Wherever Chinese people go, you can bet to find tea in there someplace.  The Chinese were the first to discover the tea leaf.  There are many fairytale stories about the discovery of tea, but the most common is a monk meditating who plucked a leaf and started chewing on it.  He found out that it made him more alert and tasted good too.  After that you can only imagined what followed…Anyways, we all know how great tea tastes, but it is also the healthiest thing to drink on this planet.  It is the most consumed beverage in this world besides water.  Tea contains many vitamins, tea derivatives, essential oils, and fluoride.  It is a diuretic, attributed with the properties of improving the eyesight and increasing alertness, so we believe that tea drinkers enjoy an increased life span and all around better health.

 What is Tea?  Tea comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant.  All true teas come from this plant with the exception of herbal/flower tisanes and some other “teas” that are just made up of some other plant material.  You may ask yourself, “Then why are there so many different types of teas out there?” Because it is the process of the tea leaves after they are picked which determines the out come of the final tea.  It really is very simple, but everyone gets confused somewhere along the way.  The three most common teas are Green, Oolong, and Black/Red.

 Green Teas usually come from China and Japan.  After the leaves are picked they are steamed or pan fried/fired to stop the leaves from absorbing oxygen.  Thus, Green Tea is considered non-oxidized and very raw.  Green Tea contains the highest levels of antioxidants none as ployphenols which are flavonoids. 

 Oolong Teas are the best, most flavorful and complex of all teas.  Oolongs from Taiwan are of the highest quality, but China produces some good ones too.  Oolong Teas are allowed to oxidize under the sun after being picked.  This allows for a partial oxidation of the leaf.  Anywhere from 5%-80% of the leaf would show signs of oxidation, with a sign of reddish-brown in color around the edges of the leaf.  Oolongs teas can be very green, medium, or dark.  All oolongs are dry roasted to stop oxidation.

 Black Teas are fully oxidized and roasted.  They are full and rich, but don’t have the complexity of oolongs or rawness of greens.  Most Black Teas come from China and India.  China produces our favorite Black Tea called Pu-Erh.  It is an aged black tea that is fermented in underground caves that naturally oxidizes and produces a very earthy taste.  Most iced teas in the US are made from Black Tea Blends.

What is the best way to brew tea?  Every tea is different, but if you stick to our advice you can't go wrong.  The quality of water, temperature, quantity of dried tea, and steeping time all play together to make the perfect pot.  You can of course experiment yourself to accommodate your own tastes, but be careful you might just be ruining perfectly good leaves.

Green Tea needs cooler water at about 165-170F/80C.  Use a heaping teaspoon of dried leaf per 8oz pot and steep for two minutes.  You should be able to get 2-3 steeping from the same leaves.  We prefer to make our green teas in a<