Welcome to Drinks Tube I'm Becky from Talk Becky Talk and today I have a guide for you,
all about tea. We're going to look at what tea is, where it comes from and why it's so
amazing. Because if you haven't already guessed, I love it. So what is tea? Well tea is a drink
commonly made from infusing curred tea leaves with hot water, it originated in China around,
five thousand, yes five thousand years ago, but luckily now it's spread all around the
world. You can get tea in tea bags, you can get loose leaf tea and people tend to get
pretty passionate about it. It has on average less than half the caffeine of coffee per
cup. It's got so many health benefits, it's hydrating, there are loads of varieties and
it's low in calories. Amazing. All tea leaves come from the same plant. The camellia Sinensis.
Commonly known as the tea plant. It's native to Asia but now it's grown all around the
world. Herbal tea doesn't actually contain Camellia Sinensis so it's not strictly a tea
but we'll come back to that. There are thousands of types of tea I've probably collected a
load of them but five main styles. Black, white, green, oolong and Pu-erh. These styles
differentiate because of the processing of the leaves and the oxidation. The types however
completely depend on the growing climate, even year by year. The first one black tea,
is the most popular, it accounts for 72% of tea drunk right accorss the world and it is
especially popular in the U.K and the U.S. You'll find it in everyday tea bags just like
this and the varieties include things like Darjeeling, Lapsang Souchang, Assam and Ceylon.
Now darjeeling is known as the champagne of the tea world it tastes amazing and you can
have this at any point in the day. This one Lapsang Souchong, this is one of my favourites
but it does divide people it's quite an acquired taste. They make it by smoking the tea leaves
over bamboo and that gives it such a deep smoky flavour. They say Winston Churchill
used to love drinking this with a scotch. Now Ceylon and Assam are a match made in heaven,
blend them together and you have got yourself a pretty amazing English Breakfast Tea. This
is one of the most popular teas in the U.K and is perfect first thing in the morning.
Just for the record Earl Grey is a flavoured black tea. That for instance is blended with
bergamot orange. Black tea contains anti oxidants like flavanoids and tannings which help to
deactivate damaging molecules that could play a role in the development of cancer. Now white
teas, these are actually the leased processed that we've talked about from all of those
styles. These are actually made from young silver buds. They dry out in the sunshine
and when the farmers pick them they'll loose those leaves which means they can be used
for other teas and that's why white teas are more rare and expensive. The two main varieties
are silver needle and white peony. Now true white tea is only made in Fujian China. Now
you can tell white tea because it's got a silvery and fuzzy appearance and when you
brew it, it's got such a mild flavour and a really pale look. Next up, green tea, this
is the most popular tea drunk in Asia, and accounts for 26% across the world. But really,
green tea is most well known for it's health benefits. It's associated with lower blood
pressure, healthier blood cholesterol and that all helps your heart. There are two main
styles of green tea, Chinese and Japanese. Now Chinese is often heated over a fire which
gives it a really nice toasty flavour, that is perfect if you're a first time tea drinker.
Japanese however is usually steamed so that kind of gives it a real grassy, vegetable
taste. Now, whilst we're on the subject of green tea, take a look at this, this is actually
Matcha tea. You may well of heard of it, it's becoming so popular at the moment. This is
actually a powdered Japanese green tea, now it's associated with reduced food intake so
could potentially help weight loss. Next up Oolong tea, this literally translates as black
dragon. It's a traditional Chinese tea, it sits half way between an unoxidised green
tea and a fully oxidised black tea. Now as teas come this is actually pretty complex.
It's full bodied it's got a really sweet aroma to it and you can get so many different varieties
of flavour in this. Now last, but definitely not least, Pu-erh, this is actually a fermented
tea and it's produced in China, take a look at this. This is what it looks like when it
comes out of the packet. Totally different to the other teas. It actually goes through
a really complex kind of stage of fermentation and it's got such a strong and earthy taste
to it. This actually can taste better the older the tea gets which is really strange
for teas. This is so good at any time of the day, you have to try one of these if you come
across them. Now herbal tea, I told you we'd come back to this. Now for all you herbal
tea lovers it doesn't have any tea leaves in it. Any at all, not even a teeny bit so
it's not strictly a tea, it's a bit of a cheat but it tastes delicious. It's actually made
from mixing herbs and spices and dried fruit to hot water. It tastes delicious and it's
caffeine free. You can get things like lemon, ginger, raspberry, peppermint for example
is amazing for your digestive system and while we're on the subject take a look at this.
Rooibos, or redbush tea, isn't a tea either. This is actually a native plant from South
Africa and it produces such a delicious reddy brown infusion. So there you go that's what
tea is. I hope you enjoy my little tea lesson and are starting to love tea just as much
as I do. If you want to watch more click on this video right now, that's my tea infusion
video made with green tea it's so delicious you're going to love it. Most importantly,
click on the subscribe button to Drinks Tube, you'll be able to see lots more of my videos,
other videos as well on wine, beers, cocktails, soft drinks. Whatever drink you love, we've
got videos for you and I just know you're going to love it. Tea time for me now guys,
Bye