Week 11: Tea

One of the positive aspects of living in the UK is that I do not feel too much of a weirdo in preferring tea to coffee most of the times. I love a good, hot cup of tea in winter. And I am not ashamed to admit I quite enjoy it during the summer months too.

Which explains why, once I got the chance to participate to a lesson about tea, with a tea tasting session, I could barely hide my excitement.

First things first, some history. How did tea came into being? Who invented it? Who discovered it? According to the legend, tea was first discovered by the legendary Chinese emperor and herbalist, Shennong, in 2737 BCE.  It is said that the emperor liked his drinking water boiled before he drank it so it would be clean, so that is what his servants did. One day, on a trip to a distant region, he and his army stopped to rest. A servant began boiling water for him to drink, and a dead leaf from the wild tea bush fell into the water. It turned a brownish color, but it was unnoticed and presented to the emperor anyway. The emperor drank it and found it very refreshing, and tea came into being.

You might be just s surprised as I was to learn that there is only one Tea Plant. Which is a tree, that has two subspecies: camelia sinensis sinensis for Chinese teas and camellia sinensis assamica for Indian teas. So tea is a tree. But beware! Tea Tree Oil does not come from it. It comes from a plant called malaleuca alternifolia. Confused? There is more!

All teas come from one of the two species of the camellia sinensis. What makes them different is how the leaves are processed and their level of oxidation. There are 6 types of teas:

 White tea: wilted and unoxidized

- Yellow tea: unwilted and unoxidized, but allowed to yellow

- Green tea: unwilted and unoxidized

- Oolong: wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized

- Black: wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidiezed

- Pu-her: green tea that has been allowed to ferment/compost.

What we call herbal tea is not tea at all. It is an infusion, with no tea leaves in it, and therefore (most of the time) caffeine free.

The name of teas we are familiar with are blends. For example English Breakfast is a blend of teas from Assam, Ceylon and Kenya. It was created to complement heavy foods like the one that can be found in a full English Breakfast (hence the name and the strong taste).

Earl Grey is black tea with bergamot. It is named after the 2^nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister in the 1830s. The tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, the family seat in Northumberland, using bergamot in particular to offset the preponderance of lime in the local water. Lady Grey used it to entertain in London as a political hostess, and it proved so popular that she was asked if it could be sold to others.

So what is the perfect cup of tea like? Some says that green teas are the healthiest and help you losing weight; some suggest drinking black tea instead of coffee. Some add milk and sugar, others lemon and honey. What to choose?

My answer to this is that the perfect cup of tea is the one you like in this very moment. You can choose a tea that would compliment what you’re eating (a strong black tea is perfect for salty foods like eggs and bacon. A fruity white tea would be lovely with scones). Or you can choose the tea that compliment your mood best (I adore a cup of black tea in the morning, and a blend of chamomile and mint before going to sleep). Add honey, or milk, or nothing according to your taste. And you cannot go wrong.

Now if you will excuse me, my kettle is ready. Time for tea.