| Chinese Tea |
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Chinese tea traces its origin nearly forty five centuries back. The Chinese consume tea at each and every meal for simple pleasure and good health. The Chinese tea includes those tea leaves that are especially processed with Chinese inherited methods. Based on a famous legend, Chinese emperor Shennong discovered tea way back in 2737 BC when a Camellia sinensis leaf fell into a boiling cup of water. Over the years, tea has deeply woven into the culture and history of China. Along with rice, sauce, vinegar, oil, salt and firewood, Chinese tea is considered one amongst the seven important necessities of Chinese life. Numerous Chinese writers have classified tea into as many as four categories – black, oolong, green and white. Others also include compressed, scented and red teas. Nearly all of them arise from Camellia Sinensis plant. Though Chinese flower tea is extremely popular, it is not a true type of tea. Majority of Chinese tea are widely consumed in China and are hardly exported. Currently, the most popular form of tea employed in China is green tea. Several varieties of individual beverages come under these main categories of tea, though researchers have till now counted above 700. Some others maintain the number in excess of 1000. The remaining variations mainly occur because of the various strains of Camilla plant. For instance, the most popular form of Chinese tea is called Tie Guan Yin. The origins of such a plant are traced to a single tree observed in Fujian province’s Anxi region. There are several other teas which borrow certain characteristics from the local conditions. The biggest factor in wide variations basically comes from the processing differences, especially after the completion of harvesting process. In order to prevent the oxidation process, green and white teas are cooked as soon as possible. Certain Oolong teas are oxidized partially whereas red and black teas are completely oxidized. The other differences mainly come from the processing step variations. Tickle your senses and refresh yourself with the finest organic teas, at www.sonocoffeebeans.com |