5 interesting facts all tea lovers must know

The history behind the discovery of tea is rather muddled because of its many forms. Indians might call a mixture of Camellia sinensis, milk, and sugar as tea, whereas boiled water paired with tea leaves is considered tea in China and Korea.

Most people say that a Chinese Emperor encountered it first in his hot water drink by chance, but every country has its own story for discovering tea. Countries like Russia, Canada, got to taste it first in the 1600s and 1700s respectively because of a trading contract.

Aside from different regional preferences for its taste, tea has evolved on a global scale. Packaged tea that’s being sold around the world changed from coming in tin containers to be sold as teabags. Teabags were an accidental invention when a tea seller in the market decided to sell his samples in small paper bags instead of the conventional way.

There are plenty of stories of innovation and experimentation linked with the evolution of tea that many may not know. Considering this, there is a list of five interesting facts about tea mentioned below that all tea lovers must know:

  1. Not all tea you Drink is Tea 

Believe it or not, most of the tea types you have been drinking are not the real tea. Camellia sinensis is the key ingredient of tea that defines its taste and lineage. Anything else that doesn’t have it can’t be called tea but rather infusions.

Markets are filled with herbal infusions that people take as literal teas since they are marketed that way. Herbal “teas” are beverages infused from different edible items like berries, flowers, leaves, mint, lavender, and roots, etc. The items used to make these tea infusions are called tisane, which further clarifies why they shouldn’t be called tea.

  1. Consumption of Tea Around the World 

India, Turkey, Ireland, the United Kingdom are the most tea-loving countries around the world. The human population drinks around 3,000,000 tons of tea per annum, which keeps growing each year. People consume it in various forms that include not only the conventional hot brew but the iced tea as well.

Iced tea has its brief history that starts from St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 in England. An owner of a tea stall put ice in his tea when he failed to sell the hot beverage in its conventional form.

In conclusion, people consume tea in more ways than we imagine. Sellers prefer wholesale tea while a commoner consumes tea in small quantities, but the overall consumption of tea is still more than any other beverage.

  1. Tea Remedies 

It might be surprising to know that people chewed tea leaves and used it as medicine instead of drinking it as a beverage. China, Korea, and some other countries still use tea to treat their colds and throat infections.

In South Asia, ginger and mint tea are commonly known as “Qawah,” which is a local tea infusion that uses Camellia in small quantities. It is another remedy to treat one’s cold and sore throat that is much different than its Korean and Chinese counterparts.

  1. The Various Tea Types 

As stated earlier, Camellia is tea, and without it, your beverage is nothing but an illusion of tea. Tea can be divided into different types based on how they were treated after being harvested. But one thing is concrete that all tea types come from Camellia sinensis and nothing else.

The basic treatment includes washing, drying, rolling, withering, and heating of tea leaves. The number of steps and the duration of each step determines what type of tea you will have as the product in the end.

Mentioned below are the main tea types and their brief introduction for your convenience:

  • White Tea:This is the most natural form of tea as it doesn’t go through vigorous brewing and oxidation. It is hand-processed and barely contains any caffeine in it.
  • Black Tea:Black tea is oxidized and withered more than the other types of teas. Due to this, it has a more pronounced color and taste and has high caffeine content than the others.
  • Dark Tea:Brewed in China, this tea type is a shade darker than the black tea, but it has a sweet flavor compared to black tea.
  • Green Tea: This tea type is barely oxidized and only bears heat for a short period during the brewing process. Due to this, it doesn’t have much caffeine in it, and its flavors are light.
  • Oolong Tea:This tea type is not completely oxidized, which is why its flavors and colors are not much pronounced. It has a moderate taste that is neither too strong nor too light like black and green tea, respectively.
  • Yellow Tea:This tea type comes from China and is closer to green teas in nature. It has a more prolonged oxidation and drying period than green teas and is famous for its medicinal use in China.
  • The Most Expensive Tea: There are tea types and brands that are more expensive than some prized jewels in your locker. The finest tea leaves come from Darjeeling, India, where the prime quality of Camellia Sinensis is grown on Himalaya. But the difficulties of picking these tea leaves aren’t enough to make it the most expensive tea in the world.

The most expensive tea would be a diamond teabag made by Boodle jewelers to be sold in an auction for charity. It was sold at a steep price of 7000 pounds and made into tabloid headlines for days.

Notably, the auction is a one-time thing, and China’s Tieguanyin tea has the crown to be the most expensive tea in the world. It will cost you around 1500 dollars per pound, which is more than an average person’s earning in the developing world.

Bottom Line:

Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world after the obvious winner, water. Whether you like it or not, you must have consumed it at least once in your life, making it the easiest beverage to acquire in the world as well.