DOES GREEN OR WHITE HAVE LESS CAFFEINE THAN BLACK?
In a word, "no." It's amazing to me how much misinformation is out there about this subject. But here's a real 2008 study on the subject done by Dr. Bruce Branan, Professor of Chemistry at Asbury College (Wilmore, KY) and his student Micah Bucke. The article is really about another popular myth about washing caffeine out of your tea, but in disproving that one they reveal lots of other information. Have a look.
Too Easy to be True De-bunking the At-Home Decaffeination Myth
June 2012 Update: See Montreal's Camellia-Sinensis' tea book for the most interesting results of their own tests for caffeine (and anti-oxidants). Their results corroborate and expand on the above.
WHY DO SOME 2nd FLUSH DARJEELINGS BOAST A "MUSCATEL" FLAVOUR?
Some second flush Darjeelings famously boast a "muscatel" flavour but I wondered why no other tea tasted the same?
The sweet grape aroma and flavour of muscatel is truly a lovely note on some second flush Darjeelings, but the cause is quite odd. After the spring's first flush crop cycle, the early summer rains in the area provide the perfect conditions for a bug. As a gardener I can completely understand this but find it fascinating that the plant's defenses, the chemical it creates to battle the small, green, leaf-sucking fly, result in a sweeter taste in the tea leaf and ultimately in my tea cup.
The bug attack on the bud and young leaves of the tea plant is called the Kakra Effect (“kakra” in the local language means dehydrated leafs). The feeding creates holes in the leaves, which in turn cause the leaves to begin oxidizing. Teas with the special handle “muscatel” are teas that have been oxidized by the Kakra effect, and then oxidized again during the tea's regular processing.
I suppose it's no wonder this isn't really common knowlege. Most marketers don't want to sell the exotic sweet flavour of their tea as due to a pest! Here's the full explanation from THE TEA DRINKER’S HANDBOOK, p.213:
“…the characteristics of this very rare bouquet are due to an insect – the jassid. As with the paoli that attacks the leaves that produce the Bai Hao Wu Long tea of Taiwan, this green fly from the cicadellides family attacks the plantations in summer and causes serious damage to both young and old trees. When it bites into the tender leaves the jaddis causes similar changes in the leaf to the paoli (see page 190). Unlike the Taiwanese species, however, it is not regarded as having a beneficial effect on the tea and many Darjeeling planters prefer to protect their trees against its attack rather than sacrifice a part of their harvest. Only some of the very best plantations, which have mastered the process for capturing the special bouquets the jassid produces and which are consequently sure of being able to sell their teas at the best price, are prepared to take the risks of letting the insect to its work.”
The book further notes that on infusion “despite oxidation, the damage to the leaf caused by the insect is clearly discernible.” And the scent is “very rich and ascending nose. Predominantly floral, fruity and woody-spicy.”
The book further notes that on infusion “despite oxidation, the damage to the leaf caused by the insect is clearly discernible.” And the scent is “very rich and ascending nose. Predominantly floral, fruity and woody-spicy.”
Ultimately this means that a second flush with a good muscatel aroma and flavour would be relatively rare.
Another tea mystery solved.
WHY DOES SOME DARJEELING TEA SHOW GREEN FLECKS -- IT'S A BLACK TEA, NO?
The green flecks in the dry tea and the green in the wet leaves are a distinguishing feature of, particularly, first flush, Darjeelings. Yes, it's considered a black tea because it goes through an oxidising process but its traditional hard (ie: long) wither of the fresh plucked leaves are responsible for the green flecks. In Darjeeling's very high, dry altitude the hard wither dehydrates some of the leaves to the point that there are no enzymatic juices left to oxidise and thus turn the familiar coppery brown. It is especially typical of first flush Darjeelings because in the spring the plants tend to be more dehydrated after the dry winter. After the rainy season you’ll generally find that the monsoon and autumnal Darjeelings show much less green. The hard wither and its resulting greenish “black” tea also accounts for the liquor's lighter golden colour. (Champagne anyone?)
I struggled with this question but found that most tea folk I asked didn't know the answer. However, I was finding hints of the above as the likely explanation in various blogs and papers posted on the internet. Then I finally queried Rajah Banerjee from the Makaibari Tea Estates in Darjeeling and got the following response:
"You are bang on. During withering , the first stage of black tea( fully fermented tea), dehydration of a few leaves results in the appearance of green flecks/particles. This is more pronounced during arid periods (particularly first flush - in fact a visual parameter for a high class Darjeeling First Flush is to have a generous sprinkling of green flecks)."
BTW, for the same reason, you’ll often find high-grown Ceylon oxidised teas show quite abit of green in the wet leaf. I suspect too that anytime there's been a drought and the plant is not fully hydrated there is the possbility that too long a wither will result in loss of enzymatic juices. As we know, processing tea is a complex procedure requiring a professional's timing and nose. In many instances, an oxidised tea showing green can be considered a badly made tea but in the Darjeeling case it is the result of a honed process and is intended.
WHAT EXACTLY DOES "ORANGE PEKOE" or "O.P." MEAN?
To tell you the truth, I still don't know. The best I can come with is that it's an evolving term and has different meanings according to who says it and where they live/work. Plus there's a lot of mis- or half-understanding or half information or misinformation out there. Both on the internet and in published books. Ultimately very confusing for a girl from a non-tea producing country.
Per Wikipedia it's a term to describe a basic, medium-grade black tea consisting of many whole tea leaves of a specific size, however, it is also popular in some regions (such as N. America) as a description of any generic black tea. Further Wkipedia also acknowledges that "When used outside the context of black tea grading, the term Pekoe (or, occasionally, Orange pekoe) describes the unopened terminal leaf bud (tips) in tea flushes. As such, the phrases "a bud and a leaf" or "a bud and two leaves" are used to describe the "leafiness" of a flush; they are also used interchangeably with pekoe and a leaf or pekoe and two leaves."
According to the VirtualTea site (which appears to no longer be live), "after the bud the first leaf is called the pekoe leaf (pekoe being the Chinese word for white hair) because the leaf is often covered with a silvery down for 48 hours or so after opening. The second leaf is the “orange pekoe.” The 3rd, 4th, 5th leaves are the “souchong” leaves. After that are the maintenance leaves, which are never picked." I've never found this description any where else, so, um, don't know what to make of it, although I find it just such a neat and tidy explanation I really want it to be true.
And per The Tea Drinker's Handbook this: "OP (Orange Pekoe) certifies that the tea comes from a fine pluck (the bud and two adjacent leaves). If the pluck has been carried out early in the year and the bud has not yet opened, that tea will be FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe) and if the tips of the buds are golden it becomes GFOP (Golden, etc). The more letters that are added on the left of the acronym (T is for Tippy, F for Finest, S for special) the more exceptional was the harvest. When a B slips in before the final OP, this means the leaves are broken. As to those leaves reduced to tiny fragments, they are called Fannings (F)." Further, the Handbook declares that the the "orange" refers not to any orange flavour "but to a type of pluck, so-called by the first Dutch importers in the seventeenth century to honor the Dutch royal family, the house of Orange-Nassau."
OK, so I'm getting comfortable with pekoe refering to the downy white hairs on a bud or a young leaf -- I'm a gardener and see this on a number of plants. I'm also coming to feel comfortable with the idea that the grading system details are best left to the tea growers and traders, and that the Handbook suggestion that more letters to the left of "OP" mean higher grade is one I can understand and look for.
So -- no definitive answer (so far). But one I can live with in the meantime.
According to the VirtualTea site (which appears to no longer be live), "after the bud the first leaf is called the pekoe leaf (pekoe being the Chinese word for white hair) because the leaf is often covered with a silvery down for 48 hours or so after opening. The second leaf is the “orange pekoe.” The 3rd, 4th, 5th leaves are the “souchong” leaves. After that are the maintenance leaves, which are never picked." I've never found this description any where else, so, um, don't know what to make of it, although I find it just such a neat and tidy explanation I really want it to be true.
And per The Tea Drinker's Handbook this: "OP (Orange Pekoe) certifies that the tea comes from a fine pluck (the bud and two adjacent leaves). If the pluck has been carried out early in the year and the bud has not yet opened, that tea will be FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe) and if the tips of the buds are golden it becomes GFOP (Golden, etc). The more letters that are added on the left of the acronym (T is for Tippy, F for Finest, S for special) the more exceptional was the harvest. When a B slips in before the final OP, this means the leaves are broken. As to those leaves reduced to tiny fragments, they are called Fannings (F)." Further, the Handbook declares that the the "orange" refers not to any orange flavour "but to a type of pluck, so-called by the first Dutch importers in the seventeenth century to honor the Dutch royal family, the house of Orange-Nassau."
OK, so I'm getting comfortable with pekoe refering to the downy white hairs on a bud or a young leaf -- I'm a gardener and see this on a number of plants. I'm also coming to feel comfortable with the idea that the grading system details are best left to the tea growers and traders, and that the Handbook suggestion that more letters to the left of "OP" mean higher grade is one I can understand and look for.
So -- no definitive answer (so far). But one I can live with in the meantime.
WHAT DO THOSE TEA TASTING TERMS MEAN?
Getting a grip on the terms has been an interesting and sometimes frustrating process for me. Mostly because people, in their rush to describe a taste or flavour (myself included), sometimes blurt out the wrong term. Or, I can only assume, are so used to the term they've forgotten how to define it for other people. Take the word "brisk" for instance. Took me quite a while to be sure that brisk refers to the liquor's astringency. That's because I found that some people use the words interchangeably and some didn't. Some reliable books and other resources don't use brisk at all.
So I decided to compile a table of definitions from different sources (listed alphabetically) for astringency, briskness and body. Just to see. You know. All three terms describe sensations of the liquor on the mouth rather than flavour.
ASTRINGENCY
Adagio Teas Tea Class:
Getting a grip on the terms has been an interesting and sometimes frustrating process for me. Mostly because people, in their rush to describe a taste or flavour (myself included), sometimes blurt out the wrong term. Or, I can only assume, are so used to the term they've forgotten how to define it for other people. Take the word "brisk" for instance. Took me quite a while to be sure that brisk refers to the liquor's astringency. That's because I found that some people use the words interchangeably and some didn't. Some reliable books and other resources don't use brisk at all.
So I decided to compile a table of definitions from different sources (listed alphabetically) for astringency, briskness and body. Just to see. You know. All three terms describe sensations of the liquor on the mouth rather than flavour.
ASTRINGENCY
Adagio Teas Tea Class:
Polyphenols bond with our saliva and create a dry sensation on the tongue and sides of the mouth…(and also) provide the brisk, tannic bite… Whereas bitterness is a center-back of the tongue experience, astringency is sensed more along the sides of back of your tongue with a physical sensation that is similar to sour.
The unoxidized or natural polyphenols present in tea account for the "puckering" sensation which in turn activate the salivary glands, giving tea its reputation as a thirst quencher; they also account for the bitterness. The Bangladesh
Does not define the astringency but has the following definitions Polyphenols: Astringent compounds present in tea; Flat: Teas lacking astringency or briskness; Tannin: Erroneous term referring to the astringent polyphenols of tea, unrelated to tannic acid polyphenols of other plants.
The Story of Tea by Heiss and Heiss:
A sensation of drying felt through the mouth.
The Tea Association of the USA
A tea tasting term which describes a liquor which is pungent but inclined to be acidic. (MM: huh?)
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook by Delmas, Minet and Barbaste:
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook by Delmas, Minet and Barbaste:
A bitterness in the mouth, of varying degrees, caused by tannin. Sometimes a sensation of dryness. Powdery is a very slight astringency that leaves an impression of a fine powder in the mouth, and rasping is very astringent. (MM: oh those French.)
XIAMEN FML Importers & Exporters (China
Astringency is attributable to the Polyphenols, Theaflavins and Thearubigin in the tea leaf. (MM: this is excerpted from their study on biochemical parameters responsible for quality.)
BRISKNESS
Adagio Teas Tea Class:
(no mention of the word)
A lively taste in the liquor, as opposed to flat or soft. (MM: Note identical wording to Bangladesh
The Bangladesh
A lively taste in liquor as opposed to flat or soft.
The Story of Tea by Heiss and Heiss:
Having an appropriate amount of astringency; brisk teas are of necessity well made; the opposite term is soft.
The Tea Association of the USA
Describes a live taste as opposed to flat or soft.
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook by Delmas, Minet and Barbaste:
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook by Delmas, Minet and Barbaste:
(no mention of the word)
XIAMEN FML Importers & Exporters (China
The contribution of caffeine to the infusion is the briskness and creamy property resulting from the complex formed by caffeine with polyphenols.
BODY
Adagio Teas Tea Class:
(no mention of the word)
Denotes heaviness, fullness and strength of the liquor on the tongue. Similar to thickness. Ascribable to the presence of thearubigins.
The Bangladesh
Describes liquor possessing fullness and strength as opposed to a thin liquoring tea
The Story of Tea by Heiss and Heiss:
The sensation of viscosity on the palate, variously subcategorised as light, medium or heavy, in reference to concentration of heft as sensed by the sides of the tongue; also known as fullness; the opposite of the term thin.
The Tea Association of the USA
Describes a tea liquor possessing fullness and strength.
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook by Delmas, Minet and Barbaste:
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook by Delmas, Minet and Barbaste:
(no mention of the word)
XIAMEN FML Importers & Exporters (China
(no mention of the word)
