The Secrets of Tea No One Tells You About
What is specialty tea?
Spring is peak picking time, just as the fresh buds, filled with winter's waiting, come to life. The first two leaves and bud are hand-selected as the very finest — prized for their concentrated levels of chlorophyll, L-theanine, and polyphenols, which contribute to the tea’s sweetness, umami, and antioxidant properties.
While the tea hills meander, the precise rows of camellia shrubs are meticulously manicured waist high to ease the pluckers’ routine. Hand plucking requires a precision only human hands can deliver.
To understand tea, it helps to understand nature. Her pace is slow, each leaf growing in its own time, while chemical changes — invisible to the human eye —are revealed with each sip. She delivers her best only two to three times a year, with the first flush being the most prized.
Think tea is just a bag of dried-out leaves you drop in hot water? Think again.
There’s so much more to this ancient drink than meets the eye. Every cup of tea tells a story. Tea is beautifully ordinary yet deeply complex, with many possibilities, variations, and benefits. The tea plant has thrived for thousands of years under the nurturing care of the Earth, its leaves steeped in the wisdom of the land.
Here are the wonderful secrets of tea no one ever tells you about.