TEA 101
Recipes, Varieties, and History
My North American book tour has commenced which means I’m no longer in the land of tea and am missing tea culture quite a lot! Even though I wasn’t raised in England, I can safely say that the first thing I do when I come back to my flat daily is POP ON THE KETTLE?! Being away has gotten me thinking about tea’s journey across the globe and asking myself questions like why it’s more prevalent in the UK rather than other European countries.
Below you’ll find my top tea and infusion recipes, the 6 types of teas explained, as well as a history of tea through time.
My Tea & Infusion Recipes
Cinnamon Date Tea - my TeaHuggers collab! Avail on DELLI in the UK and Tea Huggers in the US
Cramaillote - you can make an infusion with this dandelion jelly
Cucumber Jam - perfect for afternoon tea finger sandwiches
What is Tea?
All “true” teas come from the same evergreen shrub called Camelia Sinensis. This plant, native to India and Southern China, has been used for medicinal purposes as well as for enjoyment for thousands of years. While you may consider some infusions or tisanes as types of teas, they are not! There are only 6 types of true tea, each differing from the next mainly due to the process of oxidation and fermentation.
6 Tea Types:
Black Tea
Most common “tea”, highly oxidized which determines it dark flavor.
Leaves are withered,
Flavor is rich, bitter, sweet
White Tea
Leaves + buds of the plant are dried: the color is paler if it is made up of mainly buds and more yellow if there are more leaves included
Least processed out of all the teas
A tad fruity
Green Tea
Made from the leaves of the plant: the color is green because the leaves are heated right away to maintain the color and stop the oxidation process
Depending on the tea maker’s method of heating (steaming v toasting), the tea flavor can taste fresh and grassy but also nutty
Matcha is a type of green tea - learn about matcha + hojicha here!
Oolong Tea
Partially oxidized
Leaves are dried in the sun and then crushed which speeds up oxidation and then are pan fired and rolled around
Most processed out of all teas so it’s okay to use older leaves! The flavor will differ based on the old and young leaves
Really light, fruity, creamy
Dark Tea
Pu’er falls under this category - most dark teas come from China and each region has its own specialty. Pu’er is the most popular of them all and comes from the Yunan province.
I recently tried Pique’s Pu’er tea and it inspired me to dive into today’s topic and learn more about the tea. Pu’er supports a healthy gut, boosts metabolism, and promotes energy without a crash. What makes Pique’s Pu’er so special is how it’s wild-harvested from ancient tea trees over 250 years old, grown high in the mountains and naturally shaded by forest canopy. This rare environment produces leaves rich in both nutrients and flavors!
I love mine with a touch of honey and a splash of coconut milk for a creamy, comforting pick-me-up after lunch.
Pique is offering my readers 20% off their Pu’er teas, plus a free starter kit (including a rechargeable frother and glass beaker). YAY NEWSLETTER SQUAD!
There are so many factors that determine the flavor of dark teas. Because they come from different terroirs, the flavors change based on the aging process, climate etc.
Dark tea pressed into cakes and then tucked away to preserve their flavor! There is a natural fermentation that occurs.
Black color, earthy flavor which ranges in grassiness based on the region where it is made
Yellow Tea
Saved the most rare for last! I don’t think I’ve ever tasted yellow tea and now I’m determined to find some.
In between green tea and white tea. It is slightly more aged than green tea but picked in the same way of white tea (buds and leaves).
This tea is steamed then dried. After heating the leaves, they’re wrapped up during a phase called menhuang which causes that slight fermentation or non-enzymatic oxidation…
Flavor is similar to a light green tea but creamy
Infusions, on the other hand, are steeped herbs, flowers etc in hot water that do not relate to the camellia sinensis plant. Some of my favorites include: rooibos, chamomile, lemon verbena, linden, ginger, and mint.
The History of Tea
According to a legend, in 2737 BC, a Chinese emperor by the name of Shen Nung was sitting under a tree when a gust of wind appeared and resulted in leaves falling into his hot water. Instead of tossing it away, he decided to take a sip of the infusion instead and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. As always, we’ll never really know if this account is fictitious but what we do know for sure is that tea had been around in China hundreds of years before anywhere else in the world.
Much later, in the 8th century, a book solely about tea called Ch'a Ching, or Tea Classic, was written in China. Around this same time, traveling Japanese Buddhist monks discovered tea and this book and brought it back to their home country. The book is crucial in this history as it heavily influenced Japanese tea culture including their tea ceremony rules.
Now get this, it wasn’t until the 16th century (yes, 1000 years after the Japanese) that the Europeans discovered tea. The first mentions of the drink are by the Portuguese during their missionary travels and trading in and with the East. When it comes to commercialization however, the Dutch were the first to capitalize on the product. By 1606 they had established a trading post on the island of Java and began shipping Chinese tea back to the Netherlands.
Tea in the UK
If you really think about it, tea is not that popular overall around Europe however it’s a key staple in the United Kingdom. Why is that you may ask? In the 17th century, a Portuguese princess who happened to love tea named Catherine de Braganza married Charles II. Due to her immense predilection for tea, Catherine made sure the drink was constantly served in court to satiate her desire for the beverage.
As many monarchs do, she started a trend among the upper class popularizing the beverage and eventually causing the East India Company to start importing tea directly into Britain. Up until the 1900s, all tea coming into Britain was Chinese. This shifted when cheaper options from the British colonies of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India came about resulting in tea really becoming a staple for all classes. Similarly to red wine being an element of Frenchness, tea became a staple tenant of Britishness.
Learn more about the history of afternoon tea here!
Tea took off quickly in coffee houses (in homes for women) that a tax was placed on tea which remained until 1964. This caused the drink to remain a drink of the elite and for tea gangs (yes criminal gangs), adulteration of the tea, and illegal trading and smuggling to come about. There are so many crazy anecdotes from the time, including sheep poop being added to dried leaves to resemble the color of tea but let’s wrap this up shall we?
In 1784, Britain’s new Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger dropped the 119% tax all the way down to 12.5% and the ritual of tea drinking was normalized once again. Drinking tea, dare I say multiple times a day, is just a personality trait of the British - so much so that during WW1 the price of tea remained the same and was even rationed during WW2 to ensure morale would remain high.
Lastly, I do want to give a quick shoutout to the United States because it was here that tea bags were invented… Fancy? No. Practical? Absolutely.
If you’re still with me, THANK YOU! Being able to do deep dives on specific foodstuffs as well as coming up with recipes makes me so happy. I love being able to share my inner brain chaos with you so I hope you enjoyed.
white2tea has a really fun tea club if anyone wants to try fun, niche, gorgeous chinese teas
What about blue tea?