MAKE A CUP THAT CHEERS

Tea is one of the most popular beverages of the world. A cup of hot tea after a strenuous job is a mind boggling experience. It not only stimulates your body but also refreshes the mind. Combined with medicinal values of tea the refreshment is of unparallel benefits.

Tea is manufactured from tender leaves of tea bush Camellia Sinensis var. Assamica. The tea plantations are mainly in India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Japan and China. The tender tea leaves (two leaves and a bud) are plucked and then processed to give the final product.

There are many types of tea available in market
Black tea, Oolong tea, Green tea and so on.

Black tea is most popular of them all, it is preferred for its briskness (astringency) of taste, flavor, color and its refreshing values.

Black tea is available in two forms Orthodox and CTC (Crush, Tear and Curl).
Teas manufactured by orthodox methods are rich in flavor but lower in body and strength. CTC teas are rich in body and strength but lower in flavor. Orthodox tea is leafy and CTC tea is granular in look.

Chemical Constituents:
Chemical analysis shows black tea liquor has mainly the following two groups of chemicals.
Polyphenols / flavanoids: These groups of chemicals are the reasons for the color of tea cup. They also contribute to the distinctive taste of tea. Phenols and flavanoids including catechins is around 20-30% of its dry weight. The polyphenols are further classified into two groups theaflavins and thearubigins, first group imparts the briskness to the cup and second group imparts body (thickness).
Caffeine and theophyline imparts the stimulant property of tea. Tea has lower caffeine content than the other popular beverage “coffee”.

Medicinal values of tea
Phenols and flavanoids including catechins is upto 30 % of its dry weight. These groups of chemicals have antioxidant properties and are a free radical scavenger. The process slows down the aging phenomena among hosts of other benefits. Scientific studies show that tea is cancer preventive, has anti microbial activity and anti caries properties.

Tea has less than 4 % of caffeine by its dry weight. Which means for an average tea drinker of 6 cups a day the daily caffeine intake is less than 300mg/day, which is considered moderate. Caffeine in moderate quantity is beneficial as it act as Stimulator, Weak Bronchodilator, Diuretic and controls headache. Tea has another two beneficial chemical components theobromine and theophylene in trace quantities.

Studies showed that tea has the following benefits for cardiovascular diseases
· Inhibition of oxidised LDL cholesterol
· Attenuation of the inflammatory process in atherosclerosis
· Reduction in thrombosis
· Promotion of the normal endothelial function
· Blocking of adhesion molecules
· Reduction in plasma total and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C)

How to make a good cup of tea:
Taste for tea is different in different part of the world. Boiled water is used to take out the soluble part of tea. Tea is often taken with sugar, milk, butter, spices, added flavor and so on to one’s taste. Tea is taken as hot tea popularly, but iced tea is also popular in many parts.

The best cup of hot tea is made with loose tea. It is either boiled in hot water or strained after allowing it to soften by steam. The preparation of Orthodox tea and CTC tea is quite different. Followings are my recipe for preparation of these two kinds of black tea.

Orthodox tea preparation:
Here the aim is to extract as much flavor along with color imparting flavonoids as possible.
Get some good orthodox or leafy tea from a speciality tea store.
Take around three grams of orthodox tea for each cup of tea to be prepared. Place them on a tea strainer. Keep it aside.
Now boil water to just the boiling point in a kettle. Place the kettle away from the flame.
Now place the tea strainer on the top of the kettle and cover it with the lid. Wait for around one minute.
Now pour the same water in which the tea leafs were steamed, on the strainer where the tea leafs were placed tea into a cup.
Now enjoy the flavor and real taste of good orthodox tea.
I suggest not making it too sweet or adding any milk for they may mask the flavor of tea.

By the above method we are retaining the flavor of tea by not using very hot water. We are extracting maximum amount of desired soluble part of tea as we have opened the pores of tea by steaming. We are using the same water which was used for steaming as some of the flavors of tea are entrapped in it. For your convenience you can purchase a standard porcelain tea pot with a tea strainer in it.
Flavor components are generally very volatile and escape with high temperature.

CTC tea preparation:
Now our aim is to extract as much strength and body imparting flavonoids/polyphenols along with some flavor of tea.
Get some good quality CTC tea from a speciality tea store.
Take water from a water tap into a kettle. Measuring roughly 150ml per cup.
Place the kettle on flame till boiling.
Put roughly 2gms of tea granules for each cup on the boiling water while still on the flame. Cover the mixture by placing the lid of the kettle. Allow to boil for another one minute more.
Take the kettle away from flame and swirl the infusion in the kettle.
Strain the tea on a tea strainer into tea cup/cups.
Taste the goodness of strength and briskness of CTC tea.

I suggest not making it too sweet or adding milk, which mostly spoil natural taste of tea.
By this method we are allowing the boiling water to extract the soluble part of tea leafs to maximum possible extend. The polyphenols and flavanoids are the compounds which imparts the color and briskness to the cup. The caffeine and theophylines gives the distinctive light bitter taste. We are also not allowing the flavors to escape by covering the lid of the kettle.

Tea bags:
Though tea aficionados consider tea bags much inferior to loose tea, you can make an acceptable cup of tea from tea bags too. Tea bags contain dust sized particle of processed tea contained in parchment paper bag. So it is low in flavor but the strength of your cup can be manipulated by using more numbers of tea bags in your cup. But with tea bags you can make your cup much faster.

Some tit-bits on tea
Store the tea leafs in air tight container, moisture and bright light spoils tea quality.
Bigger tea particles retains more flavor entrapped in it, smaller tea particles gives away soluble parts more easily.
If you hate to take caffeine, decaffeinated tea is also available in market.
Instant tea is popular amongst Ice-tea drinkers.
Elaborate tea ceremonies are traditionally held in some countries like Japan, Korea, China.
Tea has a complex and fascinating history.
Commercial tea is often blended to maintain a constant quality for consumers.
Herbal tea generally does not contain tea leaves in it.
Though tea connoisseurs take tea without sugar and milk or any other additives you can add these additives if you enjoy your cup with these.