Tea

INTRODUCTION

• Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia Sinesis plant to hot water.

• The term also refers to the plant itself. • After water, tea is the most widely

consumed beverage in the world. It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavour which many enjoy.

ORIGIN & HISTORY

Before we proceed lets learn some thing interesting about the history and origin of this wonderful herb called tea.

Story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, the Shen Nong, an early emperor was a skilled ruler, creative scientist, and patron of the arts.

His far-sighted edicts required, among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution.

One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil water for the court to drink.

Dried leaves from the near by bush fell into the boiling water, and a brown liquid was infused into the water.

As a scientist, the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. Therefore, according to legend, tea was created. breaks down into three basic types: Black, Green, and Oolong.

History Of Tea In India

• As we have already seen tea likely originated in China as a medicinal drink and was first introduced during the 16th century. Drinking tea became popular in Britain during the 17th century. The British introduced it to India, in order to compete with the Chinese monopoly on the product. Maniram Dewan (1806-1858) was the first Indian tea planter.

• The tea cultivation begun there [India] in the nineteenth century by the British, however, has accelerated to the point that today India is listed as the world's leading producer, its 715,000 tons well ahead of China's 540,000 tons, and of course, the teas of Assam, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ), and Darjeeling are world famous.

Tea Producing States in India

• The major tea-producing states in India are : The major tea production that takes place in our country, comes from the states: Assam, West

Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Bihar and Odisha.

Tea Cultivation

• Tea requires a moderately hot and humid climate. Climate influences yield, crop distribution and quality.

• Climatic factors

- Rainfall: Distribution of rainfall matters a lot for sustained high yield of tea throughout the season. In the North East India, the rainfall distribution is not even. The excess rainfall in the monsoon months causes drainage problems. If this dry spell persists for a longer period, tea plants suffer heavily and crop goes down in spite of having sufficient rainfall in the monsoons. Thus, adequate rainfall during winter and early spring is crucial for high yield.

• Soil

-Tea grows well on high land well drained soils having a good depth. Shallow and compacted sub-soils limit root growth. Tea plants growing on such soils are liable to suffer from draught during dry period and water logging during the rainy months. The depth of ground water table should not be less than 90 cm for good growth of tea.

Tea plant

TEA IS AN EVERGREEN SHRUB WHICH CAN GROW UP TO 17M HIGH IT IS USUALLY KEPT BELOW 2M HIGH.

1.Plucking: •Tea leaves and flushes-• terminal bud and•two young leaves, •Camellia sinensis bushes• early spring and •early summer or late spring.

2. Withering/ Wilting:•gradual onset of enzymatic oxidation. •used to remove excess water from the leaves and allows a very slight amount of oxidation. •put under the sun o• left in a cool breezy room to pull moisture out from the leaves.

3. Disruption: •"disruption" or "leaf maceration“• the tea leaves are bruised or torn•lightly bruised on their edges •by shaking and tossing in a- •bamboo tray or •tumbling in baskets.

4. Oxidation / Fermentation:•leaves are left on their own in a climate-controlled room •they turn progressively darker. •this is accompanied by agitation in some cases.•the chlorophyll in the leaves is enzymatically broken down.

5.Fixation / Kill-green:•done to stop the tea leaf oxidation•moderately heating tea leaves•deactivating their oxidative enzymes •removing unwanted scents in the leaves• without damaging the flavour of the tea

6. Sweltering / Yellowing:• Unique to yellow teas• warm and damp tea leaves from after kill-green•allowed to be lightly heated in a closed container•which causes the previously green leaves to turn yellow.

7. Rolling / Shaping:•The damp tea leaves are then rolled to be formed into wrinkled strips•by hand• or using a rolling machine which causes the tea to wrap around itself. •This rolling action also causes some of the sap, essential oils, and juices inside the leaves to ooze out• further enhances the taste of the tea

8. Drying:•Drying is done to "finish" the tea for sale.• This can be done in different ways including-A. panningB. sunningC. air dryingD. baking- baking is usually the

most common.

9. Aging / Curing:

•some teas required additional aging•secondary fermentation, or baking to reach their drinking potential. •flavoured teas are manufactured in this stage

1. Store tea leaves in air tight containers.

2. Keep tea away from cheese, soap, spices and strong aromas.

cheese soup

spices

3. Use good quality tea.

4. Use fresh water. Stale water makes stale tea.

5. Make sure you warm your tea pot before adding hot water and tea leaves.

6. Steep the tea in water that is neither under boiled nor over boiled.

7. Use one teaspoon \ teabag of tea per person and one extra for the pot.

8. Let the tea infuse for the right amount of time.

9. Use teapots made of Earthenware, Stainless Steel and China. Avoid ones made of Tin.

Earthenware Chinaware

Stainless Steel

10. Don’t add milk to the tea too soon. Wait for the last possible minute.

THE GOLDEN RULES OF MAKING TEA BY GEORGE ORWELL

• First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea• Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities• Thirdly, the pot should be warmed beforehand.• Fourthly, the tea should be strong.• Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot• Sixthly, one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the

other way about• Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir it, or

better, give the pot a good shake• Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup• Ninthly, one should pour the cream off the milk before using

it for tea.• Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first• Lastly, tea — unless one is drinking it in the Russian style —

should be drunk without sugar