« Instant tea », similar to freeze-dried instant coffee and an alternative to brewed tea, can be consumed either hot or cold. Additives such as chai, vanilla, honey or fruit, are popular, as is powdered milk. Compressed tea was the most popular form of tea in China during the Tang dynasty. In Mongolia, tea bricks were ubiquitous enough to be used as a form of currency. In addition to a zone 8 climate or warmer, tea plants require at least 1,200 millimetres (47 in) of rainfall per year and prefer acidic soils. Many high-quality tea plants are cultivated at elevations of up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level.

Tea recipes

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  • Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis and Camellia formosensis.
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  • Tea contains small amounts of theobromine and theophylline, which are xanthines and stimulants, similar to caffeine.
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  • Starkov at first refused, seeing no use for a load of dead leaves, but the Khan insisted.
  • Many types of Southern Yunnan Assam tea have been hybridized with the closely related species Camellia taliensis.
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  • The liquor is pale or yellow in colour, as in green tea, and has a unique malty, or smoky, flavour.
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  • Examples of additional processing steps that occur before tea is sold are blending, flavouring, scenting, and decaffeination of teas.

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Around 800 the first seeds were brought to Japan, where cultivation became established by the 13th century. Chinese from Amoy brought tea cultivation to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) in 1810. It is sometimes served with biscuits to be dipped in the tea and eaten before consuming the tea.

Taste Guarantee

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  • Polyphenols found in tea may work with other factors to slow the development of certain types of cancer.
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  • Mosquito bugs can damage leaves both by sucking plant materials, and by the laying of eggs (oviposition) within the plant.
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  • During the Han and Six Dynasties, tea was steamed and pounded, shaped into cake form, slowly dried over low fire, and suspended to air dry.
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  • Even when it becomes just cool enough to be sipped gingerly, it is still a good-tasting cup of tea, if you like your tea strong and sweet.
  • The first published account of methods of planting, processing, and drinking came in 350 ce.
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  • Tea was originally consumed only by Anglo-Indians; however, it became widely popular in India in the 1950s because of a successful advertising campaign by the India Tea Board.
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The Classic of Tea, a treatise on tea and its preparations, was written by the 8th century Chinese writer, Lu Yu. The current Chinese word for tea (茶) appeared in The Classic of Tea by removing a stroke from the word tu. Tea drinking may have begun in the region of Yunnan, where it was used for medicinal purposes. People in ancient East Asia ate tea for centuries, perhaps even millennia, before ever consuming it as a beverage. In 1669 the English East India Company brought China tea from ports in Java to the London market. Later, teas grown on British estates in India and Ceylon reached Mincing Lane, the centre of the tea trade in London.

  • To remain fresh and prevent mold, tea needs to be stored away from heat, light, air, and moisture.
  • Tea smuggling during the 18th century led to the general public being able to afford and consume tea.
  • Since there are no known wild populations of this tea, its origin is speculative.
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  • In the Song dynasty, the tea powder would instead be whisked with hot water in the bowl.
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  • Strainers, tea balls, tea presses, filtered teapots, and infusion bags prevent loose leaves from floating in the tea and over-brewing.
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  • A tea plant will grow into a tree of up to 16 m (52 ft) if left undisturbed, but cultivated plants are generally pruned to waist height for ease of plucking.
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History of the tea trade

The infused leaf is bright red or copper coloured, and the liquor is bright red and slightly astringent but not bitter, bearing the characteristic aroma of tea. Oolong and pouchong teas are produced mostly in southern China and Taiwan from a special variety of the China plant. The liquor is pale or yellow in colour, as in green tea, and has a unique malty, or smoky, flavour. While some teas provide more benefits than others, there’s plenty of evidence that regularly drinking tea offers numerous advantages.

Petersham Nurseries Teahouse

To remain fresh and prevent mold, tea needs to be stored away from heat, light, air, and moisture. Tightly rolled gunpowder tea leaves keep longer than the more open-leafed Chun Mee tea. The addition of milk to tea in Europe was first mentioned in 1680 by Tea Spins the epistolist Madame de Sévigné. Many teas are traditionally drunk with milk in cultures where dairy products are consumed. These teas tend to be very hearty varieties of black tea which can be tasted through the milk, such as Assams, or the East Friesian blend. The Han Chinese do not usually drink milk with tea but the Manchus do, and the elite of the Qing Dynasty of the Chinese Empire continued to do so.

Processing and classification

The British introduced tea culture into India in 1836 and into Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1867. At first they used seeds from China, but later seeds from the Assam plant were used. 80% of office workers say they find out more about what’s going on at work over a cup of tea than any other way.