Tea – The Most Consuming Drink With Many Varieties In India
Tea Varieties comes in the dried leaf of a bush and contains theine and added into boiling water with milk and sugar. It gives an aromatic fragrance and refreshing drink. Tea is one of the essential beverage cash crops in India and also commonly known as ‘Chai’.
Tea, ‘Chai’ is the most common and popular beverage in the world after water. It’s a simple mixture of pouring hot water over preserved leaves of the Camellia sinensis tea plant. The flavour of tea changes by where the tea leaves are thriving and harvested and the way tea is processed. Black tea is the most popular globally, along with green, oolong, and white tea.
Herbal teas are made from the dried herbs, spices, flowers, fruit, seeds, roots, or leaves of other tea plants. They do not mainly contain caffeine as they make common teas.
History Of Tea In The World
The tea plant started in the district including present Southwest China, Tibet, north Myanmar and Northeast India, where it was utilized as a healthful beverage by different cultural groups. An early reliable record of drinking tea begins in the third century AD, in a clinical content composed by Hua Tuo. It was promoted as a sporting beverage during the Chinese Tang line, and tea drinking spread to other East Asian nations. Portuguese ministers and shippers acquainted it with Europe during the sixteenth century. During the seventeenth century, drinking tea became fashionable among the Britishers, who began to plant tea with a vast scope in India.
Largest Producers Of Tea In India
Assam is the largest tea producer and provides the maximum to the total production of tea in India.
Along with Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Bihar, Orissa are also the famous tea producer states in India. Dibrugarh is currently known as the Tea City of India, situated in Assam.
Different Types Of Tea In India
Tea is now the world’s most popular beverage, With 3000 varieties, after water. India ranks relatively high in top tea-consuming countries and is also the world’s second-largest exporter of tea.
India is one of the world’s most vital countries in tea production, and it grows some of the very best varieties. As India produces all tea varieties, it is best known for its black teas, including Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri states. However, there is also well-loved spicy chai, which contains the country’s rich spices. Here we are discussing some tea varieties in India.
1. White Tea
White tea is the least prepared of all teas. They are originating in China’s Fujian area. This white tea is made from the flowers and the leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant. They are delicately handled so there are no damaged or broken leaves. The buds or leaves are picked, faded and dried. White teas are light in colour, and Some buds even have fine white fibres like hairs. These fibres are a layer of protection from any harmful attacks like insects and harsh weather. It is the most sensitive tea in flavour and aroma, as the leaves are not pressed or crushed in the processing. White tea can be grown, too.
2. Green Tea
Green tea is the most traditional type of tea. The leaves are picked, faded and then both roasted in a pan or steam to stop oxidation. Pan-firing is more popular for Chinese tea, and steaming is for Japanese tea. Pan-fired green teas can be more vegetal in taste, and steamed green teas can be more grassy in taste. It is recommended to drink green tea within the year for a fresh taste, not stale and smelly.
3. Yellow Tea
Yellow tea is a unique tea that is produced in small amounts and only in China. High-quality yellow tea is made from flowers which plucked in the first spring. In comparison, low-quality yellow tea is made from flowers and leaves later in the year. It also goes by a “yellowing” stage where the leaves are covered in paper.
4. Black Tea
Black tea is the most popular and oxidized type of tea. It is possibly the most common type of tea. Black tea is mainly grown in Kenya and many Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, India and China. This type of tea defines as the “red tea” in China. Orthodox and cut, tear and curl are the two main processing techniques for black tea.
5. Dark Tea
Dark tea is produced in the Yunnan area of China. There are two categories of dark tea: Raw sheng puerh and Shou Ripe Puerh. Sheng (raw) is pressed or left in age, turning naturally over time. The foaming process is promoted up for shou (ripe) Puerh. As a result, the flavours can improve over time and are highly valued. There are more dark teas; but, Puerh is a more popular one.
6. Herbal Tea
Herbal tea is not a tea, it does not contain any leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant. Herbal tea is made the same way as tea–steeping in hot water to obtain flavours. That’s why it is often categorized as tea. It is a good choice for consuming something naturally caffeine-free. Herbal teas may consist of a mixture of dried fruit, flowers, nuts, herbs and spices.
Requirements To Tea Plantation
Climate and soil
Tea is complex in its climatic requirements. The temperature may differ from 16 to 320C, and seasonal rainfall should be 125 to 150 cm, spread over 8-9 months in a year. The aerial humidity should always be around 80% most of the time. An arid atmosphere is not pleasant for tea. It is grown in plains in the North Eastern States, but it is built from 600 to 2200 m above M.S.L in South India.
Tea is a cash crop requiring relatively low amounts of calcium but high amounts of potassium and silicon. You can plant them in lateritic, alluvial and peaty types of soils. The best pH range is 4.5 to 5.0, and soil depth should be 1.0 to 1.5m.
Planting
The planting should be early and high yield, better soil conservation, less weed growth in the plant. The planting season usually agrees with June-July and September-October for SouthWest monsoon and North-East monsoon areas. Holes of 30x30x45cm size are dug, and plants of 12-15 months old are planted by removing the polythene covers. After planting, plants are staked to prevent wind damage. Every farming needs the best performance of the farmer, vehicle and machinery. Farmers mainly prefer Swaraj 742 tractor, to plough the fields and for best farming results.
Aftercare of tea plantation
Following planting, the dirt surface around the plants ought to be mulched as a rule. Cutgrasses of Guatemala are utilized for this reason. Around 25 tons of grass is needed to mulch one hectare. You should remove care to keep the mulch materials from the collar locale last, and they may cause collar infections. In a dry climate, mud tubes or etah cylinders might be covered 15cm deep close to the plant in an inclining position and one litre of water for every plant might be poured or infused at week after week stretches. This earth water system assists with limiting the causality other than energizes creating further roots.
Shade requirement
Tea requires separated shade, and if it is presented to coordinate sun, its development is influenced. Shade is subsequently fundamental and gainful to tea as
- It controls the temperature.
- It limits the impacts of the dry spell and radiation injury.
- It expands the dirt richness.
- It helps in reducing supplements.
- It helps in getting even circulation of harvest.
- It fills in as a windbreak.
- It decreases the frequencies of vermin.
- It creates extra to pay via wood and fuel.
- The alluring characters of a decent overhanging tree-like
- It’s anything but an evergreen tree, simple to spread, having speedy developing and profound established characters.
- It gives separated shade and withstands incessant trimming.
- It endures wind and ice.
- It doesn’t have an allopathic impact.
- It has business wood esteem too.
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