Classification of tea by various parameters. Types, characteristics and producers of tea

Tea is one of those mandatory products that are always in any home. The children and their parents and grandmothers and grandfathers love the drink. In the modern market, what kind of tea is not available. There are such varieties, of which many heard only on TV: they are very expensive, and therefore not available to every buyer. But there are also quite affordable offers. In a word, the eyes of the current tea range just run away. But in order to acquire a quality product, many criteria must be taken into account. There is a very diverse classification of tea, and therefore you need to understand a little how to determine the quality of the product. And, of course, one should be guided by his wishes and tastes.

To get a harvest

Before proceeding to the classification and types of tea, you need to get a little acquainted with the process of its cultivation. After all, growing tea is an incredible work that takes a lot of time and effort. To grow a beautiful bush, you need to plant cuttings in the ground, although sometimes one-or two-year seedlings are used. The first harvest of leaflets can be taken only after four to five years after planting. Tea bushes are constantly pruned so that they do not grow in height, but to grow a lot of lateral shoots.

As a rule, the tea plantation consists of a number of shrubs, the height of which reaches one and a half meters. The width of the passages has the same dimensions.

Systematization by the type of tea leaves

Classification of tea by the type of tea leaves is one of the parameters of the systematization of the product. So, the classification of dry tea leaves by the type of leaves is as follows:

• OR (Orange Pekoe) - a special designation, which is the main degree of quality. This product is really worthy of the kings themselves. As a rule, it is made from the uppermost two young leaves of a tea bush. Such leaves are still covered with a young fluff. Such a tea leaf should be solid and twisted. It highlights the high level of natural aromatic oils. If the packaging of the product is labeled OP, it means that the finished tea will be strong, with an incredibly pleasant aroma.
• P (Pekoe) - tea, for the manufacture of which take very young, only blown sheets, twisted balls. Belongs to large-leaf varieties. The welding will not be very strong, but with a thin amber and delicate taste.
• F (Flowery) - in the composition of tea with a similar labeling there are tips. These are the buds of a plant that have just blossomed. They give an excellent taste and a tender smell to the tincture.
• In (Broken) - product, a tea leaf in which, during machine cutting or twisting, was mildly crushed, but not to the state of crumbs.
• D (Dust) - a grade of tea dust with tannic acid in the composition. Usually it is used to produce packaged cheap tea.

Degree of fermentation

There is also a classification of tea by the level of fermentation. Fermentation is a process of irretrievable transformation of substances that accumulate in tea leaves during growth. This process begins at the moment when the sheet is removed from the branch, and it ends only when all the substances are transformed into more stable compounds. By degree of fermentation, tea is divided into five basic groups:

1. Bai cha (white tea). To prepare white tea, you need to collect the raw materials in the sun. In this case, there is a process called "slow fermentation". Kidneys and leaves are not twisted in any way, but save their natural form, which is one of the important characteristics of white teas.
2. Lju cha (green tea). The least fermented teas belong to this group. To obtain green leaf tea, the ripped leaves must be subjected to a temperature treatment, which eliminates bitterness and fermentation stops. Then the leaves are twisted and finally dried and sorted. Now you can use tea.
3. Oolong tea (Oolong tea). These are blue-green or partially fermented teas. The peculiarity of the variety is that the leaves ferment differently, zoned. For example, the middle leaf can be less fermented, and the rim - more.
4. Hun ca (red tea). Chinese red tea - this is the drink that we are called black. For him, the leaves are collected in hot summer weather. Fast (active) fermentation is a feature of making this type of tea. The product is almost completely fermented.
5. Hei ca (black tea). This is a post-fermented, tea-seasoned tea. With the passage of time, such a product group becomes only better.

What's in your lineage

Classification of tea by origin also takes place:

Chinese - Celestial is the largest producer of tea (accounting for more than a quarter of the world's total). The country produces white, black, yellow, oolong, puer, red and green leaf tea.

Indian - India is in second place in the production of tea. The Assamian variety of the plant is used as raw material. Basically, the country produces black beverage varieties.

Ceylon - about a tenth of the world's tea produced by Sri Lanka. To get the product take the same raw materials as in India. India specializes in green and black varieties.

Japanese - as a rule, in Japan produce only a few varieties of tea that are exported. Everything else is made for domestic consumption.

Indochina (Vietnam and Indonesia) - produce black and green beverage varieties.

African - except for Kenya, all other producers are considered small.

Type of plant

You can also classify tea by the type of plant. So, the Chinese variety grows in the form of a bush. Often a tea bush is planted on gentle slopes, as it always needs moisture, but stagnation of liquid under the root is disastrous for the plant. The youngest shoots are considered the most valuable. New stems are collected exclusively by hand. True, in due time, several attempts were made to mechanize the process, but from this the quality of raw materials became worse.

The Assamese variety is a tree whose height reaches 26 meters. The Cambodian variety is a hybrid of the two species described above and grows in Indochina.

Type of treatment of leaves

Classification and assortment of tea can vary depending on the type of processing of the leaves. High-grade leaf teas are those drinks that were described in the first paragraph of the article. Medium-range offers are teas that are made from cut or broken sheets that appeared in the process of making whole-leaf varieties. But sometimes the sheets are crushed and specially. The drink will be strong and will brew very quickly, but its taste and aroma will not be the most pleasant.

Low-grade crushed teas are about the same products as medium-grade teas, but their quality is much worse.

The granular variant is obtained by passing the sheets through the jagged rotating rollers. The drink will have a viscous taste and a bright shade and a weak aroma.

Packaged tea consists of tea dust and crumbs. Although its quality is low, but thanks to its ease of use, it is very popular.

Brick is produced almost entirely from tea litter by pressing. He is perfectly brewed, but to say that his taste is bad - it's nothing to say.

To create a soluble drink, producers use low quality raw materials, which is a dry extract of a natural product.

Tea from Sri Lanka

One of the most popular on the planet is Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka. The local population uses tea instead of water to quench their thirst. After all, if you drink one mug of this drink, then for three hours you will not want to drink any more. In Sri Lanka, a total of six varieties of Ceylon teas are grown. Characteristics of the product a lot depends on the height of plantations. They can be low, medium and high altitude. The best Ceylon tea grows near the city called Nuwara Eliya.

But they collect tea leaves in such parts of Sri Lanka as Dimbula, Ruhuna, Uva and Uda Pussellava. Due to the cool climate and monsoons in Dimbul, tea acquires a tender taste, the strength of which varies from rich to medium. Tea, collected on plantations in Ruhuna, will have a tart taste. Exotic taste of the drink can be felt if you try to cook it from the leaves growing in Uwe. Well, in Uda Pessellava make a delicate taste of tea medium strength of the fortress.

Types of Ceylon Tea

The best Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka is produced by such companies: Hyson, Mlesna Tea, GILBERT'S PREMIUM TEA and Basilur. For commercial purposes, these corporations produce such basic types of tea:

• PF1 - small granules. This is a strong infusion, which is an unrivaled option for packaging in sachets.
• FBOPF Ex. - one-piece leaf with a lot of tipes, impeccable soft taste, distinguished by caramel flavor.
• FBOPF 1 - plain medium leaf tea with a sweetish and strong taste.
• Silver Tips - high-quality leaf buds, which in the process of drying acquire a velvety-silver shade. It is a delicate aromatic drink with mystical healing properties.
• Gun Powder - green tea, made in accordance with a special technology for calcination on a Chinese frying pan.

"Green classification"

Separately, there is also a classification of green tea, which looks like this:

• YH - tea plants are harvested at the beginning of the season.
• FYH is a sort of green Chinese leaf tea.
• N - Chinese broken green tea from different twisted leaves.
• FH - Chinese cut tea, whose leaves are not twisted in the same way.
• SOUMME - sifting. Tea from heterogeneous petals with medium infusion.

Tea from other countries

In addition to the countries described above, there are other countries producing tea. So, the cultivation of tea bushes are engaged in Taiwan. The first seedlings of plants were brought here in the XVII century. To date, the total area of tea plantations exceeds 20 thousand hectares. The main fields are located near Taipei - the capital of the state.

In the Middle East, Turkey is the largest producer of tea. Throughout the year, more than 100 tons of the product are produced here. In the world tea market, Turkish tea products are not in great demand, as it is many times behind the successful Chinese, Ceylon and Indian products.

For more than one century, teas have been grown in the Caspian and northern regions of Iran. Approximately 60 thousand tons of the product is grown every year.

Do not lose sight of Georgia, where in the XIX century the first tea shrubs were planted. After several decades, mass production of tea was established here. From Georgian tea, a high-quality beverage was obtained only with scrupulous manual processing. But the quality of the product on an industrial scale is not distinguished by excellent characteristics.

In Brazil, also growing and producing tea, but it is used only in the state.

The result

From all of the above, we can conclude that before the tea falls on the store shelves, it must go a long way. First you need to plant and grow a tea bush, then make sure that the leaves on it grow beautiful. Then they are collected, processed for a long time and only then get brewed. In the tea business, there are many classifications that allow you to choose the tea that the consumer will like more than other varieties.