The tea plant is not a bush in nature, but a medium size tree. Actually, tea bush is a man-made bush, and the growth of the tea plant is arrested at different stages and kept in the form of a bush for the convenience of man. Today, tea is a commercial plantation that is distributed in many parts in the globe. The commercial tea plantations could be found as far as north as Georgia (420 N) and as far as south as Argentina (270 N). The tea plant belongs to the genus Camellia which includes many species around 80 named species, and there are two popular species (Camellia sinensis and Camellia assamica ) that are consumed as beverages after brewing. There are many species that are used as ornamental plants.
The origin of tea is still debatable, but it is probably originated in China or somewhere closer to the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar (Burma). According to the Chinese writer Cha Pu, the tea drinking in China was begun around 6th century AD; the first monograph was published by Lu Yu around 780 AD. In the case of tea, the rain fall is the most important climatic factor. Even-distribution of rainfall is considered to be of utter importance.
The tea plant can be propagated either by vegetative means (VP tea/vegetative propagation) or by seeds. In the modern world, the tea plantations are of different hybrid varieties, so the vegetative tea is highly demanded. A group of tea plants being originated with a single mother plant through vegetative means is defined as a clone that all plants are same in genetics. Seed tea is normally used for various research works, and also some planters are interested in seed tea due to its broader variation.
The tea is manufactured by processing the tender shoots, so it is important to pick the ideal shoots up in a systematic manner in order to make typical tea. There are two popular tea products in the market that are named on the basis of appearance. They are Black Tea as well as Green Tea. In the manufacturing of black tea, the original greenish colour is changed with fermentation in which some sort of enzymic reactions are taken place. On the contrary, this particular step is controlled in manufacturing green tea, so the original greenish colour is kept remained to a greater extent. Tea is the second largest beverage in the world next to the water, so the practice of tea drinking is an indissoluble habit of our lifestyle. Actually, it is proven by science that a cup of tea contains approximately 2000 chemical compounds, which are mainly rich in antioxidant properties. The amounts could be varied from black tea to green tea, but the tea as a whole contains these chemical compounds. Antioxidant is of utter importance to maintain the health of our body. In addition, tea contains caffeine with different quantities depending on other factors. Compared to coffee, tea contains lesser amount of caffeine. Truly, the tea is a miracle plant found by human being many centuries back!
Good Luck!
Bimal
Comments
Dear Wayne,
Thank You Very Much!
Yes, you are right! China and tea are historically linked. I think that you can find some wild tea species still in some remote areas in China. These wild species are having some desirable characteristics that could be used to develop new tea varieties for the modern world.
Good Luck!
Bimal
Hello,dear Bimal,thanks for your posting even if it has killed a lots of time on mine,really it is a very good way for people to know something about tea,you are right!there are two types of tea in the world(have been named by people before,what a pity i don't know who he is,lol) which are green tea and black tea,and if you want to make them more delicious,you have to know what type of tea needs what type of water,and the time also needs careful,actually china has many kind of tea,and they are very delicious,and i drink green tea everyday as my friends like to make tea for me,
good luck,thank you again
Dear Sandeep,
Thank YouVery Much!
Yes, to my knowledge, Darjeeling tea is renowned all over the world. The tea manufactured in the Nuwara Eliya (mountainous area here) district in Sri Lanka is closer to Darjeeling tea in taste/flavor and so on. Nuwara Eliya tea has a special name in the world so far.
Good Luck!
Bimal
Dear Grace,
Thank You Very Much!
To my knowledge, Taiwan (old name Formosa) is a tea growing country because you have mountainous area in the central part of the country. I think that people in your country prefer drinking green tea because of many cultural and historical reasons.
Good Luck!
Bimal
Dear Expector Smith,
Thank You Very Much!
Actually, tea possesses some chemical compounds, and those are medically amazing! As you have mentioned, most young people have a special affinity towards Cola/sweet drinks, and this trend seems to have been able to increase the NCD (Non Communicable Diseases) such as diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure and so on in the society. Actually, drinking tea can’t be compared with that of Cola/sweet drinks because these two have different identities. To my knowledge, drinking water as a beverage is much better than that of Cola/sweet drinks.
Good Luck!
Bimal
A cup of tea in morning gives all the necessary power and energy. Great blog!
Cheers! with Darjeeling Tea... :)
Great blog! I learned a lot from you. Drinking tea is a habit for most of us. Some prefer hot tea and some like cold tea that soak with cold water. Its flavor is not bad!
Thank you, Bimal.
I don't really know about tea even though I do drink it every day. Tea may be beneficial to our health, but it is not a medicine - maybe not that amazing!
Most young people here in China don't really like to drink tea - not coffee either, they would like to drink cola or other soft drinks or just water.
Tea would make an ideal gift, though.
Dear hafida,
Thank You Very Much!
Actually, people drink tea greatly here, but we drink coffee as well. British people first introduced coffee plantations to Sri Lanka (then, Ceylon), but coffee was totally failed due to the coffee rust disease. Thereafter, tea was introduced as their cash crop. We can still find some coffee estates in some area, and tea-coffee multi-cropping system is very successful in many aspects.
Good Luck!
Bimal
thank you for the intersting informations, but here in algeria we use cofee more than the tea.
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