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Крутой иБаер
The chemistry of tea: a lab, not a leaf:
Respect the alchemy and the chemistry in choosing the teas that offer more than just a wet and warm hydration. It’s not snobbery to prefer a hand-plucked Darjeeling over a CTC Assam. Cheap bagged green teas from Argentina and Korea can tart up their labels with poetic piffle about the proven benefits of ECGC and anti-oxidants but the chemistry of that third and fourth leaf just won’t match the prose.
Taking leaf from twenty countries and bulk shipping it to Dubai (where half of all Lipton tea bags are “made”) and then blending them with added pomegranate and adding a soy lecithin emulsifier doesn’t change the apparent nature of the tea and it often retains the same high end name. But the chemistry is not quite the same as if it’s whole leaf, biodynamically farmed and artisan-processed. Most of all, your following the recommended rules of brewing makes the chemical formula effective: for black, boiling water, 3-5 minutes down to green at 175 degrees, maximum of 3 minutes. Use a microwave and you leave the world of chemistry for physics and thermodynamics.
So, it’s well worth buying whole leaf tea made in the tradition of two leaves and a bud hand plucking, favoring the gardens and estates that have a long-established reputation, being wary of blends and flavors, and brewing your tea carefully. As a well-known singer stated “The one thing you can’t fake is chemistry.”
