Basic Types of Teas
Did you know that tea comes in various varieties? Although caffeinated teas come from three species of the camellia sinensis plant, the different types ' black, white, and green ' take form in the processing stage. Essentially, some varieties of teas are cooked more than others. No matter the type, however, teas are sold in one of two forms: Bagged or loose.
Bagged teas have the unfortunate reputation of being lesser in quality, but this assumption is inaccurate. Rather, looseness or bags do not influence the type of tea. Instead, the size of the leaf is the primary factor. Full or larger leaf pieces result in higher-quality blends, and teabags may contain some full leaves among larger pieces. Although most bagged brands do not use full leaves, however, a lower-quality blend likely contains stems, smaller leaf pieces, and dust.
Loose leaf blends are often preferred for the size of the leaves, which results in a better-tasting beverage, but like bagged blends, loose leaf teas are not all the same. For white teas, loose leaf blends are a combination of leaves and buds, with the latter being the quality-indicating component. A typical white tea blend is composed primarily of leaves with some buds, and as the quality goes up, the more buds a white tea blend is likely to have.
Flavor infusions are another component of loose leaf teas. Although teabag blends may also have this, loose leaf teas often contain larger pieces of dried fruits, peels, spices, or herbs. Giving some variety to a basic tea, flavor infusions are mixed with the leaves and are steeped at the same time.
Newer to the beverage market, iced tea blends are gaining in popularity. A distant cry from mediocre-at-best instant blends, iced tea is brewed like any beverage and left to cool in the refrigerator. The only difference? Iced tea produces a clearer beverage. Standard tea blends, when brewed and left to chill, often end up cloudy from tannins, which may change the flavor. Iced tea blends, as a result, have a lower amount of tannins.
Herbal teas, also called tisanes, are another popular brewed beverage. Containing no leaves from the camellia sinensis plant, herbal teas are a combination of various dried fruits, herbs, spices, and plants. Sold in bagged and loose varieties, herbal teas do not contain caffeine and are brewed like any other blend.
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