellers
Emperor Shen Nung
• Father of agriculture & herbal medicine
• Lived 3,000 years before Christ
• Taught his people value of cultivating land
• Taught wisdom of boiling water for safe drinking
One day leaf from CAMELLIA bush was floating in his bowl of water
Sipping the concoction discovered drink far more refreshing and
exhilarating than plain water
Japanese story tellers
Origin of tea arises from an act of atonement
Central character—missionary monk—Daruma
Brought Zen Buddhism from India to Japan
520 A.D.—began a 9 year meditation in cave-temple near Canton
• Growing weary after many months staring at a stone wall, he fell asleep
• Awaking, Daruma was so dismayed he cut off his lazy eyelids and threw them to ground
• There, according to legend, the first tea plant grew
o Provided Daruma with an elixir which kept him alert during remaining years of his reverie
618-906 A.D.—tea’s golden age
China was world’s largest empire
Mecca for traders
Tea was a flavorful commodity
Tea was pounded and shaped into molds called tea bricks
Easy to transport
Simply broke off chunk & popped into water
Some of world’s first energy bars were concocted
Mixture of tea leaves with salt, garlic, dried fish
1368-1644 A.D.
Black, green, and oolong teas developed
Teapot became indispensable
Tea introduced in England by Dutch traders in 1600’s
Remained drink of aristocrats until 1650’s
Advertised as cure all
Considered a man’s drink until King Charles II’s consort introduced tea at court as the fashionable breakfast drink to replace ale
Tea came to N. America mid-17th century—Dutch settling on Small Island—now called New York
Popularity in America declined due to an ill-conceived political maneuver
• British government levied a special tax on teas destined for colonies
• Colonies protected with boycott
• As tea sales plummeted—British tried to force colonies to take surplus
• Dec. 1773—Boston Tea Party
o Dunked tea in harbor
o Set stage for Am. Revolution
It was decades before America began to drink tea again
Now—extremely popular drink—second only to cola, when iced
Tea is a universal beverage
• Staple in China
• Religious tradition in Japan
• Equivalent of a handshake in Morocco
• Britain’s eccentric way of telling time
Iced Tea—1904
• St. Louis World’s Fair
• Scorching summer
• Richard Blechynden discovered ice tea by accident
• Was attending fair to promote Indian black tea
• No one willing to try steaming brew
• Out of desperation poured hot tea over ice
• Quenching new beverage invented
All tea comes from the CAMELLIA SINENSIS bush
Evergreen tea plant
If you brewed a pot of tea with freshly picked leaves you would have a somewhat bitter & watery drink
What gives tea its special character is the way fresh leaves are treated after harvesting
Three major methods of processing freshly picked leaves
Each results in a different category of tea
• White
• Green
• Oolong
• Black
• Puerh
What sets these apart is amount of fermentation that is allowed to take place
Fermentation—chemical reaction (oxidation) that occurs between air and the leaf’s natural juices
Fermenting tea has nothing to do with alcohol
GREEN TEA
• Delicate
• Unfermented liquor
• Most resembles to taste of tea leaf in natural state
• Examples:
o Gunpowder
o Pearl dew
Described as having light, slightly sweet, herbaceous flavor
(Give sample of Gunpowder—made from choice, young tips--tightly rolled so stay fresh longer—ideal for travelers—said to be high in fluoride—tea of choice in frontier America)
To create green tea
• Freshly picked leaves are first steamed to destroy enzymes necessary for fermentation
• Then, pliable leaves are rolled, forcing the cellular structures to break down & release their aromatic juices
• A gentle heating or firing follows to reduce water content
• Firing is repeated until leaves are dry
• Last step is grading
o Distinguishing the leaf’s shape & age
o Choicest grade is Gunpowder
Young leaves rolled into ting balls—BB shot
o Other grades
Young Hyson—middle-aged leaves—rolled or twisted
Imperial—older leaves made in gunpowder fashion
Several lesser grades ending in dust
Many steps are now mechanized—can still find hand rolled
Hand rolled—worker goes over trays 200 or more times rolling leaves against tray with palms—how he rolls determines shape—twisted, curled, flat, or pellet shaped.
Shapes determine how quickly tea will infuse with water and eventually how your cup of tea tastes.
BLACK TEA
Familiar
• Lipton
• English Breakfast
• Iced Ceylon
Most popular tea
Tastes least like natural leaf
(Sample—Darjeeling—champagne of teas—finest of India’s unblended teas—grown on slopes of Himalayas 1,000-6,000 feet above sea level—2nd flush picked in May and June—has a fruity with a slightly sweet aftertaste.)
Instead of steaming, harvested leaves are placed on large, drying trays and allowed to wither until limp
Depending on type of tea, wither takes place in sun or shade
Then leaves bruised and rolled either by hand or machine
• Which gives air and aromatic juices a chance to mix
• Since enzymes and bacteria are present, fermentation can begin in the humid, climate-controlled fermenting rooms
• Fermenting/oxidation process takes just a few hours
Once green leaves turn a coppery red, the leaves are ready to be dried (fired) to stop further fermentation.
Black tea is graded according to size, not quality.
After final firing, tea consists of a jumbled mixture of whole leaves, broken leaves, bits of branches and very small particles of tea dust.
Sifters with graduating mesh separate pieces according to size
Sorting gives tea a better appearance and insures and even brewing time.
Two main grades of black tea
• Leaf
• Broken
Subdivisions of leaf
• Orange Pekoe
• Pekoe
• Souchong
• Each refers to a particular size, color or texture
Broken grade is also divided into smaller sizes which are ideal for quick brewing & tea bags.
Orange Pekoe
• A thin, twisted black tea leaf that often has a yellow tip
• Usually a blend of Ceylon teas
• Not
o A citrus flavor
o Exotic blend
o Far away tea estate
OOLONG TEA
Half way between green and black
Withering and fermentation times are cut
Evokes qualities of both black and green tea
(Sample—Oolong Black Dragon Tea from China—begins as a green tea—allowed to ferment for a couple of hours—bold, distinct flavor—favorite early American drink.)
Graded according to quality
• Choice—best quality
• Finest to choice
• Finest
• Fine to finest
• Fine
• Etc.—ends with Standard
Quality refers not only to character of leaf and how it is handled
• Also refers to time of year it was harvested
• Examples:
o Best Formosa oolongs are grown in summer months
o Usually carry Finest grade
o Winter harvest—usually Good to Standard grade
• Formosa oolong is considered best
SCENTED TEAS
• Jasmine
• Chrysanthemum
• Magnolia
• Rose
(Sample Rose Tea)
Jasmine—gather blossoms in early morning before they’ve bloomed
• When evening comes blossoms open their heavily scented petals
• They are either mixed in or placed beside green or oolong tea
• After several hours, dry leaves absorb sweet aroma
• Process is repeated until desired amount of aroma and flavor is absorbed
• Technology today speeds this process
• With more expensive Jasmine tea, blossoms are hand picked out of tea before packaging.
FLAVORED TEAS
• Orange
• Apricot
• Peach
• Black currant
• Vanilla
(Sample—either apricot or black currant)
Scent or flavoring is sprayed onto the leaves which are gently heated to absorb flavoring
SPICED TEAS
Have spices and fruit rinds intermixed with their leaves to give their characteristic flavors
(Sample—Christmas tea or orange spice or cranberry orange)
BLENDING TEAS
• Tea blender’s responsibility to maintain quality and consistency by blending the teas
• He spends hours each day tasting
• Unblended, estate-grown teas can be found in catalogs—but tend to be expensive
(Sample—NV Blend—Ceylon, Indian black tea with pinch of Lapsang Souchong (smoky flavor)
HERBAL TEAS
• Not made from Camellia-Sinensis (tea bush)
• Any drink made by infusing parts of an herb or plant with boiling water
• In Europe called a tisane
(Sample—Strawberry Kiwi—dried strawberries, kiwis, and other fruits)
Usually steeped between 5-10 minutes
Different herbals have different effects on body
Examples:
• Peppermint settles stomach
• Chamomile relaxes
• Dandelion aid to digestion
• Ginseng—long and healthy life
• Hyssop—medicinal herb since ancient Biblical times when it was used to heal open wounds
• Echinacea—canker sores
Tea Instructor and Education
Tea Curriculum for Victorian Afternoon Tea Class
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