Tea

I first became interested in tea whilst living in Saudi Arabia, where I found many different types of sweet and flavoured teas available in cafés and restaurants.

Also, the coffee shops in Saudi offer excellent first-class coffees, unlike the poor-quality coffees and teas offered in mass-market franchises.

Later, I became more interested in tea after experiencing excellent teas in

Sri Lanka, a country famous for tea and tea culture, where shops offer so many choices and niche brands of rare teas.

Similarly, in Hong Kong where shops sell very expensive proprietary and aged teas.

I usually have one cup of coffee per day in the morning (although finding decent coffee is a challenge), and one pot of fine quality tea mid-afternoon. The rest of the day I drink either regular teabag tea or water.

Having visited tea plantations and tea factories in Sri Lanka (see my plantations), and being bored with Covid restrictions, I decided to bring together here information on the astounding amount of work that goes into quality tea production.

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The tea plant

The tea plant is an evergreen, tropical plant from the Camellia family, tea (Camellia sinensis) has green, shiny pointed leaves - not dissimilar to privet hedges and was originally indigenous to both China and India.

In its wild state, tea grows best in regions which enjoy a warm, humid climate with a rainfall measuring at least 100 centimeters a year. Ideally, it likes deep, light, acidic and well-drained soil. Given these conditions, tea will grow in areas from sea level up to altitudes as high as 2,100 metres.

Camellia sinensis var. sinensis and Camellia sinensis var. assamica, are the two major varieties grown today.

Camellia sinensis however has hundreds of cultivars and hybrids which are planted according to geography, climate and other considerations.

Tea estates

Tea is grown on estates or smallholdings. A smallholding is privately owned and can be as small as 0.5 hectares or can cover several hectares. In various tea producing countries, where tea is grown on smallholdings, co-operatives are formed to build a tea-processing factory central to a group of smallholders. The owners of the smallholdings sell their plucked leaf to the factory for processing.

An estate is a self-contained unit, often hundreds of hectares in size, housing its own factory, tea growing area, schools, hospital, staff houses and gardens, places of worship, reservoir and guest house.

Planting

Today, tea is grown as a bush approximately one metre high, for ease of plucking. Bushes are grown from cuttings or clones which are carefully nurtured in nursery beds until ready for planting out. Young bushes are planted approximately 1.5 metres apart in rows with a distance of one metre between each row. In the higher altitudes these rows follow the contours of the hills or mountainsides to avoid soil erosion.

At some of the higher altitudes terraces are built, again to avoid soil erosion. The bush itself is trained into a fan shape, with a flat top, called a plucking plateau, about 1x1.5 metres in area and takes between three to five years to come to maturity. This is dependent on the altitude at which the tea is grown.

Pests and Fungus

Tea plantations can suffer from losses of ten to fifteen percent of harvest due to pests and molds/fungus. In some growing regions there can be hundreds of different pests and fungi that attack the tea plant, whilst in other regions hardly any.

As with most commercial crops of any sort pesticides and anti-fungal sprays are used on the plants. Spraying is highly regulated by government agencies. Consideration related to spraying include areas free from pests where therefore no spraying is needed, high infestation areas, types of pest and appropriate pesticides, intervals between spraying and harvesting and in some cases total harvesting of the plucking plateau, destruction by burning of the harvested leaves, then waiting for new growth. 

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Organic Teas

Organic teas are becoming increasingly popular. Organic teas do not use pesticides or artificial fertilisers. Pest control is by natural methods the main ones being:-

Macrobial (Natural predators)

Microbial (Natural micro-organisms)

Info-chemicals / biochemical (e.g. pheromones)

Insect traps

Netting

Fertilisers are all natural, being compost, animal dung etc.

Organic teas are grown on small holdings that usually support surrounding biodiversity.

Tea hybrids are usually used that have greater pest resistance.

Harvests are small and usually suffer higher crop losses. Therefore prices of organic teas are high.

Generally, despite marketing hype, there is no distinguishable taste difference between ‘like for like’ organic and commercial, although organic growers often grow premium teas and only pluck by hand.

Flushes

A tea ‘flush’ (harvest in Japan) is the point in the annual harvesting from which the tea is plucked.

The tea plant usually starts to produce new growth in the spring, although in some climates the first growth can occur in winter. The first growth of the year is called the First Flush.

The First Flush generally produces the most tender and delicate growth of the year, is usually hand plucked, and becomes the most expensive of the teas. Second, Third and even fourth Flushes – sometimes called Summer, Autumn and Winter Flushes, are considered inferior to First Flush, although some Second Flushes, particularly Darjeeling and Assam, are sought after by connoisseurs. All flushes can be hand plucked however later flushes are the ones that tend to be machine plucked.

Hand Plucking

Before the first plucking, the bushes are severely pruned by a method known as "lung" pruning, whereby crisscross branches are removed so that bush maintains a uniform height.

The bushes are plucked, mostly by hand, every 7-14 days. Altitude and climatic conditions of the growing area are the two deciding factors in this regrowth period. A tea bush grown at sea level will replace itself more quickly once plucked, than a tea bush growing at a higher altitude, where the air is often cooler. Only the top two leaves and a bud are plucked from the sprigs on the plucking plateau.

The hand plucked leaves are collected in a basket or bag carried on the back of the plucker and when this is full it is taken to a collection point where the plucked leaf is weighed before being taken to the factory for processing, or "making", as tea manufacture is known in the tea trade.

A skilled plucker can gather up to between 30-40 kilograms of plucked leaf in a day, sufficient to produce about 7.5 to 9.5 kg of processed black tea.

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Mechanical plucking

Manual plucking labour costs are high, therefore, mechanical plucking is becoming ever more common. The most used mechanical plucking machine (hand sheerer) is held by two workers, one at each side of the row. The machine is held at the plucking plateau and drawn along by hand usually powered from the workers backpacks. Great care is needed to balance and keep the machine at the correct height.

The rail plucking machine, used on some estates, requires the plantation rows to be flat and even, usually specifically planted to suit the machine, which runs on wheels at each side of the row. The downside of this method is the same as the sheerer machine but also has problems of soil degradation due to the weight of the machine running along the ground. 

Hand plucking        1 skilled worker                                    40 kg of leaf per day

Sheering                2 workers + 1 sheering machine           200kg of leaf per day

Rail plucker            1 man + 1 rail machine                        500 kg of leaf per day

Undeniably, the mechanical methods are quicker and thus much more economical than the manual method. However, the mechanical plucking results in relatively low-quality products, for the harvest includes some foreign materials like parts of the stems and dried leaves, which cannot be completely eliminated during the separation process.

Handpicking is costly, but it results in a much better-quality product. It allows for plucking the right portion of the shoot at the right place, without inclusion of parts of the stem and dead or damaged leaves. That is what makes handpicked teas more expensive than those harvested mechanically.

Tea Growing Countries

Tea is grown in many countries; it can be grown anywhere that climatic conditions are suitable. There are over forty countries that grow tea, many being niche market growers. The following are the main tea producing countries by quantity:

China

India

Kenya

Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

Vietnam

These five countries produce about 70% of the world’s total production.

China

The main tea type produced in China is Green Tea which accounts for 63% of all China teas grown. The other four categories of tea make up about equal parts of the balance with Fermented Tea last at just 1%.

China is the world’s largest producer of tea, having in recent years overtaken India.

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India

The main tea type produced in India is Black Tea. The Indian government’s Tea Board Indian teas are named after the areas that they are grown in and have organised geographical boundaries. The main tea growing regions are: -

Assam 507m kg pa. Assam teas are valued for their rich taste, bright liquors and are considered to be one of the choicest teas in the world

Dooars and Terai 216m kg pa. Teas have a bright, smooth and full-bodied liquor that’s a little lighter than Assam tea.

Nilgiri 135m kg pa. Teas are fragrant and aromatic, with floral notes and a golden yellow liquor. Crisply brisk and bright. Creamy mouth feel. 

Anamallais 30m kg pa. Teas attributes are biscuity to floral notes with lingering, biscuity aroma. Golden saffron liquor. Brisk and fairly bright.

Munnar 27m kg pa.  Teas with a fragrance of sweet malt biscuit. Liquor of golden yellow with an orange depth. Strong bodied with lively briskness, a touch of fruit and a lingering note of sweetness in the finish.

Travancore 20m kg pa. Medium fragrance. Reddish liquor with hues of yellow. A fairly balanced tea with body and briskness.

Wayanad 16m kg pa. Teas have a clean fragrance with biscuit notes with an earthy reddish liquor. A mild and mellow tea with light briskness.

Darjeeling 9.8m kg pa. Technically a more Oolong than black tea, and often referred to as the “Champagne of teas.” Darjeeling is golden or amber in colour and has a unique, delicate flavour that is referred to as "muscatel," or, having the flavour of muscatel grapes, the typical flavour can also be described as "flowery," and sometimes, "peachy." Manufactured using traditional rather than modern methods, Darjeeling is considered a connoisseur’s tea. 

Karnataka 6m kg pa. A simple uncomplicated balanced tea with a full body that is fairly brisk.

Kangra 0.8m kg pa. 10% of which is Green Tea. Kangara black teas taste fragrant and fresh with hints of earthiness, a little bitterness and an intense, long-lasting finish.

Kenya

Kenya produces tea as a cash crop using highly mechanised production methods. This process produces lower quality mass produced teas that are the filler base of teabags blended with tea from other countries. Only 5% of Kenyan tea is not part of this mass production process.

Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

Sri Lanka produces the following teas: -

Traditional orthodox teas 92%

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Mass produced tea for teabags 7%

Green tea 1%

The main markets for Sri Lankan tea are the CIS and the Middle Eastern countries which account for 75% of annual exports.

Teas in Sri Lanka are generally classed by the altitude at which they are grown: -

High grown (Udarata)

Teas have a honey golden liquor that is light with a well-defined flavour, aroma and strength.

Mid Grown (Medarata)

Teas have a strong, rich and full-bodied flavour.

Low Grown (Pahatha rata)

Teas have a burgundy brown liquor and a flavour which is rather strong.

Vietnam

Vietnam produces roughly equal amounts of green and black teas annually. Similar to Kenya almost all Vietnam teas are mass produced and of low quality and mainly used as a filler base for blended teabags. There is a very small quality tea growing effort being made by small scale tea farms.

Processing

Once the leaves have been plucked, they go through a series of processes to make six distinct categories of tea. Each tea category is the result of different processes, or the number of processes made. These processes can be some or all of:- Wilting, Bruising, Oxidation, Fixation, Yellowing, Shaping, Drying, Curing.

Wilting

Sometimes called ‘withering.’ Tea leaves will begin to wilt soon after plucking. Wilting is used to remove excess moisture from the leaves and can be done by leaving them to dry in the sun or in a cooled breezy room. The process of wilting allows a slight oxidization of the leaf.

Bruising

The leaf is torn or bruised by shaking and tossing, either manually or mechanically, to prepare the leaf for further oxidization and the process also releases enzymes. Total bruising is CTC – Crushed, Tear and Curl.

Oxidation

For teas that require oxidation the leaf is left in a climate-controlled room where they become progressively darker. Different oxidization times produce different levels of tannins and other enzyme actions. The producer will determine the oxidization time dependent on what type and flavour of tea is required.

Fixation

Fixation is done to stop further oxidization of the leaf. This is achieved by moderately heating the leaf to kill the oxidization enzymes.

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Yellowing

Yellowing (Sweltering) only used to produce yellow teas, this process involves heating the leaf in a closed contained for 6 – 8 hours at close to body temperature.

Shaping

Shaping (Rolling) by hand or machine causes the damp leaf to wrap around itself thereby releasing oils and juices from the leaf which enhance the flavour. The leaves can then be formed into other shapes to suit the type of tea required. For example some Oolong teas are formed into balls, other teas cut and shaped into pellets and various other forms. Each again dependent on the final tea type and flavour required.

Drying

Drying is done to finish the tea for sale. Drying can be done naturally – sun or air drying – or by baking. The drying process is important for many new flavour compounds especially for green teas.

Curing

Curing (Aging) while not always required, some teas require additional aging, fermentation, or baking to reach their drinking potential, especially green tea puerh. Some Oolong’s benefit from being fired over charcoal.

Sorting

Sorting can be done by hand or machine to remove physical impurities. Especially important in cheaper black tea production.

Tea Types

The resultant tea types made are:- Post Fermented, Green, Yellow, White, Oolong, Black.

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Post Fermented

Post Fermented (Puerh) tea, a type of green tea, can be drunk young and fresh. However, it is often compressed into cakes or wheels and carefully aged. Cakes aged for 20 to 40 years command very high prices – often in the thousands of pounds.

Green Tea

Green tea originated in China and is extensively grown here and also in Japan and Korea. As with all teas, green tea has a variety of natural flavours, ranging from grass-like and toasted (pan fired) to vegetal, sweet and seaweed-like (steamed).

Green tea however is particularly suitable to be flavoured with a variety of fruits and flower buds such as Jasmine, Orange, Lemon, Mint, Chamomile etc.

There are many health benefits claimed for green tea, and it has been used in Chinese medicine, however scientific research shows POTENTIAL, but not proven, health benefits.

Yellow Tea

Yellow tea gets its name from its liquor-like colour. It has a sweet, bright and floral taste with a gentle fruity, floral aroma. Yellow tea has a medium body, which means flavour is neither too strong or too weak.

Similarly, to green tea, there are many claimed, but not proven, health benefits to yellow tea.

White Tea

White tea, actually yellow in the cup, is a tea that has minimal oxidation during its processing. Referred to as white because it is plucked whilst the buds are unopened and still covered with fine white hairs.

The finest and most expensive white teas are often referred to ‘Golden’ or ‘Silver Tips’ which only contain the bud and not the leaves.

White tips are often added in very small portions to other fine quality teas.

Health benefits are similar to green and yellow teas.

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Oolong Tea

A popular Chinese tea. Different styles of oolong tea can vary widely in flavour. They can be sweet and fruity with honey aromas, or woody and thick with roasted aromas, or green and fresh with complex aromas, all depending on the horticulture and style of production.

Again, many health benefits are claimed.

Black Tea

Black tea has more oxidization during the processing than any of the other types of tea. This causes black tea to have a much stronger flavour. Black tea also keeps its flavour much longer than other loose teas, unless they are carefully stored for aging. Therefore, black tea is very suitable for trading purposes. Of the six tea types, black tea is the undoubted leader worldwide.

Tea Quality

There are two basic aspects to tea quality, being: -

·        The tea grading systems.

·        The tea taste and flavour.

Tea Grading Systems

There is no standardised or governed worldwide grading system, in fact the grading systems can be quite arbitrary. Grading is not an indication of flavour, it is an indication of leaf size and leaf quality. However, the grading system offers a good “first introduction” of what to expect from a tea.

Some of the more generally accepted grading systems are as follows: -

Whole Leaf Grades

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Broken Leaf Grades

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Fanning Grades (left over from Broken Leaf sorting, ideal for teabags)

Dust Grades (left over from Broken Leaf sorting, ideal for teabags)

Tea Taste and Flavour

Blending teas

Black Tea Blending

Teas, mainly black teas, are blended (the mixing of different tea qualities and /or different estates / regions) to produce a well-balanced flavour. Most teabags are blended.

The Golden Rule of blending, is that every blend must taste the same as the previous one, so that a consumer will not be able to detect any difference in flavour from one purchase to the next.

Flavoured Tea

Because tea can easily accept any aroma, tea can be flavoured with flowers, spices, essential oils and more. Whilst there are some classic flavoured teas such as: -

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Earl Grey Tea – flavoured with oil of bergamot – black tea is used.

Jasmine Tea – flavoured with jasmine flowers – usually green tea is used.

Chamomile Tea – flavoured with chamomile flowers -Usually green tea is used, however chamomile flowers can be used on their own with just hot water as an infusion.

Mint Tea – flavoured with mint – usually green tea is used.

There are no end of flavoured teas in their many dozens. A couple that I particularly like are: -

Apricot and Peach - flavoured black tea.

Chocolate – flavoured black tea.

It should be noted, however, that whilst many flavoured teas are made with good quality tea, others are made with poorer quality tea which the flavouring masks.

Infusions

Whilst not tea in the strictest term – not made from Camellia sinensis – infusions are often referred to as “teas”, such as “Arabic Teas”.

These “teas” are simply hot water infused with the same mixtures of herbs, flowers, spices and essential oils, but without any tea content.

Some classic infusions are: -

Cardamom infusion – often brewed with sugar - popular in the Arabic world.

Cinnamon infusion – brewed with cinnamon sticks and sugar.

Ginger infusion – brewed with ginger root, often with fruits added.

Brewing Tea

There are many different ways of brewing tea that include type of water, water temperature, type and quantity of tea, brewing vessels, steeping time, serving container.

Water

If you are spending money on fine quality tea in order to enjoy exceptional tastes and aromas, then you would not want to adversely influence that pleasure by using poor quality water. Tap water for example often contains chlorine, minerals of different types depending on where the water originates. Similarly, many bottled “health” waters are not what they claim to be. Mineral water and distilled water should be avoided – one has too mineral rich (hard), the other too low in minerals (soft), providing either a metallic/harsh taste or flat taste. Ideally, water used for brewing tea should have a neutral pH level (7.0 or close) and have a Total Dissolved Solids content of 30 parts per million (ppm) or less. Good quality natural spring water can meet these requirements.

If using filtered tap water – before buying the filter, check the filter specification for the resultant filtered water quality it produces. Also, use freshly filtered water – not filtered water that has been standing for a day or more.

Boil the water once only, re-boiling reduces the oxygen content of the water, which affects the flavour.

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Temperature

Different teas require different temperatures for brewing. If the temperature for some tea is too high it will lose its fresh taste, too low and the full flavour will not develop.

The following is a rough guide:

          White Tea                                  70-75C

          Green Tea                                  80-85C

          Yellow Tea                                  80-85C

          Oolong Tea                                 80-95C

          Delicate Black Tea

          (e.g. Darjeeling First Flush)         80-95C                  

Black tea                                 95-98C

Puerh                                      95-98C

These temperatures are a guide. Many tea aficionados recommend temperatures slightly different to these. Trial and observation of taste is the only way forward, especially as one’s appreciation of flavour may be slightly different to another’s.

There are variable temperature control kettles available.

Quantity of Tea

Once the required temperature has been determined, how much tea should you use. This is a difficult one because the leaves will be of different sizes.

Very rough guides say 1 teaspoon per teacup. But a teaspoon will hold a greater weight of finely cut leaf than it will of full-size leaf, so this is not such a good guide after all.

Also, how big is a teacup? They can vary greatly, however the “classic” teacup holds 150 ml at just short of the brim.

The International Standards Organisation for professional tea tasting state

2 g of tea to 100 ml of liquor, which means 3 g to a 150 ml “classic” teacup.

Again, trial, observation and personal preference is the way to go.

Steeping Time

You now have the correct amount of tea in your preferred brewing pot, have added the correct amount of water at the appropriate temperature, have put the lid on the pot – important. Now how long do you steep the tea for before pouring into your cup and drinking it?

Again, a rough guide:

White Tea                                   4-5 mins

Green Tea                                  3-4 mins

Yellow Tea                                  3-5 mins

Oolong Tea                                 3-5 mins                

Black tea                                    3-4 mins

Puerh                                         3-5 mins

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International tasting norms are 5-6 mins for all tea types.

Utensils

There is a large variety of teapots and brewing utensils. Small teapots to make a single cup, larger teapots from 2 to 6 cups. Pots with integral strainers, external strainers, bowls for both brewing and drinking, clay, ceramic, glass – too many to list.

Re-steeping

You just finished a delicious cup of tea. It seems like such a waste to throw away the leaves. You should now have wet leaves but no water in the pot.

High-quality, pure teas are great for re-steeping. White, green, and black teas usually hold a good amount of flavour for up to three steeps. Puerh and oolong teas are especially good to re-steep, as their flavour notes evolve with each steep. For puerhs, the general rule is the older the original tea, the more steeps you can get from it.

Re-steeping should be done quite quickly - within a few hours of the original steep. Water temperature is not so critical in re-steeping, but add 1-2 mins extra for the second steep, another 1-2 mins over the second steep time for the third steep. The closer together the steeps the better. As time progresses the tealeaves will deteriorate and will not taste the same at all. If you try to keep the tealeaves longer than 2-3 hours, it just won’t work. There is no way to keep or prolong the life of tealeaves past that.

Milk and Sugar?

There is a lot of debate about whether you should add milk and sugar to your tea. If you have spent a lot of money on finest quality tea, gone to all the trouble of correctly brewing it, should you then add anything to it?

The answer – you are the one drinking it, so do what you like to suit your taste.

Rather an unsatisfactory answer though, so let’s look at what tea aficionados generally recommend.

There are many kinds of Chai tea recipes, notably from India that contain, milk, creams, spices etc., but we are not discussing Chai here. Chai, although based on tea leaves, is an entirely different and complex subject. Here we are discussing the teas previously mentioned.

White Tea             White Tea has a very delicate flavour, the addition of anything would completely overwhelm the tea flavour. Drink on its own.

Green Tea             Drink on its own, never with milk. For variations add mint and sugar to create “Moroccan Style” tea, some add lemon or honey. Never add anything to Japanese Green Teas.

Yellow Tea            Yellow Tea has a very delicate flavour. Drink on its own.

Oolong Tea           The best Oolong’s have very complex and evolving flavours. Do not add anything.

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Delicate Black Long Leaf Tea (e.g., Darjeeling First Flush) Enjoy straight.

Black Tea              Add milk, or milk and sugar / honey. Milk can smooth out the tannins of stronger black teas. Also 2% cream content milk adds a balance to the tea.

Puerh                    Drink on its own from preference, some add a touch of milk.

Black Blended / teabags. Anything goes.

Flavoured Tea      Most flavoured teas are best drunk on their own. However Earl Grey can have milk added if desired, also can be drunk with just a slice of lemon or a little honey.

 My Favourites

Margaret’s Hope Second Flush TGFOP. A Darjeeling tea that I enjoy straight or with a touch of skimmed milk.

Royal Ceylon BOPF. Excellent strong brew enjoyed with skimmed milk.

Ceylon Silver Tips. Very delicate tea taken on its own.

Assam FOP. Enjoyed straight or with a touch of skimmed milk.

Jasmine Green Tea. Enjoyed on its own.

Earl Grey Tea. Enjoyed on its own or with a touch of skimmed milk.

Camomile Tea. Enjoyed on its own.

Peach and Apricot Tea. A refreshing flavoured tea enjoyed on its own.

Night of the Iguana Chocolate Spice Tea. An Assam tea with added chocolate and mixed spices. A strong chocolate and spice flavoured tea drunk on its own.

English Breakfast Teabags. Usually taken when dining out with the establishments milk.

Ginger Infusion. Enjoyed on its own (I only enjoy this very weak).

Rose Infusion. Enjoyed on its own.

P G Tips Teabags. A quick and easy everyday brew taken with skimmed milk.

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