Demystifying the perfect blend
What is Tea?
Leaves and hot water. Tea is supposed to be nothing but leaves and hot water, and yet the only thing our entire species consumes more than water is tea. It’s the second most popular drink in the world and it was originally devised as a mystical cure-all. Combining elements of the natural world together, shamans, mystics, and healers used tea as an elixir to combat disease, fight off evil spirits, and prevent harmful negativity.
…originally devised as a mystical cure-all.
Leaves and hot water is a combination so remarkably mundane – so remarkably simple – that the only real advancement in tea technology has been to add more substances into the mixture.
Tea, however, is a medicinal substance, and the eight categories of tea – white, black, green, yellow, herbal, pu’er, and flowering – can be used to treat minor ailments like sore throats, upset stomachs, indigestion, headaches, tiredness, and even minor cases of anxiety and insomnia.
How does Tea Work?
Every form of food has a specific temperature and preparatory method required to isolate the greatest flavours. Cooking is, after all, a chemical science. Tea, is no different than meat, vegetables, or even cereal; the eight variants of tea require specific temperatures and steeping (brewing) times to activate the full flavours of the individual leaves.
Green tea, for example, requires a water temperature of 75 to 85 °C, and one to two minutes of steeping time for the best flavour. Black tea requires water to be at 99 °C, as well as two to three minutes for steeping time. The total amount of time one has to wait before consuming tea also increases by at least two minutes if drinkers want to infuse their cups with other flavours.
Flowering tea is especially fascinating in that individual tea leaves are wrapped around one or more dried flowers; the entire bundle “blooms” in water at 100 °C, leaving a cup of delicious tea and a beautiful flower.
In effect, tea is really nothing more than leaves and hot water. The water acts as a catalyst that forces the leaves to break apart, causing the chemicals to mix into a solution. The reason some teas produce different effects than others is a simple result of the chemicals present in the various tea leaves – as well as the other substances added to the drink. Butter tea is a Himalyan beverage made from tea leaves, yak butter, water, and salt. Butter tea is a heavier, creamier beverage than the citrusy Earl Grey blend, because of the presence of yak butter.
Why is Tea Important?
Tea is a powerful substance because its importance is not measured by its physical qualities. Instead, tea is a drink – a part of human existence – that transcends the boundaries of the physical realm. Tea is a drink captured in the very essence of human culture, safely securing a spot as a creation that has forever changed the course of human history.
It goes without saying that tea is a contributing factor to a number of health effects. The consumption of black tea in particular has been linked to lower cholesterol and a reduced the risk of stroke. Tea is also noted for the presence of theanine, a stimulatory compound that has been studied for its effects on reducing stress, boosting mood, and improving cognition.
However, most studies conclude that most healthy adults would need to consume absurdly large amounts of tea for any real medical marvels. The high consumption of tea has been shown to increase the possibility of developing kidney stones, but a poor diet, lack of exercise, and an obsessive consumption of any foodstuff can lead to this result as well. Furthermore, the amount of theanine required to produce positive psychiatric effects is far greater than the amount present in a cup of tea.
As always, medical miracles brought on by the traditional consumption of popular foods and drinks must be taken lightly and treated with a respectable amount of scrutiny.
What is the Future of Tea?
Better infusion methods, more precise steeping control, and healthier variants of tea all represent the future of the beverage. The truth is, tea itself won’t be changing very much in the near future. Certainly, as our population grows – and the population of tea drinkers explodes – the world’s supply of tea will dwindle. In fact, any number of climate catastrophes can lead to the reduction of the world’s tea supply.
However, I look to a brighter future, where tea and water are both plentiful.