The least processed tea is ...?

You can take leaf and sun dry it like white tea or roast it like green. I prefer the roasting which locks in the flavor while sun drying withers. One man's less processing is another man's less taste.

Jim

George Cherry wrote:

Bet it would be the silver needles tea. Can't do much processing with that or it'll destroy the silver hairs.

Well, I grew a Camellia Sinensis plant a couple years ago. Only got to be a foot tall before it started to die. So I harvested the leaves, seared them a little bit, chopped them up a bit and steeped them, and it was the sweetest tea I'd ever had. Stunningly sweet, even though the brew was almost clear.

Remember that chinese monk who fell asleep under a tea tree and woke up with a leaf in his water ? Chopping sounds a bit like over the top.

Karsten

How do you think it would have tasted if you hadn't seared the leaves?

Probably about the same. I didn't sear them very well, or for very long, or on high enough heat. I'd only read about people doing it so I didn't really know what the hell I was doing.

Great tasting brew though! So sweet. Unlike anything I've ever bought. I can understand why people started making tea all those thousands of years ago..

And I chopped them up because each leaf was about 1.5" by 3"..

Hello Slint!, What part of the world and area are you located? I would love to grow one as well. Maybe not for harvesting but who knows? Just a challenge to try to grow something I really love alot. And I must say that I have been succesful here in South Coastal Texas for most of what I have tried Eeeh hawww!!! Maybe the climate here will be good. Has anyone had any success in a US southern (subtropical) climate? And where can I obtain seedlings? Do they need grafting? Very cool job you must have done to get such sweet nice leaves even as the tree was dying. Wonder if the tree grew for many years how your harvest would be? Jenn

Ah yeah Slint, Do you have any photos? Must have been some helluva leaf. Maybe an oolong type? Jenn

I'm in southern california. I ordered 10 seeds off ebay. Four started, two turned into viable plants. Unfortunately I went to Europe for 6 weeks and gave them to my girlfriend who over-fertilized them. When I came back the leaves were dropping, so I steeped them :)

You can do it where you are. You will definitely not get the tea plants that they get in China or India, just as you wouldn't get the same vineyard growth that they do in France if you were trying to make your own wine.

However, it's definitely interesting. You need to have LOTS of patience though. It might be years until your plants get big enough to harvest anything, and then you may only get a cup or two (unless you accidentally kill yours, then you can harvest them right away ;)

Is there such a thing, as an Oolong leaf?

I thought Oolong was only a method of processing.

Lars Stockholm

Well I dont know. I have seen them in my cup that was oolong tea, and they were pretty big, and I also had one fo shou or something like that was a very big leaf. ANd the green tea leaves look different and so do the white leaves and well it seems like many look different. Like india leafs look different. Maybe are sub species of the camellia sinensis???? Jenn

Well Slint, Seems like that is a challenge to me. I really like to grow things... and have been successful. A tea plant would certainly be a challenge. If I can procure a plant or seeds I am gonna try!!! good luck to me and may my green thumb show up. Jenn

Hi George,

I think it depends on your definition of "process". For white tea, yes, it undergoes limited procedures, but it is wilted, which is a major process changes some natural parts of tea leaf. If you mean "the least processed tea close to original tea leaf", I would say it's green tea. Green tea is not wilted, it sometimes undergoes steaming or roasting as drying procedures. I read in some book, there are different methods to distinguish tea styles, and one of them is "wilting".

There are 2 articles you can take a look, hope they help.

oneone

You're right technically. But the people who manufacture oolong generally don't use any old tea leaves; they tend to choose certain cultivars, and within a tea shoot they tend to use the big leaves far from the growing tip rather than "two leaves and a bud."

/Lew

Thanks. Good advice. I usually use more tea than described, albeit not much more, and far shorter steeps until the last. My rule of thumb, gotten elsewhere, is to fill the gaiwan with leaf so that unfurled it comes to the lid but does not press the lid upward. Michael

try ebay. and good luck! let us know how it goes.

I never knew it when growing up but Camellia Sinensis is a common ornamental shrub in the deep South along the coast.

Jim

Jenn wrote:

George

There was a Chinese study done that take the same leaves and process them differently for

green tea white tea oolong tea red tea black tea and yellow tea

Guess what they found?

Among all of them, green tea is found to have the most similar chemical composition to fresh tea leaves.

It is a fascinating study.

Which tea is less processed is really a matter of definition.

Length of time? Green tea. Amount of oxidation? Green tea Alteration of chemical composition? Green tea Amount of heat applied? White tea

And so on...

You can defined your own least processed tea :)

Have fun!

Julian

Hey Jim, I do not know if I have ever seen one. Looking at pictures of them online, but not in a tea field, they look familiar, and I do know I have seen some flowering camellias, So if you know they have been around, and I am more southern than the majority of the southern states (so. Tx) Maybe I will have a good chance to at least grow one just for the sake of it. Yeah, I think it would be pretty cool to have a tea tree. and All of you thanks for the tips on the tea tree!!! Jenn

Ahh, thanks. From now on it will be green tea in my "tea soup".

George