| About Tea | |||||||||||||||||
A beverage that has traveled from the East over the millennia, its origins are legendary. |
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The Tea Bush, Camellia Sinensis, which is related to our garden Camellia, is the cultivated form
of a small evergreen tree with dark glossy leaves. The origins of this plant lie in the dense mountain
forests that exist where the borders of India, Burma and China come together. The hill tribes who
inhabit this region first used the leaves of the wild tea bush for medicinal purposes and have continued
to brew the leaves for drinking since ancient times. Approximately 2500 years ago the Chinese took
the wild bush from its native region and began to cultivate it throughout China, thereby being the
first to popularize the drinking of tea.
The result of this is that today, while there is only one species of tea bush, Camellia Sinensis, there are two varieties. The first variety is the long cultivated Chinese Variety which is more cold hardy, has smaller rounder leaves, and will grow to a height of 15 feet if left unpruned. As a generalization, the Chinese Variety make an infusion that is light and flavory. The second variety is the more recently cultivated "wild bush" or Assam Variety. This prolific bush is more sensitive to cold weather, has larger leaves , and will grow to a height of almost 40 feet if left unpruned. The Assam Variety, as a generalization, makes an infusion that has a deeper color with more strength of body. Today many of the world's finest teas are the result of "jats" or hybrids combining the best characteristics of both varieties into one tea bush, such as fine DarJeelings from Northwestern India. The tea bush is successfully grown from sea level up to an altitude of 7000 feet, and to a latitude of about 45 degrees both north and south from the equator (from southern Russia to northern Argentina). However, better teas tend to require soil that is partially sandy and a little acidic with heavy rainfall, and have a preference for cooling winds and some shading. Thus the best results are most often obtained at altitudes about 4000 feet in sub-tropical or tropical climates. Yet there are some exceptions such as the excellent teas grown at sea level along the coast of Taiwan.
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