Tea facts for kids

Tea leaves steeping in a Chinese gaiwan.

Tea is a drink that is popular all over the world. It is made by soaking the dried leaves or flowers of the plant Camellia sinensis in hot water. Tea can have other herbs, spices, or fruit flavours in it, like lemon. All teas are made from the Camellia sinensis plant.

Sometimes the word "tea" is used for other drinks that have been made by soaking fruit or herbs in hot water, like "rosehip tea" or "camomile tea".

Types of tea

There are two main types of tea: black tea and green tea.

To make black tea, workers take the leaves and spread them out on shelves where they can dry. Next they are rolled and broken into pieces and put into a room where they absorb oxygen. Chemical reactions change the taste and style of the tea. Finally the leaves are dried with hot air until they turn brown or black. Most black tea comes from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and eastern Africa. When black tea leaves are brewed in boiling water, the tea made from them looks deep dark red, so another name used for black tea, especially in China, is red tea.

Green tea is made by putting freshly picked leaves into a steamer. This keeps them green. Then they are crushed and dried in ovens. India is the biggest maker and user of green tea.

Tea is mainly grown in China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan, Nepal, Australia, Argentina and Kenya.

The word tea can also be used as another word for an afternoon meal (mostly in the Commonwealth countries), as in "I am having tea in a short while." The word also applies to "afternoon tea", a small snack meal served sometimes, usually featuring sandwiches, cakes and tea. This small snack meal is also called "tea time".

Tea bags
Qi Lan Oolong tea leaf
Cup of tea, Scotland
Everything Stops for tea

Brewing

Green tea must steep for 2–3 minutes in water at 175 °F (79 °C). Black tea must steep for 3–5 minutes in boiling water.

Blends

Earl Grey is black tea with bergamot oil.
English breakfast is a full-bodied, robust blend that is made to go well with milk and sugar.
English afternoon tea is medium-bodied, bright and refreshing. Strong Assamese and Kenyan teas are blended with Ceylonese teas which adds a light, brisk quality to the blend.

Japan

For more details, see Japanese tea ceremony

Shizuoka is Japan's top producer of tea. Japanese tea have a lot of kind of tea.

Images for kids

Camellia sinensis Kuntze with two species of butterfly by Nicolaas Meerburgh, 1789
Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from Köhler's Medicinal Plants, 1897
A 19th-century Japanese painting depicting Shennong: Chinese legends credit Shennong with the invention of tea.
Tea-weighing station north of Batumi, Russian Empire before 1915
Tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka, 2009
Tea plantation Darjeeling, India
Fresh tea leaves in various stages of growth; the smaller the leaf, the more expensive the tea
Black tea is often taken with milk
Teas of different levels of oxidation (L to R): green, yellow, oolong, and black
A strainer is often used when tea is made with tea-leaves in a teapot
Masala chai from India with garnishes
Turkish tea served in typical small glass and corresponding plate
Iced tea with a slice of lemon
Indian tea
Tea factory in Taiwan
Percentage of total global tea production by country in 2013
A blend of loose-leaf black teas
Da Hong Pao tea, an oolong tea
Fuding Bai Hao Yinzhen tea, a white tea
Green pu-erh tuo cha, a type of compressed raw pu-erh
Huoshan Huangya tea, a yellow tea
A spicy Thai salad made with young, fresh tea leaves
Dried Elderberries ready to be steeped into tea