Tea Misconceptions

1. Tea is any beverage derived from dried leaves, flowers, roots, stalks, seeds, or berries of almost any plant.
No, tea is the dried leaf of the Camellia Sinensis plant. Indigenous to both China and India, the plant is now grown in many countries around the world.

2. Herbal tea is real tea.
No, herbal tea is not actually tea, but rather an herb or a mix of herbs. Only in the United States are these herbal mixtures called tea. They are usually referred to as an infusion or tisane in other parts of the world.

3. Only medicinal tea has health benefits.
Medicinal teas are tisanes made from specific herbs, flowers and extracts that may be beneficial. A wide variety is available - some have significant scientific backing to their claims, others do not. Tea, Camellia Sinensis, has been widely studied for their health benefits. Green tea contains polyphenols, researched for their antioxidant and other healthy properties.

4. There are no differences in green and black tea except for color.
Both green and black tea come from the Camellia Sinensis plant. The difference is in the amount of time that the picked leaves are allowed to oxidize. Green teas are not oxidized, whereas black teas are fully oxidized. Oolong teas are semi-oxidized.

5. The quality of loose-leaf teas and the tea in a tea bag are the same.
The industry term for what goes into tea bags is "fannings" or "dust." Only the smallest particles of tea, trailings of mass production, make it into tea bags. Usually, the tea is processed entirely by machine. From picking through packaging, the human-hand never enters the process; the result is correspondingly soulless. Technically, it is possible to put good-quality tea into a bag. Loose-leaf tea, on the other hand, needs room to uncurl and release its flavor. This isn't possible in a small tea bag. Breaking up the tea leaf so it can steep inside a bag alters the character of the tea; the unique flavor is lost to evaporation of essential oils trapped in the leaf. Small particles quickly release all of their tannins into hot water, promoting over-steeped, bitter tea that dries the tongue. Tea bags are not able to withstand several infusions. All their flavor is quickly dispersed. Finally, part of enjoying tea is watching the leaf uncurl as it steeps - it can tell you a lot about the tea.

6. Tea has more caffeine than coffee.
Tea has a wide range of caffeine levels depending upon the type of tea, plant varietal, and brewing style. Generally, green teas contain 5-20 milligrams, oolong teas contain 35-45 milligrams, and black teas have 45-60 milligrams of caffeine in an 8-oz. cup. By comparison, a typical cup of coffee has roughly 125-185 milligrams of caffeine. Caffeine in tea is about 1/40 to 1/4 of an average cup of coffee.