• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

Tea

produced from the bush Camellia sinensis, is primarily important as one of the all-time great beverages of the world, a role which it first fulfilled in China and adjacent areas but which it has subsequently played (to packed tea houses one might say) in the rest of Asia, Europe (especially Britain), N. America, and Australia. Because of this role it has given its name to institutions such as high tea and the Japanese tea ceremony.

Tea made as in Tibet, with butter, may be said to constitute a food; and of course nourishment is obtained from tea drunk with milk, as it often is in Britain. For an example of the eating of tea leaves as a sort of relish, see lepet under Burma.

However, tea is also of some importance as a flavouring. Of the three main categories of tea (green, oolong, and black) the first and third are most commonly used for this purpose. Various sweet dishes, of which ice cream is the most obvious example, can be given a subtle tea flavour, but some is also used in some parts of the world for savoury dishes. Thus in Vietnam there is a tuna and pork dish in which these main ingredients are simmered in tea—ideally lotus-flavoured tea but ordinary black tea will do. One effect of the tea in a dish of this sort is to balance the fat.

Tea terminology is a matter of concern to tea drinkers and also to cooks who are using tea as a flavouring. When tea is used as a flavouring for food, recipes often just say ‘tea’, without being more specific. In fact, the choice of tea would often be important and is best made with some knowledge of at least the main types of tea, as briefly indicated here.

Teas, like wines and coffees, are classified in many ways, for full details of which one of the major works on the subject has to be consulted, especially the venerable but unrivalled two volumes by Ukers (1935). Here is no more than a sketch map.

The first and fundamental classification is by the extent, if any, of fermentation. This produces the three main categories referred to above:

• Green (unfermented). The fresh leaves are dried immediately after picking. This prevents oxidization and inactivates the enzymes.
• Oolong (semi-fermented). Large-leafed teas, whose fermentation has been arrested before complete. The best come from Formosa (now Taiwan), see below.
• Black (fermented). The leaves are wilted, bruised by rolling, and allowed to ferment in contact with the air, so that oxidization takes place. Then they are dried.

Another fundamental classification is by country or region of origin. Here there are:

• India. Most teas from India are black and two well-known examples are Assam and Darjeeling. Assam is full-bodied whereas Darjeeling, from the foothills of the Himalayas, is often called the champagne of teas and has a fine, delicate flavour.
• China produces both green and black teas. The best-known example of Chinese green tea is Gunpowder, a pale-coloured tea with a sharp distinctive taste. This tea is popular in N. Africa where it is flavoured with mint. Keemun is a well-known black tea from the Huangshan mountains.
• Formosa (now Taiwan) produces the best oolong teas which have a delicate fruity taste and are sometimes scented with jasmine, gardenia, or rose petals.
• Ceylon (Sri Lanka) produces a number of excellent teas and has been in the business for a long time.
• Kenya produces teas which have a quality something between the strong teas of India and the lighter teas of Sri Lanka.
• Japan produces almost exclusively green teas and tea plays an important part in Japanese social life and culture (see Japanese tea ceremony). Bancha is the everyday green leaf tea; matcha is the more expensive powdered tea used for the tea ceremony.

Other terms, which also include classification by size of leaf, include:

• brick tea, made from coarse tea leaves, stalk, and dust, which are steamed and pressed together to form a brick to make it easily transportable. It is exported from China to Russia, and is used, for example, in Tibet and Mongolia where it is brewed with yak butter and salt. Brick tea was once used as a form of currency;
• Russian tea, which can mean either tea grown in Russia or tea drunk in the Russian style, i.e. in a glass with lemon;
• jasmine, tea flavoured with jasmine flowers. Tea can also be flavoured with other flowers, such as rose petals and orange blossom or fruits such as apple and mango;
• pekoe/orange pekoe/broken orange pekoe. Although pekoe was originally a Chinese word meaning ‘white hair’ (the white down on ‘first flush’ pickings) it is now a quality term for black leaf teas; and broken means that the leaves are broken in passing through rollers;
• Earl Grey, black tea which has been scented with oil of bergamot; one of the earliest blended teas, going back to the 18th century;
• English breakfast, which, according to Ukers, was a name originally applied to China black tea (Congou) in the USA, but subsequently used to include blends of black teas in which the China flavour is dominant.
• souchong (from the Chinese siao-chung, meaning larger leaves), which includes lapsang souchong which is described as having a distinctive smoky/tarry taste.

See also tisane.

Contributors

Reading