I'm Obsessed

Okay, I have become obsessed with teas. And what do I do when I become obsessed with something? As we learned with the chocolate covered honeycomb post, I Google! So what did I do but Google teas! And now I'm going to pass some of that internet learning onto you, my loyal(?) reader - yes, all three of you!

First, types of tea:

All tea comes from the "Camellia sinensis", an evergreen shrub that may grow up to 60 feet in the wild... There are over 3000 varieties of tea each with its own specific characteristics. The naming and growing of teas has many similarities to wine... Like wine, tea comes from one bush, and where the tea is grown, the climate, soil conditions, and how the tea is processed, determines the flavor characteristics of the tea.

Tea is harvested after each flush - the sprouting of the top two leaves and bud. The top two leaves and bud are hand plucked and then processed into any of the four types of tea, which are Black, Green, Oolong, and White.

Black tea is withered, fully oxidized and dried. Black tea yields a hearty, amber-colored brew...
Green tea skips the oxidizing step. It is simply withered and then dried. It has a more delicate taste and is pale green / golden in color...
Oolong tea..., is withered, partially oxidized, and dried. Oolong is a cross between black and green tea in color and taste.
White tea is the least processed. A very rare tea from China, White tea is not oxidized or rolled, but simply withered and dried by steaming.
-from Stash Teas

Okay, maybe I'm just a dork (well, that's a given, isn't it?) but I had no idea all teas came from the same plant. I guess I never thought about it. So it really seems that the main difference between teas is the oxidization step. Which means I had to figure out what exactly that was:

Tea leaves become oxidized when they are spread out in a cool area and left to absorb oxygen. The longer the leaves are left to wither, the more oxygen they absorb and the darker their color becomes. Hence, black tea is fully oxidized.
-from planet tea

That article goes on to talk about rolling tea and the quality of leaves, etc. Full leaves, obviously, are better than the "tea dust" that tends to make up bagged tea.

It also says that oxidizing the tea is the same as fermentation. This may be a stupid question (I'm good at those), but if black tea is more "fermented" than white tea, why don't you get a buzz or something off it? I mean, I'm pretty sure tea has no alcohol content, yes?

Anyway, I have also learned that herbal teas aren't really. They are herbal infusions that are "packaged like tea, infused like tea, and enjoyed like tea, however the herbs do not come from the camellia sinensis bush and therefore are not teas. Herbal infusions are made of grasses like lemongrass, barks like cinnamon, fruits like orange peel, flowers like chamomile and hibiscus, and many other botanicals." (from Stash Teas)

Now, I have fallen in love with white teas since our last trip to Japan where I had some iced white jasmine tea. Since then, I've been trying a lot of white teas and just love them. Which made this bit (also from from Stash Teas) rather interesting:

White tea is a very rare, expensive connoisseurs tea that is mainly produced in China in Fukien (Fujian) Province. Once harvested, white tea is not oxidized or rolled, but simply withered and dried by steaming. White tea requires an experienced palate already initiated into the exquisite, subtle flavors of green and oolong teas. Its name, a literal translation from the Chinese, probably comes from the very pale color of its liquor. This tea has a very mellow taste and a hint of sweetness.

The weird thing is, I don't really like many green teas because I can't find the one with the right taste. None of them taste like what is served in Japan. Don't know why and it drives me nuts.

I also really enjoy Darjeeling tea (one of the few black teas I really enjoy). "[Darjeeling tea r]efers to tea grown in this mountain area of India. The mountain altitude and gentle misting rains of the region, produce a unique full bodied but light flavor with a subtly lingering aroma reminiscent of Muscatel."

So seems like I like "subtle, "mellow" and "delicate" teas.

I gotta tell ya, I'm thisclose to ordering all the samplers of white and green teas that Stash Teas has to offer. Seriously. I also have the urge to start browsing for loose teas. Though I have nothing to steep them in... I have the lid of the little steeper basket (or whatever it is called) but not the actual basket. Don't think that will help me much.

I also found a book I want: The Tea Companion. Yeah, obsessed.

Anyway, there is my little obsession for today. Can't promise you that I'm done with this topic, but I'm done for today at least.