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INTRODUCTION

I have always enjoyed a nice, hot cup of tea. Ever since I was little and wanted to be more grown up than siblings and cousins, giving up the customary mug of milo (hot chocolate) in favour of the slightly bitter tasting tea. It wasn’t easy to give up the sweet, milky drink though and for a long time my tea always had lots of milk and sugar in it. Until the day when I decided to wean myself off the milk and sugar side. It wasn’t until then that I developed a true appreciation for the delicate flavours of tea.

Tea is an infusion made by steeping processed leaves, buds, or twigs of the tea bush, Camellia sinensis, in hot water for several minutes. The processing can include oxidation, heating, drying, and the addition of other herbs, flowers, spices, and fruits. The four basic types of true tea are black tea, oolong tea, green tea, and white tea. The term “herbal tea” usually refers to infusions or tisane of fruit or herbs that contain no Camellia sinensis.

Over the last few years or so that appreciation for tea increased as I broadened my tea horizons and began tasting new types of tea, both “true tea” and “herbal tea”. Although I will confess true tea is what I prefer. In recent months this appreciation has been slowly bordering on a passion. Almost an obsession. Currently my favourite teas are green tea, infused with the flavours of mango (so hard to find!), Chai tea, a spiced tea made by brewing tea with a mixture of aromatic spices, and my Dragon Pearls, a white tea. Possibly of the three, the Dragon Pearls is the most enjoyable to drink as the tea leaves have not been ground up. Instead, two-three small tightly rolled balls made from the leaf buds themselves are placed in the drink and they slowly unfurl.

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