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
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... :)
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
Dear teacher Galina,
It says by tea science that it is difficult to quantify the exact amount of caffeine in tea, but green tea contains lesser caffeine than black tea. And further, there are some other factors that affect to the caffeine content in tea. To my knowledge, green tea contains some special amino acids in comparison to black tea. You know that Sri Lanka was a British colony, and tea was introduced to Sri Lanka (then, Ceylon) by English people. The first tea seeds were planted at the Royal Botanic Garden at Peradeniya (a region in up country) in 1839. Please just think about the history of tea in Sri Lanka. The Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka (the oldest Tea Research Institute in the world) was established in 1925. Hence, the practice of tea drinking in my country was totally influenced by English people in the past.
Still, we can find some tea planters with English blood in hill country area. Actually, a little amount of green tea is manufactured only for foreign markets, but domestic market is dominated by black tea. Now, really the tongue of our people
doesn’t accept the taste of green tea. On the other hand, the green tea is really expensive and not freely available in the market. All these pictures are taken from our local tea estates.
Good Luck!
Bimal
Dear Sakshi,
Thank You Very Much for your comment!
This topic is very wider, so it is not easy to summarize everything into a single blog, but I feel that you are interested in it. I know that tea is very popular in your country as well, and one of Indian Tea Research Institutes is located in Valparai, Kerala. Valpara is a nice, hilly area for tea plantations. Once, I got a chance to visit this place.
Good Luck!
Bimal
Bimal, thanks for giving information about green tea. So, you think that green tea is better than black tea. But tell me, please, what kind of tea contains more caffeine, black or green? And why is it difficult to find green tea in your country?
Well, you, in Sri Lanka, drink tea with milk, the same way as English people. In Russia some people drink tea with milk, but most of them prefer tea with lemon.
Is it the photo of tea plantation in your country?
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