TYPES OF TEA: PROCESSING MAKES
THE DIFFERENCE
Most
excellent tea, like excellent coffee, is grown high in the
mountains. Our famous Formosa Oolong and our India Assam
black tea are, however, grown in the lowlands.
The
hundreds of different teas are each one of three types:
green tea, oolong tea, and black tea. They all come from
the same tea bush called Camellia sinensis. They
differ only in the degree of fermentation or oxidation the
leaves undergo after they are picked. When you cut an apple
and sit it on the table it turns brown. This browning represents
the degree of fermentation in the tea leaves during processing.
- Green
tea is unfermented. Leaves are plucked
and immediately steamed or fired (heated.) This kills
the fermentation enzymes so none takes place. That is
why the leaves are green, the liquor so light and the
flavor so vegetal or mild.
- Oolong
tea is partially fermented. Leaves
are picked and allowed to ferment for four or five hours
in direct sunlight. Next, firing halts fermentation when
it is half complete. Therefore, the leaves and the liquor
have more color than for green, but not as dark as black
tea. The flavor of a oolong tea is a bit more complex
than a green tea. Some amazing fruit or flowery notes
are trademarks of oolongs.
- Black
tea is fully fermented. Leaves are dried
for a day after picking. Then they are allowed to fully
ferment before firing stops fermentation. The resulting
leaves and liquor are usually darker than an oolong. The
flavor of a black tea depends on where it’s grown.
Tannin (a puckering quality) is often evident in black
teas.
- Herbal
tea contains no real tea, but rather herbs
and or tisanes.
All
of our teas (except English Breakfast tea) are processed
by the traditional orthodox method. This generally insures
that the tea leaves are in large pieces (or whole.) The
most flavorful and aromatic teas are processed in this way.
Our
English Breakfast tea, however, is blended by a British
tea broker and processed using CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) methods.
This method is used for lower grades of tea and results
in a finely chopped up tea. Our English Breakfast tea is
a brisk, fast-infusing black tea blend that stands up well
to milk and sugar for those who prefer it.
Teabags
use tea dust, the leftovers after the tasty whole tea leaves
are sold. We carry only whole leaf teas because they contain
the full flavor and aroma of these outstanding teas.
Tea
bags may seem convenient, yet we give up most of a fine
tea's flavor and aroma by using them. By investing a few
minutes at home to brew these leaves in an infuser, we can
treat ourselves to an incredible tea adventure. Teas also
have many health-giving properties.
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