GREEN TEA BREAK TIME: BLACK, OOLONG OR GREEN TEA
8:15 PM
Believe it or not, black, oolong and green teas
come from the same tea plant! It is just the processing that makes the
distinction between these three.
Tea plant only comes from two (2) principal
varieties and they are:
1 1. China
plant – This variety is the most ancient, which was originally discovered in
Tibet, China. This is an evergreen bush scientifically known as Camellia Sinensis.
2 2. Assam
plant – This was consequently discovered in Assam, India. This is a tree that is scientifically known
as Sinensis Assamusca.
Get your Green Tea https://herbalandherbs.wordpress.com/ for Php100-150/seedling.
From these two variants, Camellia Sinensis and Assam Sinensis, tea bred to more or less 1,600 varieties. And to be able to process a flavorful and stimulating tea, expert tasters blended 20 or more varieties to produce the best quality for people with discriminating taste. Among these varieties are:
1 1. Black
tea – A fermented tea which drinkers love because of its fast stimulation. An example of which are the English Breakfast
Tea and Russian Tea. Many fermented teas
are blended with other teas like Earl Grey which is produced by adding Bergamot
flavor.
2 2. Oolong
Tea – Semi-fermented tea which produce a light brownish green tea. This tea is
slightly bitter and stimulating.
3 3. Green
Tea – This tea is not fermented and produces greenish yellow tea when
boiled. Its taste is slightly bitter.
This is not a stimulating beverage but has a steadier and lasting effect.
Western people prefer tea to coffee. But there should also be caution in how much
tea one intakes, especially for people with high blood pressure. Tea gives fast
stimulating effect because of alkaloid caffeine.
Alkaloid caffeine contains
caffeine that range from 1 to 5% of the tea itself. Caffeine stimulates the
nervous system, heart, lungs, and promote urine production.
Alkaloid caffeine content is also present in
coffee, colas, mate tea (Paraguariensis),
and cacao in chocolate. Chocolate has minimal content though. One ounce (28.3grams)
of chocolate contains only 10-20mg of alkaloid caffeine.
Tea as a beverage prides itself of a long
history, useful discoveries and commerce that we are benefitting now. Check out
the timeline below!
2700 BC
|
Discovery of china
plant in Tibet, China.
|
800 AD
|
Introduced
in Japan for Zen Buddhists to keep them awake during meditation. Developed into
social drinking and Tea Ceremony practiced until the present.
|
1559 AD
|
Tea
was mentioned as Cha Catai in Gian Battista Ramusio’s literature, Voyages and Travel.
|
1610
|
The Dutch brought China
plant and eventually, Assam plant to Europe.
|
1669
|
The English brought
tea to England.
|
1840
|
Duchess of Bedford
introduced tea drinking in Britain and British Empire. Since then, tea became
the Englishman’s most popular beverage.
|
1904
|
Discovery of iced
tea during the St. Louis World Fair in Minnesota. It was so hot that no one was interested
with hot tea. Englishman Richard Blechynden in his desire to
attract customers placed ice on a glass of tea and the rest is history.
|
1940
|
The discovery of
teabags and instant drink: Thomas
Sullivan decided to sew tea sample tea in cloth as a substitute for the
costly tin can. This was the start of
using teabags.
|
I am lucky
to have a tea tree, which, in my research, belong to the Assam plant variety. Here's an up-close picture of its leaf.
After
boiling for 15 minutes, the tea was, indeed, green and yellow and slightly
bitter. The part of the plant used for tea are
the buds and the first two young leaves for best results, although the other
leaves can also be used.
Get your Green Tea https://herbalandherbs.wordpress.com/ for Php150-180/seedling.
Tea
drinking has been passed on for generations and its long history shows how
challenges of their time brought breakthroughs that we are now enjoying!
With that said, have a
great tea break time!
EM-EM
The Herbal
& Herbs Gardener, MBA
Sources:
Compto’s
Encylopedia 23, Tea p. 44, Encyclopedia Brittanica 1991 Edition
Micropedia
2, Tea p. 764, Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1992
Micropedia 11, Tea p. 596, Encyclopedia
Britannica, 1992
Micropedia 13,
Theales p. 6s45, Encylopedia Britannica, 1992
Micropedia
14, Tea p. 75 5, Encyclopedia Brittanica,
1992
Cal Orey,
Chocolate Compounds (Caffeine), The Healing Powers of Chocolate, 2010, p. 38, New York, Kensington Publishing Corp.
Ingfried
Hobert & Harald Tietze, Final Remark from Harald, Guava Medicine for Modern
Diseases, 2009, pp. 82- 83, New Delhi,
India, B. Jain Publishers(P) Ltd.
2 comments
i like Green Tea,Black Tea,but the favourite is Oolong Tea...
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading the article. Hope you enjoy reading more as I share my effort to live green.
Delete