You actually would suppose that the description would certainly be self-explanatory - it's tea that is green. However this doesn't truly cover it.

Just about all genuine teas - as distinct out of herbal and flower infusions, which tea lovers call tisanes - are produced from the leaves of a magnolia-related evergreen tree with the botanical name of Camellia sinensis. Although reaching a level of 30 feet in the wilderness, on tea farms, the plant is kept as a bush, continuously trimmed to a height of about 3 feet to stimulate brand-new growth and for hassle-free picking.

Tea crops grow just in warm climates but can flourish at altitudes which range from sea level to 7,000 feet. The ideal teas, nevertheless, are produced by crops harvested at higher altitudes where the leaves mature more slowly and produce a thicker essence. Based on the altitude, a brand new tea plant may take from 2 ? to 5 years to get ready for commercial picking, but when successful, it can supply tea leaves for around a century.

Tea crops generate abundant foliage, a camellia-like flower, and a berry, but only the smallest and youngest leaves are picked for tea: the two leaves and bud at the top of every young shoot. The growth of brand new limbs, called a flush, can occur weekly at lower altitudes but takes a few weeks at higher ones. The brand new leaves are picked out by hand by "tea pluckers," the very best of whom is able to pick 40 pounds each day, enough to make Ten pounds of tea.

All tea crops are part of the exact same group -Camellia sinensis-, but local maturing conditions (altitude, climate, soils, etc.) differ, producing a great number of unique leaves. Just how the leaves are processed, however, is even more important in developing the individual features of the three main varieties of tea: green, black and oolong.

Green tea leaf is definitely the least processed and thus offers the most anti-oxidant polyphenols, particularly a catechin known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), that is considered to be accountable for the vast majority of health advantages connected to green tea. We'll talk about EGCG a little bit later, but it is this particular aspect of green tea that makes it a real healing and favorable drink.

Green tea is created by lightly steaming the just farmed leaves, making them smooth and flexible and stopping them from fermenting or changing coloration. Just after steaming, the leaves are rolled, then spread out and "fired" (dried with hot air or pan-fried in a wok) till they are really crispy. The resulting greenish-yellow tea has a green, somewhat astringent essence close to the taste of the fresh leaf.

Green tea has become, and stays today, the most used type of tea from China exactly where the majority of researchers and botanists believe that the tea plant has come from throughout all of Asia.

How can this be? Probably simply because green tea not only grabs the flavors, scent and shade of springtime, but offers this delightful arrangement along with the highest power of advantageous phytonutrients and the very least caffeine of all the teas.

The true secret to the remarkable health benefits which are resulting from drinking green tea is that the leaves are steamed which in turn preserves the EGCG compound from being oxidized. Other teas are fermented which breaks down the natural EGCG and takes away from its restorative healing properties.

In truth, green tea has extended and fabled history going back thousands and thousands of years. It can be quite interesting to know what chinese people have known for ages.