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 Php100-150/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.