Various Types of Tea Used to Make Bubble Tea Drinks
Various Types of Tea Used to Make Bubble Tea Drinks
Brewed tea is a key element to creating the perfect Bubble Tea drink. Green tea, black tea, among others, are mixed with Bubble Tea syrups or powders to create Bubble Tea drinks. Then tapioca pearls, jelly, popping boba, etc. can be added in to finish the drink. There are various types of tea used to make bubble tea drinks.
Tea is a world famous beverage prepared by steeping cured tea leaves in hot water. Next to water, tea is the preferred drink in the world. The tea leaves came from an Asian evergreen shrub – Camellia sinensis. Tea is an aromatic drink with slightly bitter, astringent flavor. Some tea varieties exude floral, grassy, sweet, or nutty notes.
Tea drinking started in China for medicinal purposes. Portuguese priests and merchants are believed to have brought tea to the West during the 16th century. Tea drinking became widely accepted by the British during the 17th century. The British, in order to cut the Chinese monopoly on tea trading, introduced the plant to India which was their colony at the time. India is now one of the world’s largest producers of tea.
Popular Tea Varieties for Bubble Tea
There are different tea varieties that are popular among the tea drinkers world-wide, as follows:
• Black Tea – It is made from leaves of Asian evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis. Black tea has a stronger flavor than other tea varieties because the leaves go through longer oxidizing process. Black tea retains its flavor for many years, making it ideal for storage and transport.
Black tea has active substances that develop only at temperatures over 90 °C (194 °F) which means that the best flavor can be obtained by steeping it in water that is near its boiling point. In Western countries, black tea is usually brewed for four minutes and steeped for more than 30 second, a total of less than five minutes. In other countries, boiling water is used in stewing tea for a stronger result. Tea drinkers in India boil black tea leaves for fifteen minutes to make Masala chai, a very strong brew of black tea. Black tea accounts for around ninety percent of tea sold worldwide.
• Green Tea – Just like black tea, green tea is also made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis but is subjected to different process of preparation. The leaves of the Camellia sinensis plants are harvested and quickly heated by steaming or fan firing, then dried to stop the oxidation process. Oxidation would turn the green leaves into brown and remove the fresh-picked flavor of green tea. Green tea has a flavor profile that ranges from grass-like when it is toasted to vegetal, sweet, and seaweed-like when it is steamed. Green tea is light in color and is mildly astringent.
• Oolong Tea – It is a Chinese tea made from the leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis. The tea is produced following a unique process that includes withering the plant under the sun and oxidizing before the leaves are twisted and curled. The leaves are allowed to oxidize to up to 85%. Oolong tea is popular among Chinese tea drinkers because of the sweet, fruity, and honey-infused aromas. Some oolong varieties have woody, roasted aroma. Oolong tea leaves have distinct styles: some are long and curly while others are wrap-curled into beads with tail.
• Flowering Tea – It is made by having a dried tea leaves bundled around dried flowers, making a bulb which is set to dry. When steeped into hot water, the bundle expands and unfurls into a blooming flower. Flowering tea typically comes from the Yunnan Province, China. The flowers used with the tea leaves include chrysanthemum, lily, hibiscus, jasmine, globe amaranth, and osmanthus.
There are many more varieties of tea as tea drinkers make their own concoction of this famous beverage.
Thank you for laying out the various types of teas used! I always thought it was green tea and black tea! Very informative!