TEA LEAF

TEA

All Tea is made from one plant call Camellia Sinensis. The Camellia sinensis sinensis sub-species is native to Southeast China. The plants can live for up to 100 years or more and the leaves are harvested year round. Another sub-species called Camellia sinensis assamica is native to India and all tea consumed in the world comes from these two type of plants.




TEA is being group in to 6 Groups:-

  1. GREEN TEA (Non-fermented)
  2. WHITE TEA (Non-fermented)
  3. YELLOW TEA (Slightly-fermented)
  4. RED TEA (Fermented)
  5. OOLONG TEA (Semi-fermented)
  6. BLACK TEA (Post-fermented)

FERMENTATION TYPE:-

NON-FERMENTED  

  1. The leaves are simply picked, then dried and then packed like White Tea.
  2. The leaves may be steamed and flattened known as green tea.
  3. This process permits little oxidation of the leaves and retains the fresh taste.

FERMENTED

  1. The flavour is developed by keeping the leaves warm and moist for a few hours which turns them blacks      the chemicals in the leaves break them down  by reacting with the air.
  2. The leaves are then dried by a variety of methods which affects the taste and then graded and pacakaged.
  3. This Tea can be kept further for more stronger flavour thru years of  fermentation.

SEMI-FERMENTED

  1. The process is the same as the fermented type with the time of oxidation adjusted to make the tea taste more green and bring out certain taste characteristics.

POST-FERMENTED (AGED)  

  1. After processing it may be compressed and stored in cool dry cellars, for many years before it is made available for purchase.
  2. This aging has further mellowing effect and adds complexity to the flavour.

SMOKED TEAS  

  1. A distinctive flavour is imparted to the leaves by exposing them to the smoke   from different types of burning wood.
  2. Smoked teas can range from lightly to heavily smoked.

SCENTED OR FLAVOURED TEA  

  1. These come in 2 types: natural and artificial and there are high or low grades of each type.
  2. High grade Dragon Pearl Jasmine Tea uses jasmine flowers which are overlaid on top of the tea leaves during processing,imparting a delicate flowery flavour.
  3. Tea flavoured with lychee fruit is also very popular and there are some high grade teas of this type available.
  4. Beware of scented teas which use low grade leaves and artifical flavours.

Showing 1–12 of 240 results