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Tea Plants
Camellia sinensis, the Tea Plant is used to make the tea we drink. There are many different processes used to dry the leaves for making the beverage. There are also many varieties of C. sinensis used to make tea. Tea is like cheese, every village has its own strain of tea plants that have different qualities. There is even a tea variety developed in China that does not have caffeine. What follows is a green tea recipe to give growers of tea an idea of how one kind of tea is made and hopefully inspire people to try making tea. We use this recipe and the tea we make is quite delicious, very smooth and not bitter.
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 Camellia sinensis, from Korea
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Green Tea Recipe
1. Tender young growth is picked by hand from Camellia sinensis. Young shoots with 2-3 leaves are recommended. The leaves and shoots are allowed to wilt in the shade for a few hours to make rolling easier.
2. The leaves are bruised to allow the fermentation process to begin. Several shoots are rolled between your hands until the leaves darken and become crinkled, but not broken into pieces. This process is repeated until all the leaves are bruised.
3. (Optional) For Oolong Tea the leaves need to ferment or oxidize for a different flavor. Between steps 2 and 4 the leaves are placed in thin layers on a tray in a shady location for 1 to 3 days before being heated.
4. The leaves are dried in an oven set at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. This step is necessary to remove all the water in the leaves and to stop the fermentation process. Now the tea is ready to use or store in an airtight container.
Many factors affect the taste of tea leaves such as the variety, the climate, the time of year and even the side of the mountain it is grown on. Experienced tea tasters can detect these differences and blend different batches of tea leaves to create specific kinds of tea. We hope you have fun growing and making tea. |
