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Judaic Tea Pots |
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The background
and history of tea is provided only for
informational purposes.
Jewishrecipes.org does not claim any of the
teas listed are kosher. Please consult
your Rabbi regarding the kashrus status of
any tea products.
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History
The
origins of the chai masala recipe
are obscure but it is believed to
have been created after the British
began cultivating tea within
colonial India during the 19th
century C.E. to compensate for their
inability to meet demand from
Chinese exports.
Cultivation
Tea is
produced from leaves and leaf buds of
Camellia sinensis, the tea plant. All tea
varieties, such as green, oolong, and black
tea, are harvested from this species; they
differ in processing.
In the
wild, the tea tree may grow from 5 to 15 m,
and sometimes even to 30 m[1]. The wild
distribution is in the foothills of the
Himalayas, stretching from northeast India
to southwest China[2]. Cultivated tea shrubs
are usually trimmed to below 2 m (six feet)
to stimulate the growth of leaves and to
ease plucking. Many insects, including the
green leafhopper, mites, caterpillars, and
termites, are natural enemies to tea plants.
Tea grows wild in subtropical monsoon
climates with wet and hot summers and
relatively cold and dry winters.[3] Today,
it is cultivated in tropical and subtropical
regions. In tropical regions, the best
conditions are at higher altitudes.
Important tea producing countries are India,
China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Republic
of Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan,
Indonesia, Nepal, Australia, Argentina, and
Kenya. (In the tea trade, Sri Lanka and
Taiwan are still referred to by their former
names of Ceylon and Formosa, respectively.)
Processing and classification
The main types of tea are distinguished by
their processing. Leaves of Camellia
sinensis, if not dried quickly after
picking, soon begin to wilt and oxidise.
This process resembles the malting of
barley, in that starch is converted into
sugars; the leaves turn progressively
darker, as chlorophyll breaks down and
tannins are released. The next step in
processing is to stop the oxidation process
at a predetermined stage by removing the
water from the leaves via heating.
The term fermentation was used (probably by
wine fanciers) to describe this process, and
has stuck, even though no true fermentation
happens (i.e. the process is not driven by
microbes and produces no ethanol). Without
careful moisture and temperature control,
fungi will grow on tea. The fungi will cause
fermentation which will contaminate the tea
with toxic and carcinogenic substances. In
fact, when real fermentation happens, the
tea must be discarded.
Tea is traditionally classified based on the
degree or period of fermentation (oxidation)
the leaves have undergone:
White tea
Young
leaves (new growth buds) that have undergone
no oxidation; the buds may be shielded from
sunlight to prevent formation of
chlorophyll. White tea is produced in lesser
quantities than most of the other styles,
and can be correspondingly more expensive
than tea from the same plant processed by
other methods. It is also less well-known in
the western countries, though this is
changing with the introduction of white tea
in bagged form.
Green tea
The oxidation process is stopped after a
minimal amount of oxidation by application
of heat; either with steam, a traditional
Japanese method; or by dry cooking in hot
pans, the traditional Chinese method. Tea
leaves may be left to dry as separate leaves
or rolled into small pellets to make
gun-powder tea. The latter process is time
consuming and is typically done only with
pekoes of higher quality. The tea is
processed within one to two days of
harvesting.
Oolong
Oxidation
is stopped somewhere between the standards
for green tea and black tea. The oxidation
process will take two to three days.
Black
tea/Red tea
The tea
leaves are allowed to completely oxidise.
Black tea is the most common form of tea in
southern Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Pakistan etc) and western countries. The
literal translation of the Chinese word is
red tea, which may be used by some
tea-lovers. However, red tea may also refer
to rooibos, an increasingly popular South
African tisane. The oxidation process will
take around two weeks and up to one month.
Black tea is further classified as either
orthodox or CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl, a
production method developed about 1932).
Unblended black teas are also identified by
the estate they come from, their year and
the flush (first, second or autumn).
Orthodox and CTC teas are further graded
according to the post-production leaf
quality by the Orange Pekoe system.
Pu-erh
Two forms
of pu-erh teas are available, "raw"
and "cooked". "Raw" or "green" pu-erh may be
consumed young or aged to further mature.
During the aging process, the tea undergoes
a second, microbial fermentation. "Cooked"
pu-erh is made from green pu-erh leaf that
has been artificially oxidized to
approximate the flavor of the natural aging
process. This is done through a controlled
process similar to composting, where both
the moisture and temperature of the tea are
carefully monitored. Both types of pu-erh
tea are usually compressed into various
shapes including bricks, discs, bowls, or
mushrooms. Compression occurs to start the
second oxidation/fermentation process, as
only compressed forms of pu-erh will age.
While most teas are consumed within a year
of production, pu-erh can be aged for many
years to improve its flavour, up to 30 to 50
years for raw pu-erh and 10 to 15 years for
cooked pu-erh, although experts and
aficionados disagree about what the optimal
age is to stop the aging process. In China
and amongst some westerners, the tea is
traditionally brewed in the gong fu style,
which is a process of several short
steepings in a yixing pot. (YiXing
(pronounced ee-shing) teapots have long been
known in China for their simple beauty and
unique tea brewing qualities, but are
relatively unheard of in the United States
and the rest of the world.) Most often
in the west, pu-erh is steeped for up to
five minutes in boiling water. Additionally,
Some Tibetans use pu-erh as a caloric food,
boiled with yak butter, sugar and salt to
make yak butter tea. Pu-erh also has
medicinal uses in traditional Chinese
medicine, where it is used to cure cough,
balance qi, and help in weight loss. Teas
that undergo a second oxidation, such as
pu-erh and liu bao, are collectively
referred to as Black tea in Chinese. This is
not to be confused with the western term
Black tea, which is known in Chinese as Red
Tea.
Yellow
tea
Either used
as a name of high-quality tea served at the
Imperial court, or of special tea processed
similarly to green tea, but with a slower
drying phase.
Kukicha
Also called
winter tea, kukicha is made from twigs and
old leaves pruned from the tea plant during
its dormant season and dry-roasted over a
fire. Popular as a health food in Japan and
in macrobiotic diets.
Blending
and additives
Almost all
teas in tea-bags and most other teas sold in
western countries are blends. Blending may
occur at the level of tea-planting area
(e.g., Assam), or teas from many areas may
be blended. The aim of blending is a stable
taste over different years, and a better
price. More expensive, more tasty tea may
cover the inferior taste of cheaper tea.
There are various teas which have additives
and/or different processing than "pure"
varieties. Tea is able to easily receive any
aroma, which may cause problems in
processing, transportation or storage of
tea, but can be also advantageously used to
prepare scented teas.
Content
of Tea
-
Caffeine: An average serving of tea
contains only 1/2 to 1/3 of caffeine of
the same serving size of coffee. One of
the more confusing aspects of caffeine
content is the fact that coffee contains
less caffeine (1.5%)
than tea (2.5% - 4.5%) when measured in
its dry form.[4] [5]
-
Polyphenols
-
Essential oils
Tea
preparation
This section describes the most widespread
method of making tea. Completely different
methods are used in North Africa, Tibet and
perhaps in other places.
The best way to prepare tea is usually
thought to be with loose tea placed either
directly in a teapot or contained in a tea
infuser, rather than a teabag. However,
perfectly acceptable tea can be made with
teabags. Some circumvent the teapot stage
altogether and brew the tea directly in a
cup or mug.
Historically in China, tea is divided into a
number of infusions. The first infusion is
immediately poured out to wash the tea, and
then the second and further infusions are
had. The third through fifth are nearly
always considered the best infusions of tea,
although different teas open up differently
and may require more infusions of boiling
water to bring them to life.
Typically, the best temperature for brewing
tea can be determined by its type. Teas that
have little or no oxidation period, such as
a green or white tea, are best brewed at
lower temperatures around 80 �C, while teas
with longer oxidation periods should be
brewed at higher temperatures around 100 �C.
Black Tea
The water
for black teas should be added at the
boiling point (100 �C or 212 �F), except for
more delicate teas, where lower temperatures
are recommended. This will have as large an
effect on the final flavor as the type of
tea used. The most common fault when making
black tea is to use water at too low a
temperature. Since boiling point drops with
altitude, this makes it difficult to brew
black tea properly in mountainous areas. It
is also recommended that the teapot be
warmed before preparing tea, easily done by
adding a small amount of boiling water to
the pot, swirling briefly, before
discarding. Black tea should not be allowed
to steep for less than 30 seconds or more
than about five minutes (a process known as
brewing or [dialectally] mashing in the UK):
after that, tannin is released, which
counteracts the stimulating effect of the
theophylline and caffeine and makes the tea
bitter (at this point it is referred to as
being stewed in the UK). When the tea has
brewed long enough to suit the tastes of the
drinker, it should be strained while
serving.
Green Tea
Water for
green tea, according to most accounts,
should be around 80 �C to 85 �C (176 �F to
185 �F); the higher the quality of the
leaves, the lower the temperature.
Preferably, the container in which the tea
is steeped, the mug, or teapot should also
be warmed beforehand so that the tea does
not immediately cool down.
Oolong Tea
Oolong teas
should be brewed around 90 �C to 100 �C (194
�F to 212 �F), and again the brewing vessel
should be warmed before pouring in the
water. Yixing clay teapots are the ideal
brewing vessel for oolong tea. For best
results use spring water, as the minerals in
spring water tend to bring out more flavor
in the tea.
Premium or Delicate Tea
Some teas,
especially green teas and delicate Oolong or
Darjeeling teas, are steeped for shorter
periods, sometimes less than 30 seconds.
Using a tea strainer separates the leaves
from the water at the end of the brewing
time if a tea bag is not being used.
Serving
In order to
preserve the pre-tannin tea without
requiring it all to be poured into cups, a
second teapot is employed. The steeping pot
is best unglazed earthenware; Yixing pots
are the best known of these, famed for the
high quality clay from which they are made.
The serving pot is generally porcelain,
which retains the heat better. Larger
teapots are a post-19th-century invention,
as tea before this time was very rare and
very expensive.
Experienced tea-drinkers often insist that
the tea should not be stirred around while
it is steeping (sometimes called winding in
the UK). This, they say, will do little to
strengthen the tea, but is likely to bring
the tannic acids out in the same way that
brewing too long will do. For the same
reason one should not squeeze the last drops
out of a teabag; if you want stronger tea,
use more leaves or bags.
Additives
Popular
additives to tea include sugar or honey,
lemon, milk, and fruit jams. Most
connoisseurs eschew cream because it
overpowers the flavor of tea. The exception
to this rule is with very hearty teas such
as the East Friesian blend. Milk, however,
is thought to neutralize remaining tannins
and reduce acidity.
When taking milk with tea, some add the tea
to the milk rather than the other way
around. If the milk is chilled, this avoids
scalding the milk, which leads to a better
emulsion and nicer taste. The socially
'correct' method is to add the tea after the
milk, but this convention was established
before the invention of the refrigerator.
Adding the milk first also makes a milkier
cup of tea with sugar harder to prepare as
there will be no hot liquid in the cup to
dissolve the sugar effectively. In addition,
the amount of milk used is normally
determined by the color of the tea,
therefore when adding the milk last it added
until the correct color is obtained. If the
milk is added first it involves more
guesswork. Of course, if the tea is being
brewed in a mug, the milk must be added
after the tea bag is removed.
In the United Kingdom, adding the milk first
is historically considered a lower-class
method of preparing tea; the upper classes
always add the milk last. The origin of this
distinction is said to be that the rougher
earthenware mugs of the working class would
break if boiling-hot tea was added directly
to them, whereas the fine glazed china cups
of the upper class would not. It is now
considered by most to be a personal
preference.
Tea packaging
Tea bags
Tea leaves
are packed into a small (usually paper) tea
bag. It is easy and convenient, making tea
bags popular for many people nowadays.
However, because fannings and dust from
modern tea processing are also included in
most tea bags, it is commonly held among tea
afficianados that this method provides an
inferior taste and experience. The paper
used for the bag can also be tasted by many
which can detract from the tea's flavour.
Additional reasons why bag tea is considered
less well-flavored include:
Loose tea
The tea leaves
are packaged loosely in a canister or other
container. The portions must be individually
measured by the consumer for use in a cup,
mug or teapot. This allows greater
flexibility, letting the consumer brew
weaker or stronger tea as desired, but
convenience is sacrificed. Strainers, "tea
presses", filtered teapots and infusion bags
are available commercially to avoid having
to drink the floating loose leaves. A more
traditional, yet perhaps more effective way
around this problem is to use a three-piece
lidded teacup, called a gaiwan. The lid of
the gaiwan can be tilted to hold back the
leaves while sipping the tea.
Compressed tea
A lot of tea
is still compressed for storage and ageing
convenience. Commonly Pu-Erh tea is
compressed and then drunk by loosening
leaves off using a small knife. Compressed
tea can be stored longer than loose leaf
tea, almost indefinitely.
Tea Sticks
One of the
more modern forms of tea consumption, an
alternative to the tea bag, are Tea Sticks.
The first known tea sticks originated in
Holland in the mid 1990's. |
