What I’ve Learned

I don’t drink real tea, I drink herbal.

Real tea comes from the tea bush. That is, from Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia

There are six main categories of real tea: green, yellow, white, oolong, black, and puer. They don’t come from different plants, but rather all come from the tea bush. The difference in the types of tea is a matter of how the tea leaves are processed after harvesting.

If you cut an apple and leave it on the counter, what happens? It turns brown. As cell walls are broken down, an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase is exposed to oxygen in the air, causing a chemical reaction. This is called oxidation. We can stop the oxidation process by cooking the apple.

When Camellia sinensis leaves are harvested, they begin to oxidize and turn brown, just like an apple. And the oxidation process can be stopped the same way. When the leaves are heated, it denatures the enzyme and halts the browning process.

The six types of tea are created by controlling the oxidation of the Camellia sinensis leaves. Green tea, for example, is roasted quickly after harvest to prevent oxidation. Black tea, on the other hand, is allowed to oxidize fully, turning brown before roasting.

These days, there is a green tea craze. Food manufacturers gleefully add a bit of green tea to everything from soft drinks and candy to breads and frozen dinners, hoping shoppers will believe the addition makes such products health promoting.

Hog wash. (I refer, of course, to traditional hog wash, containing no green tea or sugar substitutes.)

I’m not a drinker of Camellia sinensis tea, regardless of the type. I am, though, an occasional drinker of herbal teas. Chamomile, in particular, though I will also enjoy a cup of lemon, rose hip, or peppermint.

Which brings me to the tea bag. Some tea drinkers prefer brewing in the traditional manner: making it by the potful and straining out the tea leaves when pouring. Many others, though, are converted to the use of tea bags for brewing a cup at a time.

Tea bags are such a recent invention that when my grandparents were young, there was no such thing.

There is a story from 1908 about a tea merchant named Thomas Sullivan who began sending samples of his products in small silk bags to encourage sales. The bagged samples became popular, and Sullivan began offering tea in little dunkable bags.

Two women from Milwaukee, however, beat Sullivan to the dunk. In 1901, Roberta C. Lawson and Mary Molaren filed a patent application for the invention of “a new and useful Improvement in Tea-Leaf Holders.” Their application includes a drawing of what we, today, instantly recognize as a tea bag.

I find it irksome that some tea manufacturers make their tea, be it real or herbal, just strong enough for one and only one cup per teabag. Others, bless their tea-totaling hearts, allow two or more cups per bag.

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