Interesting facts about tea, history of origin, useful properties

Tea is a drink that has become popular with the whole world: in each country its favorite type of drink and its own culture. Where is the birthplace of tea? How is it grown? What kinds of tea exist? All these and other interesting facts about tea we learn in this article.

History of tea

If you look into the history of the drink, you can learn some new interesting facts about tea.

The motherland of tea is China. Hence the name of the drink, which is called differently in different parts of the country. Russia traded with the province of Hankow, where tea is called "cha". The Europeans moored ships in the southeast in the ports of Sanmen, Guangzhou and Fuzhou, whose residents called tea "Tie" or "Ethia". Hence the differences in the name between European and Slavic countries. For example, the English say "tee", and the Russians say "tea". The history of the origin of the drink - the merit of the Chinese, and he fell in love in many countries thanks to the British - after them tea began to drink Europeans, Americans and Indians. By the way, there are interesting facts about tea growing in India - tea bushes have been growing there for a long time, but only monks drank beverage, and therefore tea culture emerged only in the 19th century.

Today tea is grown in 30 countries. 4 of them produce a premium beverage: Yunnan, Fujian (China), Uji (Japan), Darjeeling (India) and the south of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Tea in Russia

In our country, tea is one of your favorite drinks. When and where did tea come from in Russia? In Russia was introduced in the 17th century and immediately fell in love with the people, despite the high price due to the lack of own production. How did the Russian tea come about? The history of its origin is quite interesting: the first bush and seeds were planted by PE Kirillov, who grew tea at home, since it was quite expensive to carry it from China. But before the October Revolution the government did not cultivate the tea.

The situation changed with the emergence of the USSR, where tea production reached the highest level, and the important tasks of the state were not only to cultivate classical varieties in Krasnodar, Azerbaijan and Georgia, but also to obtain new varieties for cultivation in cold regions. Own tea production in the USSR not only provided for the needs of citizens, but also allowed the export of the product to other countries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the factories remained in sovereign countries.

Today in Russia 95% of tea is imported, and among the producing countries the main place is occupied by China, India and Turkey.

Benefits of tea

During the Great French Revolution, one doctor decided to conduct an experiment to find out which of the drinks - coffee or tea - is harmful to humans. Two prisoners sentenced to death began to drink 4 large cups of coffee and tea every day. The one who drank tea lived to be 76 years old. And the second - up to 82. The doctor who watched them lived to be 62 years old. He did not drink coffee or tea. The benefits and harms of the drink are not familiar to everyone. Therefore, it is worth considering its pros and cons in more detail. Let's start with the benefit:

1. It gives courage and strength, promotes the stimulation of metabolism, normalization of the heart, vessels, digestive and nervous systems.

2. Contains trace elements, such as copper, iron, fluorine, manganese, calcium, zinc.

3. Prevents the growth of malignant tumors and reduces the risk of degeneration of cells into cancerous cells.

4. Contained in the drink, tannin kills some bacteria and prevents the occurrence of stomatitis, angina and intestinal infections.

5. Promotes weight loss and skin improvement.

6. Regular consumption of tea reduces the occurrence of brain thrombi, sclerosis and hypertension. This is achieved by the ability of the beverage to slow the formation of fat layers within the blood vessels.

7. Despite the heat, in summer it is the best drink, since after hot tea the skin temperature drops by 1-2 degrees.

Harm from a drink

The benefits of tea are obvious. But what about the harm?

1. Today, most commercial teas contain a large amount of dyes and flavors, which is not very good for the body.

2. Many drink hot tea, which burns internal organs and leads to their painful changes.

3. Fresh brew should be consumed within 20 minutes, because after this time, the flavors, lipids, phenol and essential oils contained in it begin to oxidize.

4. Strong tea contains a large amount of theine and caffeine, which leads to insomnia and headache after consuming the drink. In addition, strong tea adversely affects the work of the heart.

5. People who suffer from constipation should stop using green tea, as it has a fixing effect. In addition, prolonged use of this type of drink leads to the destruction of tooth enamel.

6. Hypotonics should not drink green tea, since it lowers blood pressure.

How ambiguous tea! Benefit and harm go hand in hand. But if you observe the technology of proper brewing and drink in moderation, then the drink will bring only pleasure and benefit.

Kinds of tea

Tea, depending on the types of processing, is divided into 4 types:

• the black;

• green;

• red;

• white.

There are also such kinds of teas as blue, orange, brown - they all occupy an intermediate position between the above.

Black and green teas can be flaccid, pressed and extracted.

In addition, tea is divided into species by country of production and area of growth. In each area a certain type is produced.

Trading tea is the one that is sold in the store. It is a blend of different species and varieties and can contain from 10 to 25 varieties of plants that have grown not only in different areas, but also in different parts of the world. Blending is done by titesters. The quality of the blend depends on the place of growth, the time and method of harvesting, the nature of the primary and final treatments.

Types of processing affect the chemical composition, taste and aroma of tea. There are 6 types of processing: withering, twisting, fermentation, drying, sorting, packaging.

When wilting, the tea is dried with hot air for about 8 hours. This procedure helps to get rid of excess moisture.

When twisting, tea leaves are squeezed and twisted in special machines - rollers. At this stage in the future drink, essential oils are formed, affecting its taste. After that, the tea is sent to a sieve, on which, with the help of vibration, small leaves separate from large ones.

Fermentation causes oxidation and fermentation of the cell sap. The process lasts 4 hours at a temperature of 35-40 degrees. As a result, tea changes color, caffeine is activated and the amount of tannins decreases.

When drying, tea leaves are dried in cars for about 20 minutes at 110-120 degrees. This procedure allows you to reduce moisture to 6-7% and extend the shelf life of the finished product.

When sorting, the tea is sieved through a sieve with different cell sizes. The resulting product is exported to tea factories.

During packaging, blending of tea occurs and the package indicates which leaves the harvest consists of.

How correctly to make tea?

The taste of the drink depends on the important steps. Which ones?

• The water should be soft, without foreign odors. You can buy it in a store or take a filtered one. You need to boil it 1 time.
• The water temperature for brewing black and red teas should exceed 95 degrees, for white and green - 60-85 degrees.
• No need to brew tea in a metal container. For this purpose, earthenware, porcelain, faience teapots and a french press are ideal.
• If the tea is large-leaf, then take 150 ml of water. If the small - then 250 ml.
• Before brewing, the kettle must be rinsed with hot water.
• To insist tea need 5-7 minutes.

To improve the taste, you can add to the tea, besides the usual lemon and sugar, spices, dried mint leaves, thyme, dried fruit, fresh fruit slices.

And what interesting facts about tea do you know?