I have been using the All About Tea site for a year or so. The service is obviously run by individuals who not only love tea, but wish to enthuse all potential customers similarly. The prices are very reasonable, and the service fast and efficient. A resume of the properties of each tea is included with each order, as well as a number of free samples which you can request on the site. I will certainly be using the site in future as the quality of teas on offer seems far better than other more 'renowned' or well known outlets.
Thanks as ever,

Dr Andy Hershon
Hadfield, Glossop, Derbyshire

Tea

There’s a lot more to your morning cup of tea than a dash of milk and a spoonful of sugar. In fact, there are so many tea varieties that it can sometimes get a little confusing. The amazing thing is that all the tea types – green tea, oolong tea, white tea and black tea – all come from exactly the same plant!

There are so many different types that you may not know where to start, so let’s break it down. It’s all in the processing! Simple as that – all tea comes from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Originally native to China, tea was discovered over 5000 years ago. Today it’s grown all over the world, in countries such as India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Africa and Indonesia. In fact more than 30 countries around the world grow tea commercially.

The fresh tea leaves are picked (“plucked”), withered, rolled and finally heated before being graded and packed. These stages occur in almost all tea production, and it’s the length of time used for each stage that changes the flavour, appearance and aroma of the finished leaf. The process involved is one of fermentation or oxidisation. The rolling of the leaves helps to release the enzymes in the leaf. The enzymes, exposed to the air, cause fermentation which creates the dark brown colour – just like the browning of an apple. Once the desired degree of fermentation has been reached, the process is stopped by heating and drying the tea. The longer the fermentation, the darker the leaf becomes.

There are four main types of tea - black, oolong, green and white. Black tea – such as traditional English Breakfast - is the most fermented, followed by Oolong (or Wu-Long) tea such as Formosa Orange Blossom Oolong. Green teas like the Japanese Genmai Cha are much less fermented. White tea, which is the closest to the natural leaf of the tea plant, is the least processed. The leaves of white tea are very young, fine and downy, and it’s the tiny downy hairs on the leaves that give it a white appearance. A popular white tea is Jasmine Silver Needles – first drunk, they say, by the Chinese Emperors 5,000 years ago.

With 80% of Britons drinking an average of 3 cups of tea per day, it’s easy to see why, after water, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Tea was even considered a necessity on the front line in the Second World War! Tea’s popularity is well-founded. As well as being delicious, tea is extremely good for you! Its many health benefits include strengthening the immune system, controlling cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. It can even help to prevent cancer and aid weight loss!

True teas should not be confused with the increasingly popular herbal teas and “botanicals”, such as Rooibos, Peppermint and Chamomile. These come from various plants other than Camellia sinensis. Herbal teas are also delicious - and they each have their own special benefits. For example, Brazilian Yerba Mate has been shown to be great for weight loss. In South America it is more widely drunk even than coffee.

When tea was first discovered in China it was the drink of the Emperors. Its fame quickly spread through high society. Many tea customs developed with its status. The Japanese Tea Ceremony makes an art form out of serving tea in the correct manner, following a series of complex and highly formalised rules. In more recent times, the Tea Dance became popular in America in the early 20th century. This originally evolved from the British custom of Afternoon Tea. To this day, Afternoon Tea at the top London hotels is a prestigious and rather lengthy affair and you have to book weeks in advance.

Today, your tea is more likely to be strong, with milk in, and used for dunking your biscuits in, but in our increasingly health conscious society, other types of tea are making a comeback. New health benefits are being discovered all the time and it seems that green tea is the latest fad. But you may be surprised to discover that until the 19th century, almost all the tea drunk in Britain would have been green!

There’s no doubt now that tea is the new coffee. In fact in the USA, tea sales are forecast to quadruple by 2012. People are discovering the rich variety and gourmet experience that speciality tea can offer. And they are also finding that even “ordinary” tea can be truly special, with real flavour and quality. And they are no longer content to settle for second best. There are so many ways to enjoy tea, from a comforting, steaming hot brew in winter to a refreshing iced fruit tea in the summer. There really is a tea for every occasion. And with specialist tea now becoming more readily available, and with its health benefits becoming better understood, today we really can say – it’s tea time!

Charlotte Jewer
Teaologist