KULR 8's Home Experts: Local News
What is your cup of tea?
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Story Updated: Feb 23, 2009
Tea is traditionally defined as the process of infusing water through the leaves known as Camellia, from the Evergreen family.(1) Tea is mainly grown in India and China and is also cultivated in some African countries such as Kenya.(2) The four main varieties of tea are distinguished by the method with which they are processed, rather than by region and plant variety as with coffee.
Green tea is produced by picking the leaves once they are mature, rolling them and then removing the moisture from the leaves.(2) White tea is formed by picking tea leaves before they have turned green and then passing them through the same process as Green tea. Black tea is created when the green leaves are allowed to oxidize for a certain time period after being rolled, after which the moisture is removed. Oolong tea is prepared by only allowing the tea leaves to ferment until they are between what is considered a black tea and a green tea.(1) Most herbal teas are technically not considered teas because they do not contain any leaves from the Camellia plant; hence most tea experts emphasize “herbal” when discussing such teas.
Tea also has several health benefits. The Camellia plant contains many antioxidants which help promote cardiovascular health and prevent cellular mutations such as cancer and other diseases as well as cellular degeneration that contributes to aging. (2)
Several devices can be used to infuse dry tea, most of them require the tea to be steeped in water just off the boil (approximately 195 degrees F) for 3-5 minutes, depending upon the variety of tea and strength desired.
The Copper Colander carries many types of tea infusers, tea pots and other tea-related items. We carry bulk teas from Mighty Leaf Tea, loose and bagged teas from Market Spice Tea and bagged teas from Tea Forté. Come in and check out our selection!
This information has been proudly provided by The Copper Colander. For more information, please visit their KULR Home Expert's Page.
(1) “What is Tea?”
Planet Tea
http://www.planet-tea.com/index.htm
(2)“The Ultimate source for Tea Information”
Created By Eli B. (12/2004)
http://www.geocities.com/teli69/index.html
Green tea is produced by picking the leaves once they are mature, rolling them and then removing the moisture from the leaves.(2) White tea is formed by picking tea leaves before they have turned green and then passing them through the same process as Green tea. Black tea is created when the green leaves are allowed to oxidize for a certain time period after being rolled, after which the moisture is removed. Oolong tea is prepared by only allowing the tea leaves to ferment until they are between what is considered a black tea and a green tea.(1) Most herbal teas are technically not considered teas because they do not contain any leaves from the Camellia plant; hence most tea experts emphasize “herbal” when discussing such teas.
Tea also has several health benefits. The Camellia plant contains many antioxidants which help promote cardiovascular health and prevent cellular mutations such as cancer and other diseases as well as cellular degeneration that contributes to aging. (2)
Several devices can be used to infuse dry tea, most of them require the tea to be steeped in water just off the boil (approximately 195 degrees F) for 3-5 minutes, depending upon the variety of tea and strength desired.
The Copper Colander carries many types of tea infusers, tea pots and other tea-related items. We carry bulk teas from Mighty Leaf Tea, loose and bagged teas from Market Spice Tea and bagged teas from Tea Forté. Come in and check out our selection!
This information has been proudly provided by The Copper Colander. For more information, please visit their KULR Home Expert's Page.
(1) “What is Tea?”
Planet Tea
http://www.planet-tea.com/index.htm
(2)“The Ultimate source for Tea Information”
Created By Eli B. (12/2004)
http://www.geocities.com/teli69/index.html
