You actually would suppose that the definition would certainly be self-explanatory - it's tea that is green. But 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 encourage brand-new growth and for hassle-free picking.

Tea plants 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 greater altitudes where the leaves mature more slowly and produce a thicker essence. Based on the altitude, a brand new tea shrub may take from 2 ? to 5 years to get completely ready for commercial picking, but once successful, it can supply tea leaves for around a century.

Tea crops generate abundant foliage, a camellia-like flower, plus a berry, but only the smallest and newest leaves are picked for tea: the two leaves and bud on top of each fresh shoot. The development of new shoots, known as a flush, can occur each week at lower altitudes but takes many weeks at higher ones. The new leaves are picked out manually by "tea pluckers," the best of whom can easily harvest 40 pounds each day, enough to produce 10 pounds of tea.

All tea crops belong to the exact same group -Camellia sinensis-, but localized maturing conditions (altitude, climate, soils, etc.) vary, resulting in a large number of distinctive leaves. The way the leaves are prepared, however, is even more crucial in producing the individual properties of the three predominant kinds of tea: green, black and oolong.

Green tea is the very least processed and therefore offers the most antioxidant polyphenols, notably a catechin known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is believed to be accountable for almost all of the health benefits associated with green tea. We'll focus on EGCG a little bit later, however it is this element of green tea which makes it such a therapeutic and beneficial beverage.

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

Green tea is definitely, 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.

Why is this so? 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 as well as 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 in turn breaks down natural EGCG and takes away from its restorative healing components.

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