Green Tea

Green tea is most common in China. As with all other varieties of tea, green tea also comes from the plant Camellia Sinesis. Although black tea has been the most popular variety of tea in the West, recently green tea has been spreading in popularity.

Green tea consumption started in China almost 5,000 years ago and it is used for such things as healing wounds, stopping bleedings and regulating body temperature. The same is done in Japan, Thailand and India.

Green tea is now being acredited with providing many health benefits. There is already hard evidence that shows green tea helps reduce the risk of certain cancers and lowers cholesterol levels.

Black Tea

Black tea is one of the four main varieties of tea that exist today. The other three varieties are green tea, oolong tea and white tea. Black tea, as well as the rest of the varieties of tea, come from the plant Camellia Sinesis and one characteristic that distinguishes it from the rest of teas is its strong flavor. Black tea is known to retain its flavor for many years, while others will usually hold it for no more than two years. Black tea makes about 90% of the tea sold in the west.

Black tea is classified into four different grades: whole leaf, broken leaf, fannings and dust.

A couple of nights ago I decided I wanted to make fried rice, so I went on the Internet, found a recipe and started looking for all the ingredients I was going to need. I soon realized there were a few things I was missing: green onions, carrots and celery. I went to my local grocery store, walked towards the fruits and vegetables section and bought the ingredients I needed.

Camellia sinensis

Making fried rice was pretty easy once I knew what I needed to buy, where to get it and how to make it. I would have never gone to an electronics store to buy the ingredients I was missing. Making sense of things by placing items into groups where they share commonalities makes sense, and that is exactly what scientists do with plants.

Camellia is the name of the genus (a group) from where the tea plant comes from. The name of the species where the tea plant comes from is called Camellia sinesis, but before I confuse you, here is the complete classification of the tea plant:

1- Kingdom: Plantae
2- Division: Magnoliophyta
3- Class: Magnoliopsida
4- Order: Ericales
5- Family: Theaceae
6- Genus: Camellia
7- Species: Camellia sinensis

All teas, whether they are green, black, white, etc., come from the same plant. What makes each type of tea different are characteristics such as the age of the leaves and how those leaves are processed before they make it to your cup.

So there you have it. I’ve introduced you to the queen of the dance floor. Don’t be afraid to introduce her to your friends and have your own party… a tea party that is.

Ms. Camellia Tea

I’ve created a new category on the newsletter which I’m calling “Ms. Camellia Tea.” I thought it would be fun to give the category an interesting name. If you don’t know what the name stands for, you might want to read the first post.

The purpose of the category is to discuss all things related to tea, such as its history and important facts.

There is a lot to be said about this internationally famous plant and what it can do for all of us. I know I will be learning a lot from my research and I’m sure you will too.

I know this category won’t cover everything I would like to talk about so I will definitely be adding more categories soon. Enjoy and let me know what you think. - Antonio