4. Teasorts and their Production

1.What is Tea?
2.The Tea plant
3. History of Tea
5. Tea grades
6. Tea regions
7. How to brew a perfect cup of Tea
8. Tea and Health

Everything brewed from the leaf of the tea plant is tea.
Everything else is something else!
We will use here the term tea for the "real" tea, otherwise mention the origin (herbal, fruit, Mate etc.)
All tea comes from the same plant. It was thought at one time that green and black teas were made from different plants. In fact it is only the different plucking and processing methods that produce the different types - green, black, oolong, white, yellow, Pu-erh or scented.
Many different varieties within each category result in hundreds of teas from all over the world.
The leaves are plucked as the new shoots or "flush" are beginning to grow (two leaves one bud). These tiny young shoots and their thin, unopened buds produce the most delicate and flavourful teas. Picked and processed by hand only these delicate young leaves go into the making of a premium tea.

Black tea is the most common tea in Europe. Although the first tea that came to Europe was green, black tea seems to be more suited for our taste and has displaced green tea almost completely.
The picked leaf undergoes a full fermentation process composed of six basic steps - withering, rolling, sorting, fermenting, firing (or drying) and grading.

1. Withering
The leaves are exposed to hot air for several hours in order to reduce their water content by 50% to 60%. This step starts to free up the enzyme responsible for oxidizing the leaf (fermentation). It also softens the leaves, preparing them to undergo subsequent operations without breaking. The leaves must not be broken or bruised (except for oolong).
2. Rolling - The leaves are rolled (by hand or mechanically) allowing the essential oils to spread and to impregnate the buds. The aroma of the tea depends on these essential oils.
3. Sorting - A calibrated screen is used to sort the tea. The smallest leaves go directly to the next stage, while the larger, tougher ones undergo a second rolling.
4. Fermentation - This entails the chemical reaction of the leaves and their components (polyphenols) with air, humidity and heat. This is a crucial moment, one in which the aroma, bite and colour of the tea (turns coppery red) are determined. If this step is stopped too soon the tea is greenish and can have a metallic after-taste; if it is fermented too much it becomes sweetish and loses both quality and aroma.
5. Firing - The characteristics of the tea become fixed at this stage (colour of the leave turns black). Drying the leaves in the oven stops the fermentation process. If the leaves are not dried enough (if more than 12% humidity remains), the tea may be attacked by mould. If they are dried too much (if less than 2% to 3% humidity remain) the result is a tea without aroma since the aroma-carrying elements remain largely insoluble.
6. Grading - The leaves are separated by size or grade. This operation also cools and aerates the leaves.

Once this process is complete 100 kg of fresh leaves will have yielded 20 -25kg of black tea.
Soluble tea is a black tea that has undergone the usual production steps but that is dried even further and reduced to powder. This type of tea has the advantage of being easier to crate and ship for export. It is also ideal for the two tea innovations of the 20th century: iced tea and the tea bag (see our range here).

Green tea is often referred to as "unfermented" tea.

1. Firing - The leaves are placed for 20 to 30 seconds in large iron basins heated to about 100° Celsius. This operation destroys the enzyme that causes fermentation. The leaves then remain green. In Japan this process is accomplished by exposing the leaves to steam.
2. Rolling - As for black tea the smaller and more tightly rolled the leaf the more robust the tea as more components are released.
3. Drying - This allows some evaporation of the water contained in the leaves to prevent mould.
4. Sorting - This is the step where the grades are separated out. Just as for black tea the process uses sieves or screens of different calibers (see our range here) .

Oolong means "black dragon" and is generally referred to as "semi-fermented" tea.
It is produced only in China and Taiwan in similar way as black tea (withering, rolling, fermentation, firing). The difference is that the leaves are wilted in direct sunlight and then shaken in bamboo baskets to lightly bruise the edges.
In the next step only the bruised edges are fermented the core of the leaf is still green hence half fermented.
Oolongs are always whole leaf teas, never broken by rolling.
They have a distinctive peachy flavour (Wu Yi Yan Cha Oolong).

White tea is produced on a very limited scale in China and Sri Lanka.
The new buds are plucked before they open and allowed to dry. The curled-up buds have a silvery appearance and produce a very pale, straw-coloured tea with a fine, aromatic and mild character (unfermented).
This used to be the tea for the Chinese Emperor. It is said that only white dressed virgins were allowed the pluck the buds with their mouth in the early morning to keep the tea as pure as possible (White Bud).

Yellow tea is only produced in China, often made from the leaves of wild growing tea bushes.
In the past monkeys were trained to pluck the leaves because they often grow in inaccessible terrain.
It is best placed between green and Oolong tea.
The making of yellow tea is similar to green tea (unfermented). After firing and rolling the leaves are stored in small piles in a room with a constant humidity for about two hours. During this procedure the leaves get their yellow colour.
The range of sorts is very limited and there are only small quantities available.
The aroma of Yellow tea is famous, with hints of chocolate and coffee (Huan Chan Mao Feng).

Pu-erh tea is originally from South-China (Yunnan). The production is different to this of black or green tea.

1. A basic tea is produced (Qing Mao). The freshly plucked leaves are wilted, then slightly roasted, rolled, shaped (to bring it into leaf form again), dried, rolled, shaped and dried again.
2. It is fermented with water (which includes certain necessary bacteria) over a period of 40-50 days. The little piles of tea have to be turned and watered regulary and the right mix of temperature (under 60°C) and humidity is crucial.
3. The fermentation is stopped by treating the tea with hot air (150°C) which also kills the bacteria.

Pu-erh is often sold in different forms (nests, squares, biscuit). Due to its unique manufacturing process Pu-erh tea posses a distinctive earthy flavour (Pu-Erh lemon).

Scented tea is created when the additional flavourings are mixed with the leaf at a final stage before the tea is packed. For Jasmine tea (the oldest existing scented tea, invented in China), whole jasmine blossoms are added to green, black or oolong tea. Fruit-flavoured teas are generally made by blending the fruits' essential oils with tea (for example Earl Grey is black or green tea mixed with the oil of the Bergamot).

Apart from the classical teas the brewing of parts of a plant was and is practised all over the world. Here are some "non classical" teas:

Mate tea comes from South America. It was found in ancient Indian graves and has a long tradition there.
The leaves are plucked from the mate bush (Ilex paraguayensis St.- Hil.) and briefly heated for dehydration.
Afterwards the leaves are fermented for about 30- 45 days and finally dried.
The result is green mate with a slightly sweet-sour, smokey taste. A certain percentage is being roasted to a stronger, smokier taste (roasted mate).
Mate tea is very popular in Argentina, Brasil and Paraguay.
It contains 0.5-3% caffeine which has a coffee like effect due to the absence of tannic acid (unlike green and black tea).
In South America a little pumkin is filled half with mate leaves and then filled up with boiling water. The quite strong brew is sucked in through a tube. In Europe mate is brewed like other tea (max. 5min brewing time).

Rooibush tea is made from the leaf and bark of a South African bush (Aspalathus linearis, in Afrikaans: Rooibos).
The name "red bush" comes from the fact that the plant turns fire red in the seventh year and dies. It was discovered in the 19th century north of Capetown.
Rooibush is choped, fermented for 8-24 hours (turns into red-brown colour) and then dried.
The taste is fresh-fruity and there is no acid or caffein in Roibush tea. It's alkaline nature and high percentage of vitamin C and vital minerals makes this tea an ideal drink for children, expectant women and it is perfect to drink at nighttime.
Most Roibush comes as scented tea (Roibush Applestrudel).
The brewing time is 5-10 minutes and it is made like normal tea.

Lapacho tea also comes from Sout America.
Lapacho is a tree (Tabebuia serratifolia, up to 20m with beautiful red blossoms) whose bark is used to brew tea (boil for 4-5 minutes, brew for another 15-20min.).
The list of essential, healthy ingredience is long. Lapacho is detoxicating, blocks inflamation and cancer growth, strenghtens the immune system and wound healing, lowers high blood pressure and fever and is used against depression.

Herbal tea is a infusion of one or multiple herbs and/or spices.
In the past they were mostly used as medicine. With the progress of medical science herbs fell into oblivion. Nowadays herbal infusions are re-discovered. They do not contain caffeine but minerals and vitamins instead. Best known are camomile, nettle and mint infusions (see our range here).

Fruit tea is made from fruits of all kind. The range of these teas is virtually unlimited. The basis is usually hibiscus, hawthorn and apple enriched with different fruits and flavours. They can be drunk hot and cold and at any time of the day (see here).

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