TEA

Tea is traditionally seperated in two groups. Chineese/Japaneese -Camellia sinensis (sinensis in Latin means "Chineese") and Indian - Camellia assamica. There is also a natural hybrid of those two types - the ceylonian tea.

ORIGIN OF TEA

CHINA'S TEA HISTORY

The popularity of tea in China continued to grow rapidly from the 4th through the 8th century. No longer merely used for its medicinal properties, tea became valued for everyday pleasure and refreshment. Tea plantations spread throughout China, tea merchants became rich, and expensive, elegant tea wares became the banner for the wealth and status of their owners.

THE BIRTHPLACE OF TEAThe history of tea dates back o ancient China, almost 5,000 years ago. According to legend, in 2732 B.C. Emperor Shen Nung discovered tea when leaves from a wild tree blew into his pot of boiling water. He was immediately interested in the pleasant scent of the resulting brew, and drank some. Legend says the Emperor described a warm feeling as he drank the intriguing brew, as if the liquid was investigating every part of his body.

JAPAN'S TEA HISTORYIn the early 9th century, Japanese visitors to China were introduced to the values and traditions of tea. The Buddhist monk Dengyo Daishi is credited for bringing Chinese tea seeds to Japan when he returned from his studies abroad. Tea became an integral part of Japanese monastery life; monks used tea to help stay alert during meditation sessions. By the early 1300's tea gained popularity throughout Japanese society, but its early religious importance permanently colored the meaning and value the Japanese associate with tea and directly influenced the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

RUSSIA'S TEA HISTORY

In 1618, the Chinese presented a gift of tea to Tsar Alexis of Russia. Everyone was curious about the new beverage and tea quickly gained popularity. A camel caravan trade route emerged to transport tea into the country. This caravan covered 11,000 miles and took nearly 1½ years to travel by camel. To keep the tea-hungry Russians satisfied, nearly 6,000 camels - each carrying 600 pounds of tea - entered Russia each year. In 1903 the camel caravan was replaced by the famous Trans-Siberian Railway, which slashed the transportation time from 1½ years to just over a week.

EUROPE'S TEA HISTORY

The Portuguese and Dutch first imported tea into Europe in 1610...Rembrandt was just 4 years old! England's dance with tea did not start until 1662 when King Charles II married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza. Britain's new Queen had always loved tea and brought with her, as part of her dowry, a chest of fine Chinese tea. She began serving the tea to her aristocratic friends at Court, and word of the exotic Royal beverage spread quickly.

INDIA'S TEA HISTORYThe Opium Wars

As tea consumption grew, Britain's exports could not keep up with the demand for tea imports. The Chinese were more interested in silver than in cotton, Britain's main export. Finding enough silver to trade for tea became increasingly difficult, however, so the British turned to growing opium in its large Asian colony...India. The scheming British sent opium to China across the Indian border in exchange for silver, then traded the same silver back to China for tea. The illegal opium scheme worked until 1839 when a Chinese official sent 20,000 chests of opium to a watery grave in a sea near Canton. A year later, Britain declared war on China and China retaliated by placing a strict embargo on all exports of tea.

By sowing seeds in germinating beds, and another method is to use cuttings from high yielding plants.

AREAS AND STATES:

•Assam – largest producer•Brahmaputra valley in Assam, Darjeeling in West Bengal, Kangra in Himachal, Garhwal Hills in Uttaranchal, Nilgiri

Hills and Annamalai Hills in the South 

METHODS OF FARMING

PLUCKING SEASONS IN ASIA:

China: February to November,Northern India: February to November,Southern India: All year round,Indonesia: All year round,Japan: 4 times a year, from May to October,Sri Lanka: All year round except in high

altitude,Taiwan: Mainly in Spring, summer and

autumn

PLUCKING OF TEA LEAVES

STAGES OF PROCESSING:

DRYING LEAVES

ROLLINGTea leaves are pressed in rollers to break their cells and exposes the

natural juices to fermentation. – this gives flavour .

FERMENTATION Leaves are spread out on special trays for fermentation under

controlled temperature and humidity conditions. In this process the tannin in tea is partly oxidised and colour changes and flavour

develops. 

FIRING OR DRYING Fermented leaves are passed through oven over a belt 

 SORTINGTea leaves are sorted out in various grades with the help of sifters with different size of meshes. After sorting they are given the brand names, denoting the size

of the leaves like pekoe, broken orange, dust, etc)

TYPES OF TEA IN DIFFERENT FLAOUR & COLOR

BLACK TEA

Black Tea – by drying leaves in the sun & then rolling them mechanically between steel rollers & fermenting them

GREEN TEA

No fermentation in this process

OOLONG TEA

Tea-made by fermenting tea leaves-gives gereenish-brown colour

WHITE TEA

White tea comes from the delicate buds and younger leaves of the Chinese Camellia sinensis plant. These buds and leaves are allowed to wither in natural sunlight before they are lightly processed to prevent oxidation or furtherfermentation. This preserves the characteristic flavour of the white tea

GEOGRAPHICAL REQUIREMENT FOR TEA

TEMPERATURE: 12 to 15 degree C but 25 degree C is an ideal

temperature .

RAINFALL:150 cm TO 250 cm (distribution throughout the year)

SOIL:Light loams rich in iron content , porous sub-soils so that

water percolates , stagnation of water near roots is harmful.

TOP TEA GROWING REGIONS

For centuries China was the world's only tea-exporting country. Beginning in the 19th century, however, stiff competition arose as India and Ceylon began to grow tea. Today China remains one of the largest suppliers of quality teas. Green teas represent 75% to 80% of China's current consumption. The rest of the production of green teas, and all of the black teas, are exported.

TOP TEA GROWING REGIONS

Country Amount (kg) Value (Rs.) %age of Total

Kenya 8,352,734 818,664,224 72

Rwanda 676,417 67,379,948 6

India 633,806 36,659,021 3.2

Indonesia 617,150 46,192,7 4.05

Sri Lanka 342,147 42,813,554 4

Uganda 386,180 32,079,063 3

Zimbabwe 135,380 9,898,722 9

Tanzania 81,615 6,752,004 6

Ethiopia 77,200 6,549,914 5.7

Vietnam 67,440 4,919,576 4.5

TABLE SHOWS PAKISTAN’S TEA IMPORTS FROM THESE COUNTRIES