12 best varieties of tea

From which sort to start, if you want to become a connoisseur of tea - or just to find, finally, the very tea, the taste of which you can enjoy every day? We will understand in this article. And first, remember

What kind of tea does it have?

When people talk about "teas", what do you think they mean?

Everyone knows that tea is a plant, a tea plant. Plants of different varieties, in terms of botany, have different decorative or physiological characteristics. For example, two varieties of peonies or tomatoes may differ in appearance, have different color and shape of petals, size and taste of fruits, etc. And many still think that green and black tea is made from different plants. In fact, there is one type of tea plant - camellia chinese - and many of its varieties. The type of tea (green, black, yellow, etc.) depends on the processing of the tea leaf.

We will not go into botanical details. After all, for the buyer taste, aroma, color of the finished drink is important. And these indicators determine trade variety.

Trade grade tea is a quality indicator

A trade variety of tea is made up of many factors. In addition to the variety of tea plants (Chinese, Assamese, Cambodian), the following are taken into account:

• place of growth of the plant itself (this country of origin, the most famous - Chinese, Indian, Ceylon, Kenyan and other teas from Africa, Georgian, Vietnamese, Japanese and, of course, native Krasnodar, specifications plantation),
• collection time and conditions (which leaves are collected, by hand or machine, collection season, etc.),
• sheet processing features (drying, twisting, grinding, and many more special processes).

And that's not all - many teas are made by blending and additional aromatization (there is nothing bad in it, if the flavors are natural).

All of these factors affect the final grade of tea. As a result, we can read on a pack, for example, "Chinese green leafy long leaf tea (... company name)." Here every word has a meaning.

Blending is another reason for the diversity of teas.

Tea blending factories are engaged in blending (and simply blending). Each blend gets its unique name and sometimes becomes the "face of the company." The composition of this mixture may include 1-2 dozen varieties of tea leaves grown in different countries.

Which tea maker is the best?

In Soviet times, one type of tea was available to us, which many still miss ("with elephant"). Then the country rushed to the other extreme, and in stores you could buy only imported tea. Now the choice is great, there would be money.

It is very difficult to choose the best tea producer. Mainly, because the same company produces 3-5 different brands of tea in several price categories - expensive, medium, economy. And ardent supporters of Greenfield tea, in fact, choose the same manufacturer as the thrifty fans of the Princess Nuri brand (this is what the Orimi Trade company does). Therefore, the definition of "best tea maker" is very conditional.

Among Russian tea producers, we note companies:

• Orimi TradeIt owns the brands Princess Nouri, Princess Kandy, (as well as Gita, Java), as well as Tess, Greenfield,
• "May" - and this is not only “May tea”, but also “Lisma”, Curtis,
• "Unilever" - Conversation, Brooke Bond, Lipton (the owner of the company is England, but the production is located in Russia).

Among the most famous foreign teas "Dilmah" (supplier of Ceylon tea), English "Twinings", «Ahmad ",Ceylon "Riston"(positioning itself as “English premium tea”), «Akbar.

When selecting the varieties of tea for the rating, we were based on customer reviews and research results.We did not consider rare, elite and expensive varieties that are sold only at auctions or in tea shops of narrow specialization. In the rating collected popular trading varieties of black and green teathat are easy to find in stores near your home.

Which tea is better to buy?

The answer is simple and complex at the same time - to choose "your" tea, you need sampleerr and try again. If two packs have the same labeling, one variety and country of origin, it’s not a fact that you will like both infusions equally. The same tea of ​​one company, but from different batches, can suddenly become a different taste.

Therefore, if you have found the same taste, try to find out everything about it: what sort is it, where it is produced, when it is assembled, where it is packed, and even where you bought it, because all these factors matter. And remember →

The best kind of tea can be easily spoiled by improper brewing or improper dishes. Conversely, from the simplest variety you can get a wonderful drink with a rich taste, if you brew it with knowledge and love.

In this article, you learned about popular teas, about which customers respond positively.The best black and green tea varieties fell into it according to the majority.

We hope our rating will help you not to become puzzled among the tea boxes and make a competent choice. Have a good shopping!