WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Hyped on Tea: The Basics of Tea

Episode Date: January 31, 2024

In this episode we will explore the origins of tea, different types of tea, and how tea-culture has expanded across the globe. 

You are listening to Hyped on Tea, the show that takes you on a global journey through the world of tea. My name is Josh Hypes, and I'm your host. Today we're going to be breaking down the basics of tea. What is it exactly? Where does it come from? And how has tea drinking evolved through history and around the world? We're so glad to have you here, so let's dive on in. Tea culture has exploded across the world since the first tea was brewed in the third century.

Tea has become the most widely consumed drink in the world. world behind plain water. You can't go to London or Paris without going to a traditional tea house. It would be a crime to skip out on Turkish tea in Istanbul. And then there's Africa. Tea is at the core of the continent's identity of hospitality. Likewise in Asia, tea culture is considered an art form, especially in Japan and China with the Kung Fu tea ceremony. Let's begin with the basics. Tea is any drink that involves hot water being poured over either fresh or dried leaves. from a tea tree. These trees often look more like a bush than an actual tree, but that's besides the point. Tea trees are normally grown in southwestern China, Burma, India, Africa, and

South America, but also many other places around the world. Because tea is so widely produced, this has allowed different types of tea to emerge. There are six basic types of tea, which mainly correspond with the color of the tea when it's brewed. These types are white, yellow, green, Ulong, black, and puar. The different colors actually correspond to the different levels of oxidation in the leaves because while some teas are dried, others are just picked fresh, which produces a variety of different flavors and preferences. Often white, green, and yellow teas balance a more delicate floral and grassy flavor, which requires them to be steeped in cooler water compared to, let's say, a black tea.

This will help avoid burning the tea and making it very bitter. Meanwhile, an U-Long tea has a more woody and smoky flavor that is very robust. When brewed correctly, U-Long teas often have a beautiful orange appearance. Your traditional black tea, on the other hand, is bitter and stringent, yet it will also have this delectable sweetness and warmth that comes with it. While normally black teas have a reddish appearance in their purest form from China, What we in the West normally consider black tea is usually an English blend of either Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast, which will often have a more greenish hue, giving the tea its characteristically blackish color.

Giving the tea its characteristic blackish color. Finally, Poir is known for its earthy and very nuanced flavors. The processing and aging of these types of teas is considerable, often taking months and years to produce a very small amount. The hue of a puar is often more greenish and browner than black tea. All you really need to know at this point is that hot water and tea leaves makes tea. Oftentimes modern teas such as those in America will try to put some new spin on tea by adding fruits, nuts, herbs, or another additive to change the flavor, usually to add sweetness to make it more palpable to a Western market. But generally Finally speaking, these types of innovations are happening all over the world.

For instance, the explosion of bubble tea in Hong Kong. While tea around the world is innovating all throughout history, we see the impact tea has made on human civilization. Tea has undoubtedly played an outsized role in international politics and trade as a luxury good. Often, tea was the source of division and competition between nations, sparking wars and revolutions. But at its core, there's something soothing about this fiction.

beverage for centuries, scholars and doctors believe tea had healing and medicinal properties, often being prescribed to the sick and elderly. Today, with modern science, we can see some of the health benefits tea has to offer and how it's critical for a swift recovery with a cold, but we'll get to all that later. For now, thank you. This was the first episode of Hiped on Tea, and I hope you're hooked to learn more about tea.