[Sca-cooks] Tea

[Stefan li Rous]

Alessandra said:
> Pieces and facts - tea has one fourth to one fifth the
> caffeine of coffee.  Brew time is generally determined
> by the depth of oxidization and size of the tea.  A
> general rule (and your own palate is the true rule) is
> that white teas should be barely steeped (30 seconds)
> in 175 to 185 f water, greens should be steeped 30-45
> seconds in 185 to 190 degree water, oolongs should be
> steeped 1-3 minutes in 190 degree water, blacks should
> be steeped 195-200 degree water and pu-erhs should be
> steeped 3-5 minutes in rolling boiling water.

I;ve never heard of some of these teas before. White tea? pu-erh?
oolongs?

What creates the different colors? Is this due to different types
of processing? Or different types of tea plants?

Which teas were those that were imported into Europe in the 17th C?

For those that might be interested, there is this small file in
the BEVERAGES section of the Florilegium:
tea-msg            (7K)  9/15/98    Tea, cha. When it appeared in Europe.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/tea-msg.html
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****