Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly

prepared by pouring hot or boiling water
over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis,
an evergreen shrub (bush) native to East
Asia.[3] After water, it is the most widely
consumed drink in the world.[4] There are
many different types of tea; some, like
Darjeeling and Chinese greens, have a
cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent
flavour,[5] while others have vastly different
profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral or
grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect
in humans primarily due to its caffeine
content.[6]
 Tea

Longjing green tea being infused in a gaiwan

Type Hot or cold beverage

Country of origin China[1]

Introduced First recorded in China

in 59 BC, though
probably originated
earlier[2]
Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from Köhler's Medicinal
Plants, 1897

Tea plant

Tea originated in Southwest China during

the Shang dynasty, where it was used as a
medicinal drink.[7] An early credible record
of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD,
in a medical text written by Hua Tuo.[8] It
was popularized as a recreational drink
during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea
drinking spread to other East Asian
countries. Portuguese priests and
merchants introduced it to Europe during
the 16th century.[9] During the 17th century,
drinking tea became fashionable among
Britons, who started large-scale
production and commercialization of the
plant in India. Combined, China and India
supplied 62% of the world's tea in 2016.
The term herbal tea refers to drinks not
made from Camellia sinensis: infusions of
fruit, leaves, or other parts of the plant,
such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or
rooibos. These are sometimes[10] called
tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent
confusion with tea made from the tea
plant.

Etymology

Tea plantation in Munnar,Kerala, India

The Chinese character for tea is 茶,
originally written with an extra stroke as 荼
(pronounced tú, used as a word for a bitter
herb), and acquired its current form during
the Tang Dynasty.[11][12][13] The word is
pronounced differently in the different
varieties of Chinese, such as chá in
Mandarin, zo and dzo in Wu Chinese, and
ta and te in Min Chinese.[14] One
suggestion is that the different
pronunciations may have arisen from the
different words for tea in ancient China, for
example tú ( 荼) may have given rise to
tê;[15] historical phonologists however
argued that the cha, te and dzo all arose
from the same root with a reconstructed
pronunciation dra, which changed due to
sound shift through the centuries.[16] There
were other ancient words for tea, though
茗
ming ( ) is the only other one still in
common use.[16][17] It has been proposed
that the Chinese words for tea, tu, cha and
ming, may have been borrowed from the
Austro-Asiatic languages of people who
inhabited southwest China; cha for
example may have been derived from an
archaic Austro-Asiatic root *la, meaning
"leaf".[18]
Tea plantation in Assam, India

The few exceptions of words for tea that

do not fall into the three broad groups of
te, cha and chai are the minor languages
from the botanical homeland of the tea
plant from which the Chinese words for
tea might have been borrowed
originally:[16] northeast Burma and
southwest Yunnan. Examples are la
(meaning tea purchased elsewhere) and
miiem (wild tea gathered in the hills) from
the Wa people, letpet in Burmese and
meng in Lamet meaning "fermented tea
leaves", as well as miang in Thai
("fermented tea").

Most Chinese languages, such as

Mandarin and Cantonese, pronounce it
along the lines of cha, but Hokkien and
Teochew Chinese varieties along the
Southern coast of China pronounce it like
teh. These two pronunciations have made
their separate ways into other languages
around the world.[19]

Starting in the early 17th century, the

Dutch played a dominant role in the early
European tea trade via the Dutch East
India Company.[20] The Dutch borrowed
the word for "tea" (thee) from Min Chinese,
either through trade directly from Hokkien
speakers in Formosa where they had
established a port, or from Malay traders
in Bantam, Java.[21] The Dutch then
introduced to other European languages
this Min pronunciation for tea, including
English tea, French thé, Spanish té, and
German Tee.[22] This pronunciation is also
the most common form worldwide.[23] The
Cha pronunciation came from the
Cantonese chàh of Guangzhou (Canton)
and the ports of Hong Kong and Macau,
which were also major points of contact,
especially with the Portuguese traders
who settled Macau in the 16th century.
The Portuguese adopted the Cantonese
pronunciation "chá", and spread it to
India.[21] However, the Korean and
Japanese pronunciations of cha were not
from Cantonese, but were borrowed into
Korean and Japanese during earlier
periods of Chinese history.

A third form, the increasingly widespread

chai, came from Persian ‫[ ﭼﺎی‬tʃɒːi] chay.
Both the châ and chây forms are found in
Persian dictionaries.[24] They are derived
from the Northern Chinese pronunciation
of chá,[25] which passed overland to
Central Asia and Persia, where it picked up
the Persian grammatical suffix -yi before
passing on to Russian as чай ([tɕæj],
chay), Arabic as ‫( ﺷﺎي‬pronounced shay
[ʃæiː] due to the lack of a /t͡ʃ/ sound in
Arabic), Urdu as ‫ ﭼﺎﺋﮯ‬chay, Hindi as चाय
chāy, Turkish as çay, etc.[26] English has all
three forms: cha or char (both pronounced
/tʃɑː/), attested from the 16th century; tea,
from the 17th; and chai, from the 20th.
However, the form chai refers specifically
to a black tea mixed with sugar or honey,
spices and milk in contemporary
English.[27]

Origin and history

A 19th-century Japanese painting depicting
Shennong: Chinese legends credit Shennong with the
invention of tea.[28]

Tea plants are native to East Asia, and

probably originated in the borderlands of
north Burma and southwestern China.[29]

Chinese (small leaf) tea

Chinese Western Yunnan Assam (large
leaf) tea
 Indian Assam (large leaf) tea
Chinese Southern Yunnan Assam (large
leaf) tea

Chinese (small leaf) type tea (C. sinensis

var. sinensis) may have originated in
southern China possibly with hybridization
of unknown wild tea relatives. However,
since there are no known wild populations
of this tea, the precise location of its origin
is speculative.[30][31]

Given their genetic differences forming

distinct clades, Chinese Assam type tea
(C. sinensis var. assamica) may have two
different parentages – one being found in
southern Yunnan (Xishuangbanna, Pu'er
City) and the other in western Yunnan
(Lincang, Baoshan). Many types of
Southern Yunnan assam tea have been
hybridized with the closely related species
Camellia taliensis. Unlike Southern Yunnan
Assam tea, Western Yunnan Assam tea
shares many genetic similarities with
Indian Assam type tea (also C. sinensis
var. assamica). Thus, Western Yunnan
Assam tea and Indian Assam tea both
may have originated from the same parent
plant in the area where southwestern
China, Indo-Burma, and Tibet meet.
However, as the Indian Assam tea shares
no haplotypes with Western Yunnan
Assam tea, Indian Assam tea is likely to
have originated from an independent
domestication. Some Indian Assam tea
appears to have hybridized with the
species Camellia pubicosta.[30][31]

Assuming a generation of 12 years,

Chinese small leaf tea is estimated to
have diverged from Assam tea around
22,000 years ago while Chinese Assam tea
and Indian Assam tea diverged 2,800
years ago. The divergence of Chinese
small leaf tea and Assam tea would
correspond to the last glacial
maximum.[30][31]
Tea drinking may have begun in the region
of Yunnan region, when it was used for
medicinal purposes. It is also believed that
in Sichuan, "people began to boil tea
leaves for consumption into a
concentrated liquid without the addition of
other leaves or herbs, thereby using tea as
a bitter yet stimulating drink, rather than as
a medicinal concoction."[7]

Chinese legends attribute the invention of

tea to the mythical Shennong (in central
and northern China) in 2737 BC although
evidence suggests that tea drinking may
have been introduced from the southwest
of China (Sichuan/Yunnan area).[28] The
earliest written records of tea come from
China. The word tú 荼 appears in the
Shijing and other ancient texts to signify a
苦菜), and it is
kind of "bitter vegetable" (
possible that it referred to many different
plants such as sowthistle, chicory, or
smartweed,[32] as well as tea.[16] In the
Chronicles of Huayang, it was recorded
that the Ba people in Sichuan presented tu
to the Zhou king. The Qin later conquered
the state of Ba and its neighbour Shu, and
according to the 17th century scholar Gu
Yanwu who wrote in Ri Zhi Lu ( ⽇知錄): "It
was after the Qin had taken Shu that they
learned how to drink tea."[2] Another
possible early reference to tea is found in
a letter written by the Qin Dynasty general
Liu Kun who requested that some "real
tea" to be sent to him.[33]

The earliest known physical evidence[34] of

tea was discovered in 2016 in the
mausoleum of Emperor Jing of Han in
Xi'an, indicating that tea from the genus
Camellia was drunk by Han Dynasty
emperors as early as the 2nd century
BC.[35] The Han dynasty work, "The
Contract for a Youth", written by Wang Bao
in 59 BC,[36] contains the first known
reference to boiling tea. Among the tasks
listed to be undertaken by the youth, the
contract states that "he shall boil tea and
fill the utensils" and "he shall buy tea at
Wuyang".[2] The first record of tea
cultivation is also dated to this period (the
reign of Emperor Xuan of Han), during
which tea was cultivated on Meng
Mountain ( 蒙⼭) near Chengdu. [37] Another
early credible record of tea drinking dates
to the third century AD, in a medical text by
Hua Tuo, who stated, "to drink bitter t'u
constantly makes one think better."[38]
However, before the mid-8th century Tang
dynasty, tea-drinking was primarily a
southern Chinese practice.[39] It became
widely popular during the Tang Dynasty,
when it was spread to Korea, Japan, and
Vietnam.
Through the centuries, a variety of
techniques for processing tea, and a
number of different forms of tea, were
developed. During the Tang dynasty, tea
was steamed, then pounded and shaped
into cake form,[40] while in the Song
dynasty, loose-leaf tea was developed and
became popular. During the Yuan and
Ming dynasties, unoxidized tea leaves
were first pan-fried, then rolled and dried, a
process that stops the oxidation process
that turns the leaves dark, thereby allowing
tea to remain green. In the 15th century,
oolong tea, in which the leaves were
allowed to partially oxidize before pan-
frying, was developed.[39] Western tastes,
however, favoured the fully oxidized black
tea, and the leaves were allowed to oxidize
further. Yellow tea was an accidental
discovery in the production of green tea
during the Ming dynasty, when apparently
sloppy practices allowed the leaves to turn
yellow, but yielded a different flavour as a
result.[41]

Tea-weighing station north of Batumi, Russian Empire

before 1915
Tea was first introduced to Portuguese
priests and merchants in China during the
16th century, at which time it was termed
chá.[9] The earliest European reference to
tea, written as Chiai, came from Delle
navigationi e viaggi written by a Venetian,
Giambattista Ramusio, in 1545.[42] The
first recorded shipment of tea by a
European nation was in 1607 when the
Dutch East India Company moved a cargo
of tea from Macao to Java, then two years
later, the Dutch bought the first
assignment of tea which was from Hirado
in Japan to be shipped to Europe.[43] Tea
became a fashionable drink in The Hague
in the Netherlands, and the Dutch
introduced the drink to Germany, France
and across the Atlantic to New
Amsterdam (New York).[44]

The first record of tea in English came

from a letter written by Richard Wickham,
who ran an East India Company office in
Japan, writing to a merchant in Macao
requesting "the best sort of chaw" in 1615.
Peter Mundy, a traveller and merchant who
came across tea in Fujian in 1637, wrote,
"chaa – only water with a kind of herb
boyled in it ".[45][46] Tea was sold in a
coffee house in London in 1657, Samuel
Pepys tasted tea in 1660, and Catherine of
Braganza took the tea-drinking habit to the
British court when she married Charles II
in 1662. Tea, however, was not widely
consumed in Britain until the 18th century,
and remained expensive until the latter
part of that period. British drinkers
preferred to add sugar and milk to black
tea, and black tea overtook green tea in
popularity in the 1720s.[47] Tea smuggling
during the 18th century led to the general
public being able to afford and consume
tea. The British government removed the
tax on tea, thereby eliminating the
smuggling trade by 1785.[48] In Britain and
Ireland, tea was initially consumed as a
luxury item on special occasions, such as
religious festivals, wakes, and domestic
work gatherings. The price of tea in Europe
fell steadily during the 19th century,
especially after Indian tea began to arrive
in large quantities; by the late 19th century
tea had become an everyday beverage for
all levels of society.[49] The popularity of
tea also informed a number of historical
events – the Tea Act of 1773 provoked the
Boston Tea Party that escalated into the
American Revolution. The need to address
the issue of British trade deficit caused by
the Manchu Emperor Kangxi who
proclaimed that "China was the center of
the world, possessing everything they
could ever want or need and banned
foreign products from being sold in China!"
He also decreed in 1685 "that all goods
bought from China must be paid for in
Silver Coin or Bullion". This caused all
other Nation's Traders to find some other
product, opium, to sell to China to earn
back the silver they were required to paid
for tea, jade and silk. Later, Chinese
Government attempts to curtail the trade
in opium without relaxing trade restrictions
on foreign goods, resulted in the Opium
Wars.[50]

Chinese small leaf type tea was

introduced into India in 1836 by the British
in an attempt to break the Chinese
monopoly on tea.[51] In 1841, Archibald
Campbell brought seeds of Chinese tea
from the Kumaun region and experimented
with planting tea in Darjeeling. The Alubari
tea garden was opened in 1856 and
Darjeeling tea began to be produced.[52] In
1848, Robert Fortune was sent by the East
India Company on a mission to China to
bring the tea plant back to Great Britain.
He began his journey in high secrecy as
his mission occurred in the lull between
the Anglo-Chinese First Opium War (1839–
1842) and Second Opium War (1856–
1860).[53] The Chinese tea plants he
brought back were introduced to the
Himalayas, though most did not survive.
The British had discovered that a different
variety of tea was endemic to Assam and
the northeast region of India and that it
was used by the local Singpho people, and
these were then grown instead of the
Chinese tea plant and then were
subsequently hybridized with Chinese
small leaf type tea as well as likely closely
related wild tea species. Using the Chinese
planting and cultivation techniques, the
British launched a tea industry by offering
land in Assam to any European who
agreed to cultivate it for export.[51] Tea
was originally consumed only by
anglicized Indians; however, it became
widely popular in India in the 1950s
because of a successful advertising
campaign by the India Tea Board.[51]

Cultivation and harvesting

Tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka

Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant

that grows mainly in tropical and
subtropical climates.[54] Some varieties
can also tolerate marine climates and are
cultivated as far north as Cornwall in
England,[55] Perthshire in Scotland,[56]
Washington state in the United States,[57]
and Vancouver Island in Canada.[58] In the
Southern Hemisphere, tea is grown as far
south as Hobart on the Australian island of
Tasmania[59][60] and Waikato in New
Zealand.[61]

Tea plants are propagated from seed and

cuttings; about 4 to 12 years are needed
for a plant to bear seed and about three
years before a new plant is ready for
harvesting.[54] In addition to a zone 8
climate or warmer, tea plants require at
least 127 cm (50 in) of rainfall a year and
prefer acidic soils.[62] Many high-quality
tea plants are cultivated at elevations of
up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level.
Though at these heights the plants grow
more slowly, they acquire a better
flavour.[63]

Two principal varieties are used: Camellia

sinensis var. sinensis, which is used for
most Chinese, Formosan and Japanese
teas, and C. sinensis var. assamica, used in
Pu-erh and most Indian teas (but not
Darjeeling). Within these botanical
varieties, many strains and modern clonal
varieties are known. Leaf size is the chief
criterion for the classification of tea plants,
with three primary classifications being,[64]
Assam type, characterised by the largest
leaves; China type, characterised by the
smallest leaves; and Cambodian type,
characterised by leaves of intermediate
size. The Cambod type tea (C. assamica
subsp. lasiocaly) was originally considered
a type of assam tea. However, later
genetic work showed that it is a hybrid
between Chinese small leaf tea and assam
type tea.[65] Darjeeling tea also appears to
be hybrids between Chinese small leaf tea
and assam type tea.[66]

A tea plant will grow into a tree of up to

16 m (52 ft) if left undisturbed,[54] but
cultivated plants are generally pruned to
waist height for ease of plucking. Also, the
short plants bear more new shoots which
provide new and tender leaves and
increase the quality of the tea.[67]

Only the top 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) of

the mature plant are picked. These buds
and leaves are called 'flushes'.[68] A plant
will grow a new flush every seven to 15
days during the growing season. Leaves
that are slow in development tend to
produce better-flavoured teas.[54] Several
teas are available from specified flushes;
for example, Darjeeling tea is available as
first flush (at a premium price), second
flush, monsoon and autumn. Assam
second flush or "tippy" tea is considered
superior to first flush, due to the gold tips
that appear on the leaves.

Pests of tea include mosquito bugs of the

genus Helopeltis (which are true bugs that
must not be confused with the dipteran)
that can tatter leaves, so they may be
sprayed with insecticides. In addition,
there may be Lepidopteran leaf feeders
and various tea diseases.

Chemical composition
Physically speaking, tea has properties of
both a solution and a suspension. It is a
solution of all the water-soluble
compounds that have been extracted from
the tea leaves, such as the polyphenols
and amino acids, but is a suspension
when all of the insoluble components are
considered, such as the cellulose in the
tea leaves.[69]

Caffeine constitutes about 3% of tea's dry

weight, translating to between 30
milligrams (0.0011 oz) and 90 milligrams
(0.0032 oz) per 8-oz (250-ml) cup
depending on the type, brand,[70] and
brewing method.[71] A study found that the
caffeine content of 1 gram (0.035 oz) of
black tea ranged from 22–28 milligrams
(0.00078–0.00099 oz), while the caffeine
content of 1 gram (0.035 oz) of green tea
ranged from 11–20 milligrams (0.00039–
0.00071 oz), reflecting a significant
difference.[72] Tea also contains small
amounts of theobromine and theophylline,
which are stimulants, and xanthines
similar to caffeine.[73]

Fresh tea leaves in various stages of growth.

Black and green teas contain no essential

nutrients in significant amounts, with the
exception of the dietary mineral
manganese, at 0.5 milligrams
(1.8 × 10−5 oz) per cup or 26% of the
Reference Daily Intake (RDI).[74] Fluoride is
sometimes present in tea; certain types of
"brick tea", made from old leaves and
stems, have the highest levels, enough to
pose a health risk if much tea is drunk,
which has been attributed to high levels of
fluoride in soils, acidic soils, and long
brewing.[75]

The astringency in tea can be attributed to

the presence of polyphenols. These are
the most abundant compounds in tea
leaves, making up 30–40% of their
composition.[76] Polyphenols include
flavonoids, epigallocatechin gallate
(EGCG), and other catechins.[77][78]

It has been suggested that green and

black tea may protect against cancer[79] or
other diseases such as obesity[80] or
Alzheimer's disease,[81] but the
compounds found in green tea have not
been conclusively demonstrated to have
any effect on human diseases.[82][83]

Processing and classification

Teas of different levels of oxidation (L to R): green,
yellow, oolong, and black

Tea is generally divided into categories

based on how it is processed.[84] At least
six different types are produced:

White: wilted and unoxidized;

Yellow: unwilted and unoxidized but
allowed to yellow;
Green: unwilted and unoxidized;
Oolong: wilted, bruised, and partially
oxidized;
Black: wilted, sometimes crushed, and
fully oxidized (called 紅茶 [hóngchá], "red
 tea" in Chinese and other East Asian tea
culture);
Post-fermented (Dark): green tea that
has been allowed to ferment/compost
(called ⿊茶 [hēichá] "black tea" in
Chinese tea culture).

After picking, the leaves of C. sinensis

soon begin to wilt and oxidize unless
immediately dried. An enzymatic oxidation
process triggered by the plant's
intracellular enzymes causes the leaves to
turn progressively darker as their
chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are
released. This darkening is stopped at a
predetermined stage by heating, which
deactivates the enzymes responsible. In
the production of black teas, halting by
heating is carried out simultaneously with
drying. Without careful moisture and
temperature control during manufacture
and packaging, growth of undesired molds
and bacteria may make tea unfit for
consumption.

Additional processing and additives

Common processing methods of tea leaves

After basic processing, teas may be
altered through additional processing
steps before being sold,[85] and is often
consumed with additions to the basic tea
leaf and water added during preparation or
drinking. Examples of additional
processing steps that occur before tea is
sold are blending, flavouring, scenting, and
decaffeination of teas. Examples of
additions added at the point of
consumption include milk, sugar and
lemon.

Blending
Tea blending is the combination of
different teas together to achieve the final
product. Almost all tea in bags and most
loose tea sold in the West is blended. Such
teas may combine others from the same
cultivation area or several different ones.
The aim is to obtain consistency, better
taste, higher price, or some combination of
the three.

Flavouring

Flavoured and scented teas add new

aromas and flavours to the base tea. This
can be accomplished through directly
adding flavouring agents, such as ginger
or dried ginger, cloves, mint leaves,
cardamom, bergamot (found in Earl Grey),
vanilla, and spearmint. Alternatively,
because tea easily retains odours, it can
be placed in proximity to an aromatic
ingredient to absorb its aroma, as in
traditional jasmine tea.[86]

Milk

Black tea is often taken with milk

The addition of milk to tea in Europe was
first mentioned in 1680 by the epistolist
Madame de Sévigné.[87] Many teas are
traditionally drunk with milk in cultures
where dairy products are consumed.
These include Indian masala chai and
British tea blends. 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. Milk is
thought to neutralise remaining tannins
and reduce acidity.[88][89] 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. Hong Kong-style milk tea is
based on British colonial habits. Tibetans
and other Himalayan peoples traditionally
drink tea with milk or yak butter and salt.
In Eastern European countries, Russia and
Italy, tea is commonly served with lemon
juice. In Poland, tea is traditionally served
with a slice of lemon and is sweetened
with either sugar or honey; tea with milk is
called a bawarka ("Bavarian style") in
Polish and is also widely popular.[90] In
Australia, tea with milk is known as white
tea.

The order of steps in preparing a cup of

tea is a much-debated topic, and can vary
widely between cultures or even
individuals. Some say it is preferable to
add the milk to the cup before the tea, as
the high temperature of freshly brewed tea
can denature the proteins found in fresh
milk, similar to the change in taste of UHT
milk, resulting in an inferior-tasting
beverage.[91] Others insist it is better to
add the milk to the cup after the tea, as
black tea is often brewed as close to
boiling as possible. The addition of milk
chills the beverage during the crucial
brewing phase, if brewing in a cup rather
than using a pot, meaning the delicate
flavour of a good tea cannot be fully
appreciated. By adding the milk
afterwards, it is easier to dissolve sugar in
the tea and also to ensure the desired
amount of milk is added, as the colour of
the tea can be observed.[92] Historically,
the order of steps was taken as an
indication of class: only those wealthy
enough to afford good-quality porcelain
would be confident of its being able to
cope with being exposed to boiling water
unadulterated with milk.[93] Higher
temperature difference means faster heat
transfer, so the earlier milk is added, the
slower the drink cools. A 2007 study
published in the European Heart Journal
found certain beneficial effects of tea may
be lost through the addition of milk.[94]
Preparation
This section needs additional citations for
verification.

This section contains instructions, advice, or

how-to content.

Black tea

Common varieties of black tea include

Assam, Nepal, Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Rize,
Keemun, and Ceylon teas. Western black
teas are usually brewed for about four
minutes. In many regions of the world,
actively boiling water is used and the tea is
often stewed. In India, black tea is often
boiled for fifteen minutes or longer to
make Masala chai, as a strong brew is
preferred. Tea is often strained while
serving.

A food safety management group of the

International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) has published a
standard for preparing a cup of tea (ISO
3103: Tea – Preparation of liquor for use in
sensory tests), primarily intended for
standardizing preparation for comparison
and rating purposes. It is defined as 2.0
grams of tea leaves steeped for 6 minutes
per 100 ml of boiling water.

Green tea
In regions of the world that prefer mild
beverages, such as the Far East, green tea
is steeped in water around 80 to 85 °C
(176 to 185 °F). Regions such as North
Africa or Central Asia prefer a bitter tea,
and hotter water is used. In Morocco,
green tea is steeped in boiling water for 15
minutes.

The container in which green tea is

steeped is often warmed beforehand to
prevent premature cooling. High-quality
green and white teas can have new water
added as many as five or more times,
depending on variety, at increasingly
higher temperatures.
Oolong tea

Oolong tea is brewed around 82 to 96 °C

(185 to 205 °F), with the brewing vessel
warmed before pouring the water. Yixing
purple clay teapots are the traditional
brewing-vessel for oolong tea which can
be brewed multiple times from the same
leaves, unlike green tea, seeming to
improve with reuse. In the southern
Chinese and Taiwanese Gongfu tea
ceremony, the first brew is discarded, as it
is considered a rinse of leaves rather than
a proper brew.

Pu-erh tea
Pu-erh teas require boiling water for
infusion. Some prefer to quickly rinse pu-
erh for several seconds with boiling water
to remove tea dust which accumulates
from the ageing process, then infuse it at
the boiling point (100 °C or 212 °F), and
allow it to steep from 30 seconds to five
minutes.

Masala chai

Meaning "spiced tea", masala chai tea is

prepared using black or green tea with
milk (in which case it may be called a
"latte"), and may be spiced with ginger.[95]
Cold brew tea

While most tea is prepared using hot

water, it is also possible to brew a
beverage from tea using room
temperature or cooled water. This requires
longer steeping time to extract the key
components, and produces a different
flavour profile. Cold brews use about 1.5
times the tea leaves that would be used
for hot steeping, and are refrigerated for
4–10 hours. The process of making cold
brew tea is much simpler than that for
cold brew coffee.
Cold brewing has some disadvantages
compared to hot steeping. If the leaves or
source water contain unwanted bacteria,
they may flourish, whereas using hot water
has the benefit of killing most bacteria.
This is less of a concern in modern times
and developed regions. Cold brewing may
also allow for less caffeine to be
extracted.

Pouring from height

The flavour of tea can also be altered by

pouring it from different heights, resulting
in varying degrees of aeration. The art of
elevated pouring is used principally to
enhance the flavour of the tea and improve
mouthfeel, while cooling the beverage
sufficiently for immediate consumption.[96]

In Southeast Asia, the practice of pouring

tea from a height has been refined further
using brewed black tea to which
condensed milk is mixed then poured from
a height alternately from matching hand-
held vessels several times in quick
succession. This creates a tea with
entrapped air bubbles and a frothy "head",
which is then immediately served in a cup.
This beverage, teh tarik, literally, "pulled
tea" (which has its origin as a hot Indian
tea beverage), has a creamier taste than
flat milk tea and is common in the
region.[97]

Tea culture

Masala chai from India with garnishes

Turkish tea served in typical small glass and

corresponding plate

Iced tea with a slice of lemon

Tea may be consumed early in the day to

heighten calm alertness; it contains L-
theanine, theophylline, and bound
caffeine[5] (sometimes called theine).
Decaffeinated brands are also sold. While
herbal teas are also referred to as tea,
most of them do not contain leaves from
the tea plant. While tea is the second most
consumed beverage on Earth after water,
in many cultures it is also consumed at
elevated social events, such as the tea
party.

Tea ceremonies have arisen in different

cultures, such as the Chinese and
Japanese traditions, each of which
employs certain techniques and ritualised
protocol of brewing and serving tea for
enjoyment in a refined setting. One form of
Chinese tea ceremony is the Gongfu tea
ceremony, which typically uses small
Yixing clay teapots and oolong tea.
In the United Kingdom 63% of people drink
tea daily[98] and is perceived as one of
Britain's cultural beverages. It is customary
for a host to offer tea to guests soon after
their arrival. Tea is consumed both at
home and outside the home, often in cafés
or tea rooms. Afternoon tea with cakes on
fine porcelain is a cultural stereotype. In
southwest England, many cafés serve a
cream tea, consisting of scones, clotted
cream, and jam alongside a pot of tea. In
some parts of Britain and India 'tea' may
also refer to the evening meal.

Ireland has long been one of the biggest

per capita consumers of tea in the world.
The national average is four cups per
person per day, with many people drinking
six cups or more. Tea in Ireland is usually
taken with milk or sugar and is slightly
spicier and stronger than the traditional
English blend.

Tea is prevalent in most cultures in the

Middle East. In Arab culture, tea is a focal
point for social gatherings.

Turkish tea is an important part of that

country's cuisine, and is the most
commonly consumed hot drink, despite
the country's long history of coffee
consumption. In 2004 Turkey produced
205,500 tonnes of tea (6.4% of the world's
total tea production), which made it one of
the largest tea markets in the world,[99]
with 120,000 tons being consumed in
Turkey, and the rest being exported.[100] In
2010 Turkey had the highest per capita
consumption in the world at 2.7 kg.[101] As
of 2013, the per-capita consumption of
Turkish tea exceeds 10 cups per day and
13.8 kg per year.[102] Tea is grown mostly
in Rize Province on the Black Sea
coast.[103]

In Iranian culture, tea is so widely

consumed, it is generally the first thing
offered to a household guest.[104]
Russia has a long, rich tea history dating
to 1638 when tea was introduced to Tsar
Michael. Social gatherings were
considered incomplete without tea, which
was traditionally brewed in a samovar, and
today 82% of Russians consume tea daily.

In Pakistan, both black and green teas are

popular and are known locally as sabz chai
and kahwah, respectively. The popular
green tea called kahwah is often served
after every meal in the Pashtun belt of
Balochistan and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
which is where the Khyber Pass is found.
In central and southern Punjab and the
metropolitan Sindh region of Pakistan, tea
with milk and sugar (sometimes with
pistachios, cardamom, etc.), commonly
referred to as chai, is widely consumed. It
is the most common beverage of
households in the region. In the northern
Pakistani regions of Chitral and Gilgit-
Baltistan, a salty, buttered Tibetan-style tea
is consumed.

In the transnational Kashmir region, which

straddles the border between India and
Pakistan, Kashmiri chai or noon chai, a
pink, creamy tea with pistachios, almonds,
cardamom, and sometimes cinnamon, is
consumed primarily at special occasions,
weddings, and during the winter months
when it is sold in many kiosks.

Indian tea

Indian tea culture is strong – the drink is

the most popular hot beverage in the
country. It is consumed daily in almost all
houses, offered to guests, consumed in
high amounts in domestic and official
surroundings, and is made with the
addition of milk with or without spices, and
usually sweetened. At homes it is
sometimes served with biscuits to be
dipped in the tea and eaten before
consuming the tea. More often than not, it
is drunk in "doses" of small cups (referred
to as "Cutting" chai if sold at street tea
vendors) rather than one large cup. On 21
April 2012, the Deputy Chairman of
Planning Commission (India), Montek
Singh Ahluwalia, said tea would be
declared as national drink by April
2013.[105][106] The move is expected to
boost the tea industry in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi said a special
package for the tea industry would be
announced in the future to ensure its
development.[107] The history of tea in
India is especially rich.

In Burma (Myanmar), tea is consumed not

only as hot drinks, but also as sweet tea
and green tea known locally as laphet-yay
and laphet-yay-gyan, respectively. Pickled
tea leaves, known locally as laphet, are
also a national delicacy. Pickled tea is
usually eaten with roasted sesame seeds,
crispy fried beans, roasted peanuts and
fried garlic chips.[108]
In Mali, gunpowder tea is served in series
of three, starting with the highest
oxidisation or strongest, unsweetened tea,
locally referred to as "strong like death",
followed by a second serving, where the
same tea leaves are boiled again with
some sugar added ("pleasant as life"), and
a third one, where the same tea leaves are
boiled for the third time with yet more
sugar added ("sweet as love"). Green tea is
the central ingredient of a distinctly Malian
custom, the "Grin", an informal social
gathering that cuts across social and
economic lines, starting in front of family
compound gates in the afternoons and
extending late into the night, and is widely
popular in Bamako and other large urban
areas.

In the United States, 80% of tea is

consumed as iced tea.[109] Sweet tea is
native to the southeastern US, and is
iconic in its cuisine.[110]

Production

Worldwide tea production in 2017

 Tea production – 2017

Country Tonnes

 China 2.5M

 India 1.3M

 Kenya 440k

 Sri Lanka 350k

 Vietnam 260k

World 6.1M

Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[111]

In 2017, global production of tea was

about 6 million tonnes, led by China with
40% and India with 21% of the world total
(table). Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam
were other major producers.[111]

The tea fields in the foothills of Gorreana, Azores

Islands, Portugal, the only European region other than
Georgia to support green tea production.

Economics

Tea factory in Taiwan

Tea is the most popular manufactured

drink consumed in the world, equaling all
others – including coffee, chocolate, soft
drinks, and alcohol – combined.[4] Most
tea consumed outside East Asia is
produced on large plantations in the hilly
regions of India and Sri Lanka, and is
destined to be sold to large businesses.
Opposite this large-scale industrial
production are many small "gardens,"
sometimes minuscule plantations, that
produce highly sought-after teas prized by
gourmets. These teas are both rare and
expensive, and can be compared to some
of the most expensive wines in this
respect.

India is the world's largest tea-drinking

nation,[112] although the per capita
consumption of tea remains a modest 750
grams (26 oz) per person every year.
Turkey, with 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lb) of tea
consumed per person per year, is the
world's greatest per capita consumer.[113]

Labor and consumer safety problems

Multiple recent reports have found that

most Chinese and Indian teas contain
residues of banned toxic
pesticides.[114][115][116][117]

Tea production in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda,

Tanzania, and Uganda has been reported
to make use of child labor according to the
U.S. Department of Labor's List of Goods
Produced by Child Labor or Forced
Labor[118] (a report on the worst forms of
child labor).

Certification

Workers who pick and pack tea on

plantations in developing countries can
face harsh working conditions and may
earn below the living wage.[119]

A number of bodies independently certify

the production of tea. Tea from certified
estates can be sold with a certification
label on the pack. The most important
certification schemes are Rainforest
Alliance, Fairtrade, UTZ Certified, and
Organic, which also certify other crops
such as coffee, cocoa and fruit. Rainforest
Alliance certified tea is sold by Unilever
brands Lipton and PG Tips in Western
Europe, Australia and the US. Fairtrade
certified tea is sold by a large number of
suppliers around the world. UTZ Certified
announced a partnership in 2008 with Sara
Lee brand Pickwick tea.

Production of organic tea has risen since

its introduction in 1990 at Rembeng,
Kondoli Tea Estate, Assam.[120] 6,000 tons
of organic tea were sold in 1999.[121]
About 75% of organic tea production is
sold in France, Germany, Japan, the United
Kingdom, and the United States.

Trade

In 2013, China – the world's largest

producer of tea – exported 325,806
tonnes, or 14% of their total crop.[122] India
exported 254,841 tonnes or 20% of their
total production.[122]

In 2013, the largest importer of tea was

the Russian Federation with 173,070
tonnes, followed by the United Kingdom,
the United States, and Pakistan.[122]
Packaging
Tea bags

Tea bags

In 1907, American tea merchant Thomas

Sullivan began distributing samples of his
tea in small bags of Chinese silk with a
drawstring. Consumers noticed they could
simply leave the tea in the bag and reuse it
with fresh tea. However, the potential of
this distribution and packaging method
would not be fully realised until later on.
During World War II, tea was rationed in
the United Kingdom. In 1953, after
rationing in the UK ended, Tetley launched
the tea bag to the UK and it was an
immediate success.

The "pyramid tea bag" (or sachet),

introduced by Lipton[123] and PG
Tips/Scottish Blend in 1996,[124] attempts
to address one of the connoisseurs'
arguments against paper tea bags by way
of its three-dimensional tetrahedron
shape, which allows more room for tea
leaves to expand while steeping. However,
some types of pyramid tea bags have been
criticised as being environmentally
unfriendly, since their synthetic material is
not as biodegradable as loose tea leaves
and paper tea bags.[125]

Loose tea

A blend of loose-leaf black teas

The tea leaves are packaged loosely in a

canister, paper bag, or other container
such as a tea chest. Some whole teas,
such as rolled gunpowder tea leaves,
which resist crumbling, are sometimes
vacuum-packed for freshness in
aluminised packaging for storage and
retail. The loose tea must be individually
measured for use, allowing for flexibility
and flavour control at the expense of
convenience. Strainers, tea balls, tea
presses, filtered teapots, and infusion
bags prevent loose leaves from floating in
the tea and over-brewing. A traditional
method uses a three-piece lidded teacup
called a gaiwan, the lid of which is tilted to
decant the tea into a different cup for
consumption.
Compressed tea

Compressed tea (such as pu-erh) is

produced for convenience in transport,
storage, and ageing. It can usually be
stored longer without spoilage than loose
leaf tea.

Compressed tea is prepared by loosening

leaves from the cake using a small knife,
and steeping the extracted pieces in water.
During the Tang dynasty, as described by
Lu Yu, compressed tea was ground into a
powder, combined with hot water, and
ladled into bowls, resulting in a "frothy"
mixture.[126] In the Song dynasty, the tea
powder would instead be whisked with hot
water in the bowl. Although no longer
practiced in China today, the whisking
method of preparing powdered tea was
transmitted to Japan by Zen Buddhist
monks, and is still used to prepare matcha
in the Japanese tea ceremony.[127]

Compressed tea was the most popular

form of tea in China during the Tang
dynasty.[128] By the beginning of the Ming
dynasty, it had been displaced by loose-
leaf tea.[129] It remains popular, however, in
the Himalayan countries and Mongolian
steppes. In Mongolia, tea bricks were
ubiquitous enough to be used as a form of
currency. Among Himalayan peoples,
compressed tea is consumed by
combining it with yak butter and salt to
produce butter tea.[130]

Instant tea

"Instant tea", similar to freeze-dried instant

coffee and an alternative to brewed tea,
can be consumed either hot or cold.
Instant tea was developed in the 1930s,
with Nestlé introducing the first
commercial product in 1946, while Redi-
Tea debuted instant iced tea in 1953.
Delicacy of flavour is sacrificed for
convenience. Additives such as chai,
vanilla, honey or fruit, are popular, as is
powdered milk.

During the Second World War British and

Canadian soldiers were issued an instant
tea known as "Compo" in their Composite
Ration Packs. These blocks of instant tea,
powdered milk, and sugar were not always
well received. As Royal Canadian Artillery
Gunner, George C Blackburn observed:

But, unquestionably, the feature

of Compo rations destined to be
remembered beyond all others is
Compo tea...Directions say to
"sprinkle powder on heated
water and bring to the boil,
stirring well, three heaped
teaspoons to one pint of water."

Every possible variation in the

preparation of this tea was
tried, but...it always ended up
the same way. While still too hot
to drink, it is a good-looking cup
of strong tea. 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. But
let it cool enough to be quaffed
and enjoyed, and your lips will
be coated with a sticky scum
that forms across the surface,
which if left undisturbed will
become a leathery membrane
that can be wound around your
finger and flipped away...[131]

Bottled and canned tea

Canned tea is sold prepared and ready to

drink. It was introduced in 1981 in Japan.
The first bottled tea introduced by
Indonesian tea company PT. Sinar Sosro in
1969 with brand name Teh Botol Sosro (or
Sosro bottled tea).[132]

In 1983, Swiss-based Bischofszell Food

Ltd., was the first company to bottle iced
tea on an industrial scale.[133]

Storage
Storage conditions and type determine the
shelf life of tea. Black tea's is greater than
green's. Some, such as flower teas, may
last only a month or so. Others, such as
pu-erh, improve with age.
To remain fresh and prevent mold, tea
needs to be stored away from heat, light,
air, and moisture. Tea must be kept at
room temperature in an air-tight container.
Black tea in a bag within a sealed opaque
canister may keep for two years. Green tea
deteriorates more rapidly, usually in less
than a year. Tightly rolled gunpowder tea
leaves keep longer than the more open-
leafed Chun Mee tea.

Storage life for all teas can be extended by

using desiccant or oxygen-absorbing
packets, vacuum sealing, or refrigeration in
air-tight containers (except green tea,
where discrete use of refrigeration or
freezing is recommended and temperature
variation kept to a minimum).[134]

Gallery
Da hong pao, an oolong tea or Wuyi tea

Fuding Bai Hao Yinzhen, a white tea

Sheng (raw) pu-erh tuo cha, a type of
compressed aged raw pu-erh

Huoshan Huangya, a yellow tea

Loose dried tea leaves

Taiwanese High-mountain oolong

 A spicy Thai salad made with young, fresh
tea leaves

Milk tea

See also
Tea leaf grading
Chifir', Russian extra-strong tea brew
Frederick John Horniman
Kombucha, drink produced from
bacteria and yeast grown on tea
List of Chinese teas
List of hot beverages
List of national drinks
List of tea companies
Herbal tea
Phenolic content in tea
Tea classics, influential historical
monographs of East Asian tea
Indian Tea Association
 International Tea Day

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