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Camellia Sinensis, the tea plant, is indigenous to both China and parts of India. Wild tea plants can grow 90 feet and above.In the past monkeys
were trained to pick tea leaves and throw them down where they were collected. Today tea plants are cultivated as a plantation crop and therefore the plants are kept to a height of about three feet , for easy picking. There are over 1500 varieties of
tea. Although tea is poduced in more than 25 countries, the major producers include China,India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, and Sri Lanka.It was during Chinas' Tang Dynasty[6816-906B.C.] that tea became the national beverage of choice. Buddhist priests
are thought to have been responsible for spreading the cultivation of tea throughout China and Japan.The three main categories of tea are black, green, and oolong. Within each of these categories there are many varieties.All teas come from the same tea
plant species, the difference being the processing procedure that each tea undergoes.Black teasundergo several hours of oxidation during preparation. Oolong teas undergo somewhat less oxidation and green teas undergo no oxiidation.All teas should be
stored in airtight containers out of direct sunlight so that they do not loose their flavor or take on foreign aromas |
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