What is Tea?

 

What is Tea?

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world only after water with ~3.7 billion cups every day!

Chances are, if you’re reading this you know what tea is, have encountered it, maybe even drink it on a regular basis.

That’s all good and well, but it doesn’t answer the question ‘What is tea?’ What is inside your little white tea bags? What is the second most popular drink in the world? Out of the plethora of beverages and brews available to us today, which ones are tea?

Why is this Important?

Well, it’s not.

Not if you don’t care, or are perfectly happy with your tea right now. :)

On the other hand, if you’re like me, and tea is something you consume on a daily basis, it’s probably good to know a little something about what it’s made of. 

Understanding what your tea is made of can not only help you brew a better cup-a, but can even increase your drinking pleasure.

It’s also extremely interesting.

What is Tea?

It might be boring and wordy to read but if you want to get technical about it this is the official definition of “tea” according to Merriam Webster.

Merriam Webster’s definition: Tea is…

My Simplified Definition

So that was a lengthy definition. If you read all of that, kudos to you. If not, the next sentence’s got you covered.

In a word, tea is… a normally hot, prepared beverage containing plant-based objects to flavor the beverage.

Generally speaking when people use the word “tea,” it includes fruit teas, tisanes/herbal teas, flavored teas, scented teas, tea bags, flower teas, and loose leaf tea.

Are they right or wrong?

Yes and no. 

In a sense, people are correct in using the word “tea” to refer to any of the above mentioned botanical brews for two reasons. 

Firstly because the word “tea” has undergone a bit of a semantic change which means that it’s been used so much to refer to all types of botanical beverages that the word “tea” has taken on a new all-encompassing meaning. 

Secondly, people are correct because what each person considers “tea” will differ from person to person. 

For example, some avid tea drinkers (aka tea purists) only think that tea made from the tea plant should be considered tea. The person next to them might think of tea as any beverage with the word “tea” in the name. 

Suit your fancy.

Don’t worry if you’ve never thought about the question ‘What do I consider tea?’ Most people haven’t. But it is a great place to start developing your personal philosophy about tea.

There’s no right or wrong answer here, just different opinions.

I personally, have to admit I’m a tea purist. Which means that I only consider tea made from the tea plant to be “real tea.” 

Of course when talking to friends and other people I still use the loose definition of “tea” because it’s easier and a lot less confusing. 

And just because I’m a tea purist doesn’t mean I don’t also enjoy my fair share of mint or chamomile, they’re just not what I would consider a genuine tea.

So what’s in my tea bag?

After having said all that, you might still be wondering ‘What is tea?’ 

In general (unless your tea is herbal) teas all come from the same tea plant called Camellia sinensis sinensis of the family Theaceae, the tea family. It looks like this.

Might be a little hard to believe that your favorite teas once looked like this, but believe it or not that’s what’s in your tea bag. 

Of course how it got to be there with that very specific fragrance and color has everything to do with tea processing – which is a totally separate blog.

A great way to start getting more familiar with what’s in your cup is to simply read the labels on your tins. 

You’ll see the expected black tea, white tea, green tea (all of those are camellia sinensis sinensis) but you’ll also notice spices like cinnamon making their way in, fruit like orange peel or dried apple, flowers, and more.

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