cultivation of the tea plant, usually done in large commercial operations. The plant, a species of evergeen (Camellia sinensis), is valued for its young leaves and leaf buds, from which the tea beverage is produced. This article treats the cultivation of the tea plant. For information on the processing of tea and the history of its use, see the article tea.
The natural habitat of the tea plant is considered to be within the fan-shaped area between the Nāgāland, Manipur, and Lushai hills along the Assam–Myanmar (Burma) frontier in the west; through to China, probably as far as Chekiang province in the east; and from this line south through the hills of Myanmar and Thailand into Vietnam. The three main varieties of the tea plant, China, Assam, and Cambodia, each occur in their most distinct form at the extremes of the fan-shaped area. There are an infinite number of hybrids between the varieties; such crosses can be seen in almost any tea field.
The China variety, a multistemmed bush growing as high as nine feet (2.75 metres), is a hardy plant able to withstand cold winters and has an economic life of at least 100 years. When grown at an altitude near that of Darjeeling and Sri Lanka (Ceylon), it produces teas with valuable flavour during the season’s second flush or growth of new shoots.
The Assam variety, a single-stem tree ranging from 20 to 60 feet (six to 18 metres) in height and including several subvarieties, has an economic life of 40 years with regular pruning and plucking. The tea planter recognizes five main subvarieties: the tender light-leaved Assam, the less tender dark-leaved Assam, the hardy Manipuri and Burma types, and the very large-leaved Lushai. In Upper Assam, the dark-leaved Assam plant, when its leaves are highly pubescent, produces very fine quality “golden tip” teas during its second flush. (The Chinese word pekho, meaning “white hair” or “down,” refers to the “tip” in tea, which is correlated with quality.)
The Cambodia variety, a single-stem tree growing to about 16 feet (five metres) in height, is not cultivated but has been naturally crossed with other varieties.
The mature leaves of the tea plant, differing in form according to variety, range from 1 1/2 to 10 inches (3.8 to 25 centimetres) in length, the smallest being the China variety and the largest the Lushai subvariety. In harvesting, or plucking, the shoot removed usually includes the bud and the two youngest leaves. The weight of 2,000 freshly plucked China bush shoots may be one pound (0.45 kilogram); the same number of Assam shoots may weigh two pounds (0.9 kilogram). Tea leaves may be serrated, bullate, or smooth; stiff or flabby; the leaf pose ranges from erect to pendant; and the degree of pubescence varies widely from plant to plant.
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Black tea
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In preparing unfermented tea, the oxidizing enzymes are killed by steamblasting the freshly plucked leaf in perforated drums or by roasting it in hot iron pans prior to rolling. The leaf is then subjected to further heating and rolling until it turns dark green and takes a bluish tint. The leaves are finally dried to a moisture content of 3 to 4 percent and are either crushed into small pieces...
...substances), which are currently being investigated for potential anticarcinogenic activity. Animal studies suggest that antioxidant compounds known as polyphenols, which are found in both black and green tea, may be protective against the growth of cancer. Regular consumption of tea, especially in Japan and China, where green tea is the preferred type, has been associated with a decreased risk...
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Instant teas are produced from black tea by extracting the liquor from processed leaves, tea wastes, or undried fermented leaves, concentrating the extract under low pressure, and drying the concentrate to a powder by freeze-drying, spray-drying, or vacuum-drying. Low temperatures are used to minimize loss of flavour and aroma. Instant green teas are produced by similar methods, but hot water...
beverage produced by steeping in freshly boiled water the young leaves and leaf buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved China plant (C. sinensis sinensis) and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. sinensis assamica). Hybrids of these two varieties are also grown. The leaves may be fermented or left unfermented.
According to legend tea has been known in China since about 2700 bc. For millennia it was a medicinal beverage obtained by boiling fresh leaves in water, but around the 3rd century ad it became a daily drink, and tea cultivation and processing began. The first published account of methods of planting, processing, and drinking came in ad 350. Around 800 the first seeds were brought to Japan, where cultivation became established by the 13th century. Chinese from Amoy brought tea cultivation to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) in 1810. Tea cultivation in Java began under the Dutch, who brought seeds from Japan in 1826 and seeds, workers, and implements from China in 1833.
In 1824 tea plants were discovered in the hills along the frontier between Burma and the Indian state of Assam. The British introduced tea culture into India in 1836 and into Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1867. At first they used seeds from China, but later seeds from the Assam plant were used.
The Dutch East India Company carried the first consignment of China tea to Europe in 1610. In 1669 the English East India Company brought China tea from ports in Java to the London market. Later, teas grown on British estates in India and Ceylon reached Mincing Lane, the centre of the tea trade in London. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tea growing had spread to Russian Georgia, Sumatra, and Iran and extended to non-Asian countries such as Natal, Malaŵi, Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, and Mozambique in Africa, to...
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...art of the tea ceremony came to be monopolized by the house heads of the various schools, fostering the development of the “profession” of tea master. This “house head” (iemoto) system also spread to flower arrangement and to other arts and became a distinguishing feature of the Edo period. One result of this segmentation into tradition-conscious schools was that...
