Most likely you are familiar with the Chinese saying, "Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea are the seven needs to start a day." Though tea is last on the list, we can easily still see just how important the tea is for the Chinese.
There are really thousand of Chinese tea varieties. These are normally categorized by procedure, quality, and preparation approaches and so on. Nonetheless, if we will think about tea in regards to quality, there are in fact eight classes of Chinese tea. These include green tea, oolong, black, red, white, yellow, flower, and compressed tea.
Now, let's take a look at these classes one by one.
Green Tea
Green tea is said to be the most natural type of Chinese tea. It is usually picked, naturally dried and fried briefly to be rid of its grassy aroma. Unlike the additional types, green tea uses a skipped fermentation procedure.
According to some specialists, green tea has the most medicinal value and the least caffeine content of all Chinese tea classes. The aroma of this sort of Chinese tea is sorted from medium to high, while the flavor is normally light to medium. Today, about 50 % of China's tea is green tea.
Oolong Tea
This sort of Chinese tea is halfway between green tea and black tea in a sense that it is half fermented. Chinese also call it "Qing Cha" and its normal leaves are green in the middle and red on the edges due to the process to soften the tea leaves.
Oolong tea leaves are essentially withered and dispersed prior to undergoing a short fermentation process. Then, it is fried, rolled and roasted.
Black Tea
The Chinese black tea produces full-bodied amber when brewed. Also, this kind of Chinese tea undergoes withering, then is left to ferment for a long while, and then roasted. The leaves of this variety come to be completely oxidized after processing.
Red Tea
As the name signifies, this type of Chinese tea has red leaves and red tea colour. This colour is strongly highlighted in the course of the fermentation process. It is additionally looked at that red tea has low aroma and medium taste and it is now divided into three subclasses: Kung Fu Red Tea, Ted Tea Bits, and Small Species Red Tea.
White Tea
This sort of Chinese tea is occasionally considered as a subclass of green tea. Possibly it is for the fact that it is merely withered and then roasted. Like green tea, white tea does not undergo fermentation processes. And, it has a lower caffeine content.
Yellow Tea
Apparently, yellow tea has yellow leaves and yellow tea colour. According to some experts, this kind of Chinese tea is an uncommon class of Chinese tea. The flavor of yellow tea is typically mild and rejuvenating.
Flower Tea
Here is an unique kind of Chinese tea-- the Flower tea. It really subdivides into Flower Tea and Scented Tea. Well, the Flower Tea is simply based upon a simple concept that dried flowers are made use of, without much processing, to make tea. The Scented Tea, on the other hand, uses green tea and red tea as base mixed with scent of flowers. Typically, this class has light to medium flavor and medium to strong scent.
Compressed Tea
The final sort of Chinese tea is the compressed tea. This class uses black tea as base tea. It is steamed and compressed into bricks, cakes, columns, and additional forms. Also, compressed tea has all the qualities of black tea. It can easily be stored for years and years.
There are really thousand of Chinese tea varieties. These are normally categorized by procedure, quality, and preparation approaches and so on. Nonetheless, if we will think about tea in regards to quality, there are in fact eight classes of Chinese tea. These include green tea, oolong, black, red, white, yellow, flower, and compressed tea.
Now, let's take a look at these classes one by one.
Green Tea
Green tea is said to be the most natural type of Chinese tea. It is usually picked, naturally dried and fried briefly to be rid of its grassy aroma. Unlike the additional types, green tea uses a skipped fermentation procedure.
According to some specialists, green tea has the most medicinal value and the least caffeine content of all Chinese tea classes. The aroma of this sort of Chinese tea is sorted from medium to high, while the flavor is normally light to medium. Today, about 50 % of China's tea is green tea.
Oolong Tea
This sort of Chinese tea is halfway between green tea and black tea in a sense that it is half fermented. Chinese also call it "Qing Cha" and its normal leaves are green in the middle and red on the edges due to the process to soften the tea leaves.
Oolong tea leaves are essentially withered and dispersed prior to undergoing a short fermentation process. Then, it is fried, rolled and roasted.
Black Tea
The Chinese black tea produces full-bodied amber when brewed. Also, this kind of Chinese tea undergoes withering, then is left to ferment for a long while, and then roasted. The leaves of this variety come to be completely oxidized after processing.
Red Tea
As the name signifies, this type of Chinese tea has red leaves and red tea colour. This colour is strongly highlighted in the course of the fermentation process. It is additionally looked at that red tea has low aroma and medium taste and it is now divided into three subclasses: Kung Fu Red Tea, Ted Tea Bits, and Small Species Red Tea.
White Tea
This sort of Chinese tea is occasionally considered as a subclass of green tea. Possibly it is for the fact that it is merely withered and then roasted. Like green tea, white tea does not undergo fermentation processes. And, it has a lower caffeine content.
Yellow Tea
Apparently, yellow tea has yellow leaves and yellow tea colour. According to some experts, this kind of Chinese tea is an uncommon class of Chinese tea. The flavor of yellow tea is typically mild and rejuvenating.
Flower Tea
Here is an unique kind of Chinese tea-- the Flower tea. It really subdivides into Flower Tea and Scented Tea. Well, the Flower Tea is simply based upon a simple concept that dried flowers are made use of, without much processing, to make tea. The Scented Tea, on the other hand, uses green tea and red tea as base mixed with scent of flowers. Typically, this class has light to medium flavor and medium to strong scent.
Compressed Tea
The final sort of Chinese tea is the compressed tea. This class uses black tea as base tea. It is steamed and compressed into bricks, cakes, columns, and additional forms. Also, compressed tea has all the qualities of black tea. It can easily be stored for years and years.
About the Author:
The author has had a long association with tea online. For more information to find out more about Tea & Sympathy.
No comments:
Post a Comment