Tea is a drink loved by the whole world: in every country there is its favorite type of drink and its own culture. Where is the birthplace of tea? How is it grown? What types of tea exist? We learn all these and other interesting facts about tea in this article.
Tea history
If you look at the history of the drink, you can find out some interesting new facts about tea.
The birthplace of tea is China. Hence the name of the drink, which is called differently in different parts of the country. Russia traded with Hankou, where tea is called “cha.” Europeans moored ships in the southeast at the ports of Sanmyn, Guangzhou and Fuzhou, the inhabitants of which called tea "Tie" or "Tiea." Hence the differences in name between European and Slavic countries. For example, the English pronounce tee and the Russians pronounce tea. The history of the origin of the drink is the merit of the Chinese, and it was fallen in love in many countries thanks to the British - after them Europeans, Americans and Indians began to drink tea. By the way, there are interesting facts about tea growing in India - tea bushes have been growing there for a long time, but only monks drank the drink, and therefore tea culture arose only in the 19th century.
Today, tea is grown in 30 countries. 4 of them produce premium drinks: Yunnan, Fujian (China), Uji (Japan), Darjeeling (India) and the south of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Tea in Russia
In our country, tea is one of the favorite drinks. When and where did tea appear in Russia? It was imported to Russia in the 17th century and immediately fell in love with the people, despite the high price due to the lack of its own production. How did Russian tea appear? The history of its origin is quite interesting: the first bush and seeds were planted by P.E. Kirillov, who grew tea at home, since it was quite expensive to bring it from China. But before the October Revolution, the government did not cultivate tea.
The situation changed with the advent of the USSR, where tea production reached a high level, and the important tasks of the state were not only to grow classic varieties in Krasnodar, Azerbaijan and Georgia, but also to get new varieties for cultivation in cold areas. Own tea production in the USSR not only provided the needs of citizens, but also made it possible to export the product to other countries. After the collapse of the USSR, factories remained in sovereign countries.
Today in Russia 95% of tea is imported, and China, India and Turkey occupy the main place among the manufacturing countries.
The benefits of tea
During the French Revolution, one doctor decided to conduct an experiment to find out which of the drinks - coffee or tea - is harmful to humans. Two prisoners sentenced to death began to drink daily 4 large cups of coffee and tea. The one who drank tea lived to be 76 years old. And the second - to 82. The doctor who observed them lived to 62 years. He drank neither coffee nor tea. The benefits and harms of the drink are not familiar to everyone. Therefore, it is worth considering its pros and cons in more detail. Let's start with the good:
Gives vitality and strength, helps stimulate metabolism, normalizes the activity of the heart, blood vessels, digestive and nervous systems.
Contains trace elements such as copper, iron, fluorine, manganese, calcium, zinc.
Prevents the growth of malignant tumors and reduces the risk of cell degeneration into cancer.
The tannin contained in the drink kills some bacteria and prevents the appearance of stomatitis, tonsillitis and intestinal infections.
Helps reduce weight and improve skin condition.
Regular consumption of tea reduces the occurrence of cerebral blood clots, sclerosis, and hypertension. This is achieved due to the ability of the drink to slow down the formation of fatty deposits inside the blood vessels.
Despite the heat, in summer it is the best drink, since after hot tea the skin temperature decreases by 1-2 degrees.
Harm from drink
The benefits of tea are obvious. But what about the harm?
Today, most trading teas contain a large number of dyes and flavors, which is not very good for the body.
Many drink hot tea, which burns the internal organs and leads to their painful changes.
Fresh tea leaves must be consumed within 20 minutes, because after this time the fragrances, lipoids, phenol and essential oils contained in it begin to oxidize.
Strong tea contains a large amount of thein and caffeine, which leads to insomnia and headache after drinking. In addition, strong tea negatively affects the work of the heart.
People with constipation should stop drinking green tea, as it has a firming effect. In addition, prolonged use of this type of drink leads to the destruction of tooth enamel.
Hypotonic patients should not drink green tea, as it lowers blood pressure.
How ambiguous tea is! The benefits and harms of him go hand in hand. But if you follow the technology of proper brewing and drink in moderation, then the drink will bring only pleasure and benefit.
Types of tea
Tea, depending on the type of processing, is divided into 4 types:
the black;
green;
red;
white.
There are such types of teas as blue, orange, brown - all of them occupy an intermediate position between the above.
Black and green teas can be long, pressed and extracted.
In addition, tea is divided into types according to the country of production and the region of growth. Each area produces a specific look.
Trading tea is one that is sold in a store. It is a blend (mixture) of different species and varieties and can contain from 10 to 25 plant varieties that grew not only in different areas, but also in different parts of the world. Blending is done by testers. The quality of the blend depends on the place of growth, time and method of harvesting, the nature of the primary and final processing.
Types of processing affect the chemical composition, taste and aroma of tea. There are 6 types of processing: drying, twisting, fermentation, drying, sorting, packaging.
When dried, the tea is dried using hot air for about 8 hours. This procedure helps to get rid of excess moisture.
When twisting, tea leaves are squeezed and twisted in special machines - scooters. At this stage, in the future drink, essential oils are formed that affect its taste. After that, the tea is sent to a sieve, on which small leaves are separated from large ones by vibration.
During fermentation, cell juice is oxidized and fermented. The process lasts 4 hours at a temperature of 35-40 degrees. As a result, tea changes color, caffeine is activated and the amount of tannins is reduced.
When drying, tea leaves are dried in machines for about 20 minutes at 110-120 degrees. This procedure allows you to reduce moisture up to 6-7% and increase the shelf life of the finished product.
When sorting, tea is sifted through a sieve with various mesh sizes. The resulting product is transported to tea factories.
When packaging, tea is blended and the packaging indicates which leaves the collection consists of.
How to make tea?
The taste of the drink depends on important steps. Which ones?
- The water should be soft, without extraneous odors. You can buy it in a store or take a filtered one. It needs to be boiled 1 time.
- The water temperature for brewing black and red teas should exceed 95 degrees, for white and green - 60-85 degrees.
- In no case do you need to brew tea in a metal bowl. Clay, porcelain, earthenware teapots and a French press are ideal for this purpose.
- If the tea is large leaf, then take 150 ml of water. If small - then 250 ml.
- Before brewing, rinse the kettle with hot water.
- Tea needs to be infused for 5-7 minutes.
To improve the taste, you can add to tea, in addition to the usual lemon and sugar, spices, dried mint leaves, thyme, dried fruits, slices of fresh fruits.
And what interesting facts about tea do you know?