Tea and Coffee .comCoffee Cup
Coffee Cup Bottom
Search:
 


Email This Page

Fill in a friends' email address to send them a link to this page...


Rainforest Alliance Logo

buy speciality tea online

buy speciality tea online . View our Online Tea Shop

Guide to Tea - The Tea Plant Camellia Sinesis

Guide to Tea - The Tea Plant Camellia Sinesis THE TEA PLANT - Camellia Sinensis is the botanical species name of the tea bush. A member of the Camellia family which if left unpruned would grow into a tree. From the pruned bush we get all the different varieties including Black Teas, Green Teas, White Teas and Semi Fermented Teas. Tea bushes take many years to produce a yield and are kept pruned to a certain height for ease of plucking. Pruning cycles are critical to maintain high quality teas. Unfortunately many gardens today prune to produce a medium to high quality crop not the really highest grades you used to get in times past.

The Tea growing districts of the world tend to be in tropical and subtropical zones. As with all crops the quality and variance of the soils is important as are climate conditions. In general terms the highest quality teas are grown at altitude with the champagne of teas grown in Darjeeling which is a small part of India which extends into the Himalaya's. At high altitude the teas grow at cooler temperatures and mature with a much deeper flavour and richness.

Quality Teas especially at altitude will be plucked by hand. Some teas grown at lower altitudes are harvested mechanically and the plantations won't have shade trees, this is especially the case of teas grown in East Africa.

Plucking is the term used for the picking of the leaves. When quality teas are plucked it is important that - Two Leaves and a Bud - are picked. This is the best tea you can pick from a tea bush. The yields are not huge but the quality is the best. The pluckling / harvesting of the tea leaves is known as - flushes - . 1st Flush being the best then 2nd Flush etc....

Did You Know...

Credit Card Logos: American Express, Delta, Visa, Mastercard, Switch, Solo