Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of Camellia sinensis, prepared and cured by various methods. "Tea" also refers to the aromatic beverage prepared from such cured leaves by combination with hot or boiling water[2] and the colloquial name for the Camellia sinensis plant itself. Tea is the most widely-consumed beverage after water.[3] It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavor.[4] The four types of tea most commonly found on the market are black tea, oolong tea, green tea and white tea, [5] all of which can be made from the same bushes, processed differently, and in the case of fine white tea, grown differently. Pu-erh tea, a double-fermented black tea, is also often classified as among the most popular types of tea.[6]

The term "herbal tea" usually refers to an infusion or tisane of fruit or herbs that contains no Camellia sinensis.[7] The term "red tea" either refers to an infusion made from the South African rooibos plant, also containing no Camellia sinensis, or, in Chinese and other East Asian languages, is a term for black tea Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant that grows mainly in tropical and sub-tropical climates. However, some varieties can also tolerate marine climates and are cultivated as far north as Cornwall on the UK mainland[8] and Seattle in the United States.

In addition to zone 8 or warmer, it requires at least 50 inches of rainfall a year, and prefers acidic soils.[9] Many high quality tea plants grow at elevations up to 1500 meters (5,000 ft), as the plants grow more slowly and acquire a better flavor.[10] Only the top 1-2 inches of the mature plant are picked. These buds and leaves are called flushes,[11] and a plant will grow a new flush every seven to ten days during the growing season. Tea plants will grow into a tree if left undisturbed, but cultivated plants are pruned to waist height for ease of plucking.[12]

Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved China plant (C. sinensis sinensis), used for most Chinese, Formosan and Japanese teas, but not Pu-erh, and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. sinensis assamica), used in most Indian and other teas, but not Darjeeling tea. Within these botanical varieties, especially the Chinese one, there are many traditional strains and modern clonal varieties. Leaf size is the chief criterion for the classification of tea plants.[13] Based upon this criterion, tea is classified into (1) Assam type characterized by the largest leaves, (2) China type characterized by the smallest leaves and (3) Cambod characterized by leaves of intermediate size