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DREAM TEAS
NATURAL TEAS AND FOODS for YOUR life
We offer the finest quality teas and natural food products
TEA PRODUCTION
What is Tea?
Tea is a radiant liquid. It
offers a delicious aroma for your palate and your sense of smell.
You can imbibe it exquisitely and fragrantly either hot or cold. Tea has
been the most popular drink worldwide for many centuries?
Tea Plants:
Tea plants (camellia sinensis) are grown throughout the world in warm,
temperate climates. They constitute a species of tree based upon the
camellia. The flowers are yellowish white and their fruits are small with
a nut-like appearance. The leaves are weathered and serrated. The
plants require a minimum annual temperature of 18 degrees celsius.
They do not survive well when there are frosts, insufficient rainfall and
powerful sunshine.
A tea plant can grow over 100 years. Research has shown that wild
tea plants may attain ages of over 1,000 years.
Origins of Tea:
Chinese tea or Thea
sinensis is a low shrub-tree which reaches a maximum height of 10-15 feet
and can survives frost conditions. Assam tea or Thea assamica is a
larger tree which attains a height of 30-50 feet. It grows in the
tropical climates. Cross-fertilization of these introductory plants
constitute the basis of all teas throughout the world.
Tea Ingredients:
Tannins, Caffeine & Amino acids
Trace elements and minerals:
Fluoride,
potassium, calcium, manganese, vitamins including niacin, vitamins B1 and
B2
Tea is unique:
Tea is a stimulant
which is soothing and calming. Moreover, tea offers its stimulation
effects with a low caffeine content.
Tea does not impact
heart circulation. However, studies have indicated that tea has favorable
impact on the brain and central nervous system. It bonds to the tannins
and is not released until it reaches the stomach. As a result, tea
improves digestive functions.
Cultivation:
Tea leaves are
generated by cutting tea plants. The tea plant is kept in the growth mode
by normal pruning which stops flowering and fruit formation. These
conditions ease the task of tea pickers to pick the topmost leaves and the
most current tea buds. Tea picking is performed by hand to obtain the
most tender harvest. There are certain mechanical picking techniques which
simplify production.
Tea is grown in
large plantations such as those of the Darjeeling district of India.
These are located on the 5,000 foot high slopes of the Himalayas. The
lower lying Assam region of Northern India is the largest tea cultivation
area of the world, situated in the Brahmaputra.
On Sri Lanka
or Ceylon, the three cultivation areas of Dimbula, Nuwara Eliya and Uva
are known worldwide for produces a strong, aromatic tea.
The Chinese produce
a mild tea in provinces such as Yunan and Zhejiang. The Chinese teas are
produced from tea bricks and tea roses. Due to its unique climate, Japan
produces fabulous green tea. Most Japanese tea is consumed in Japan.
Other tea producing regions include Africa, Indonesia, Taiwan and
Argentina. Thailand produces relatively small tea volumes.
Production Of Green Tea:
Green tea comes
from the same plant as black tea. However, fermentation is prevented
by heat treatment immediately after withering.
Oxidation:
This process is
only carried out where necessary. The necessity and duration of oxidation
varies according to the type of tea.
Steaming or dry heat treatment:
This destroys the plant's
own enzymes so that the leaf will retain its green color instead of
turning black.
Rolling:
Rolling is performed
manually or by machine depending on the type of tea. In certain cases the
leaf is rolled into artistic shapes following a tradition which dates back
thousands of years.
Drying:
For this
purpose, the leaves are either stacked in hot-air rack driers or exposed
to the natural heat of the sun.
Sorting:
Green tea is available in
the same familiar grades - leaf, broken, fannings or dust - as black tea,
depending on the specification. Green tea is a strongly alkaline drink
which protects the body from hyperacidity. It contains numerous tannins,
minerals and vitamins.
Oolong Production:
Oolong is a
semi-fermented tea. Its secret lies in the fermentation of the leaf's
outer edges, while the heart of the leaf remains unfermented. It is grown
in Taiwan and China.
White Tea:
White teas
originate mainly from the mountainous regions of Fujian in Southern China.
The leaves are slowly, gently steamed in the open air and extremely
careful handled. This tea is becoming more popular. The bud (silver
needle) and the upper leaves are harvested. White tea is low in
tannin and teine.
Black Tea Production:
There are three different
methods of producing black tea: 1. Traditional production; 2. CTC
production and 3. LTP production.
The Traditional production method:
This production
method consists of five stages: oxidation, rolling, fermentation, drying,
and sorting.
- Fresh green
leaves are spread out to dry on ventilated trays. During this process,
approx. 25% of the moisture is extracted from the leaves, thereby
leaving them soft and pliable for processing.
- The leaves are
rolled by applying mechanical pressure to break up the cells and extract
the cell sap. After 30 minutes, the leaves, still damp from the sap, are
sieved to separate the finer leaves. These are spread out immediately
for fermentation, while the remaining coarse leaves are rolled again
under high pressure. This process may be repeated several times.
Less rolling generates larger leaves, whereas longer rolling breaks the
leaves up more, thereby generating smaller grades. During rolling, the
cell sap is extracted; it reacts with oxygen and thereby triggers
fermentation. The essential oils responsible for the aroma are
released.
- After rolling,
the tea is spread out in layers approx. 5 inches high for up to three
hours in a cool, damp environment to complete fermentation. During
this process, the substances in the cell sap oxidize. In this phase, the
green leaf turns a copper color. Chemical reactions cause the leaf to
heat up during fermentation. It is critical for the quality of the tea
that the fermentation process be interrupted at its peak, when the
temperature reaches the maximum.
- The tea is dried
with hot air at a temperature of approx. 85º-88ºC in order to stop the
oxidation process. Residual moisture is extracted from the leaves, the
extracted sap dries on the leaf and the leaves turn dark brown to black.
-
The dried tea is
sieved to separate the different leaf grades. The traditional production
method provides teas of all leaf grades: leaf, broken, fannings and
Dust. Leaf grades refer to the leaf size; grades do not necessarily
indicate the quality of the tea.
The CTC production method:
CTC stands for crushing,
tearing and curling. Both the CTC and LTP methods are mainly used for the
finer end of the scale, i.e. fanning and dust grades. These teas are
usually destined for teabag production. The oxidized leaf is often cut to
a uniform size by machine. Then the leaves are placed into the CTC machine
where they are crushed, torn and curled in a single operation by metal
rollers. The extracted cell sap is collected and added to the leaves
again. The crushed leaves are then fermented, dried and sorted.
This CTC method is
primarily used in India.
The LTP method:
The third method of producing black tea is
the LTP method, named after the inventor of the Lawrie Tea Processor. In
this method, the oxidized leaves are leveled before processing in the LTP
machine. They are shredded by blades rotating at high speed. This is
followed by the typical fermentation, drying and sorting procedures.
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