Tea is a hot infusion drink prepared from different parts of the tea plant. Initially, tea plants were only known in China. In 1823, the first wild tea plants were discovered and cultivated in India. The plant has to grow for three to six years before it can be harvested for the first time.
Tea preparation and effects
A tea infusion of around three minutes has a rather stimulating effect, at around five minutes the tea becomes more bitter and the stimulating effect decreases.Tea varieties
The original method of preparing tea drinks is to use fresh tea leaves, plucked directly from the bush and placed in hot water. However, fresh tea leaves cannot be stored for long. Therefore, selective fermentation and drying was developed to make the tea storable. Today, four traditional forms of preparation are distinguished, which mainly differ in the degree of oxidation:Green tea
No intentional oxidation. In traditional production, the tea is wilted in iron pans over the fire after harvesting and then dried.White tea
So called because the hairs on the underside of the leaves give the dried tea leaves a white-silver colour. No deliberate oxidation. Young shoots are harvested and dried.Oolong
Partially oxidised. After harvesting, the tea is shaken in wicker baskets, the emerging juice reacts with the oxygen in the air. This process is stopped by heating in iron pans.Black tea
Actually called “red tea” in East Asia – complete oxidation. Like Oolong, but the oxidation process is not stopped. The tea is only dried after a longer period of time.You can buy black tea, green tea and white tea from Morga in Switzerland in specialist shops or in our online shop. There you will also find many other varied teas such as fruit tea and iced tea.
Black tea production
In today’s and traditional production of black tea, the tea leaves go through five stages: withering, rolling, sieving, oxidation and finally drying. Modern withering tunnels are used for the withering process, whereby the tea leaves pass through the tunnels on conveyor belts at a temperature of 20 to 22 °C. The tea leaves are then rolled into a roll. During the rolling process, the cells of the leaves are broken open, releasing essential oils. During oxidation, artificially generated high humidity of over 90 percent at exactly 22 °C adds moisture to them again. Heat is generated, the temperature of the leaves is measured precisely again and again and is stopped immediately after the maximum temperature of 29 °C is reached. Drying is done in machines with the help of hot air.
