Five things you don’t know about tea

Green or black? Powder or in handbags? What do “two leaves and a donut” mean? Tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world and has been a guest in our homes for hundreds of years. It would seem that we know everything about tea, but is it true? Here are some myths about a drink that Americans love.

1. two leaves and a donut
The quality of tea is influenced primarily by the raw material from which it is made. This is why it is so important to collect the tea by hand. This process is expensive and labour-intensive, but it ensures proper qualitative and quantitative selection of leaves during harvesting – only two leaves and a donut. Only these parts of the tea shrub can be found in teas. Mechanical harvesting used by most brands is cheaper and very fast, but it affects the quality of the product.
Is green tea healthier than black tea?
Regardless of which tea you choose, keep in mind that all types of tea come from one plant. Therefore, every tea (black, green or white) has similar health benefits, thanks to the natural compounds in. These are polyphenols, such as flavonoids, which are mainly found in fresh tea. This is why products are hermetically sealed right after the production process to keep the best in them for as long as possible. Tea only differs in the way it is made. In the case of black tea, production is divided into five stages – wilting, rolling, fermentation (oxidation), drying and leaf size sorting. Green tea is not oxidised, so its leaves are lighter and the resulting infusion has a lighter colour and a lighter taste. However, tea is made only from the unprocessed buds of tea leaves, thanks to which it owes its almost white colour.
3. loose tea or in bags?
There is a common belief that tea in bags is of poorer quality. Nothing could be further from the truth. Tea leaves are placed in bags for consumer comfort – this affects the convenience of brewing and does not affect the taste of the beverage in any way. In the case of brand, both bags and loose tea packs contain the same leaves, which are collected by hand, traditionally processed and hermetically sealed, regardless of the form of packaging.
4. the intensity of the taste of the tea depends on the time it is brewed?
Of course, the brewing time has a great influence on the taste of the tea. However, its intensity is influenced by many more components: the degree of fragmentation of the leaf, the temperature of the water at which the tea is brewed and… the height at which the two leaves and the doughnuts from which it was made are harvested. The higher the leaves are, the more delicate the infusion will be. It is also a popular myth that the longer you brew tea, the more stimulating it is. The opposite is true.
Flavoured or fruity teas?
To begin with, we can only determine what comes from with tea, while the popular mixes on the market, such as dried fruit, are called infusions. This means that fruit tea is a beverage that includes both fruit and leaves from tea shrubs. The offer of the brand includes aromatized teas. They are based on real black tea, enriched with natural aromatic oils, which, unlike the moisture-repellent fruits, do not destroy. They are added to the leaves during the last production process, thanks to which the product does not lose its quality and maintains an optimal level of humidity (2-3%).