Have you ever wondered why even the same type of teas can taste so different from each other? You may not have realised it before, but a fine tea is just like a fine wine, its character and quality depends upon a multitude of factors: the variety of the tea bush, the altitude at which it grows, the soil and water that nourished it, the proficiency of the person who picked the leaves, and the skills of the factory workers who turned the green leaves into the tea you put in your pot.
All true tea is made from the fresh green shoots of the bush Camellia sinensis. The young shoots are picked once a week and taken to the nearest tea factory where they can be converted into black tea, green tea, or oolong tea depending upon the process used. The green tea shoots naturally contain catechins (polyphenols - the source of tea's antioxidant properties). The ratio and quality of these determines the taste and quality of the resulting tea.
There have been many variations in tea manufacture over the past 3,000 years, but they all rely solely upon the natural components found within the green tea leaf.
Nothing is added to tea during manufacture, and the only thing removed is water.
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