How to Brew Each of our tea pots holds approximately 24 oz. of water – or two cups of tea. Tea will be served while it is brewing in the tea pot with the tea timer activated at the appropriate time and with a cup and saucer. The tea is ready when the sand in the tea timer has all run to the bottom. The tea stops brewing once the first cup has been poured.

Types of Tea

• Green Tea
  These are unfermented teas, highly favored by the Chinese themselves. In China, traditional hand-making methods are still employed in many places, particularly in the manufacture of China's finest teas, but some factories have introduced a mechanized process.
  
  Green Tea has been considered a medicinal beverage in Asia for almost 4,000 years. There are many types of Green Tea, and depending on the region and tea garden, each tea will have its own unique taste.
  
  Processing - Fresh picked tea leaf is allowed to wither and then is steamed and fired in a wok while it is continuously being rolled.
  
  Green Tea is believed to have the following beneficial properties:
  • bio-defensing function by preventing cancer through fortification of the immune system
  • disease-preventing function by preventing high blood pressure or diabetes
  • disease-recovery function by inhibiting the rise of cholesterol
  • physical rhythm-controlling function by stimulating the central nervous system with caffeine
  • ageing-suppressing function by providing the body with antioxidants
  
  
• White Tea
  White teas are the rarest in the world, produced on a very limited scale in China and Sri Lanka. The rarity of White Tea is due to the fact that it can only be harvested on certain days of the year and traditionally plucked only at daybreak. This rarity often makes it one of the most expensive teas to buy.
  
  Processing - White Tea can is the least processed of all the teas and is only quickly steamed to inactivate the enzymes that would otherwise initiate the fermentation of the leaves. After it is steamed it is dried and there is no further processing. Consequently, this enables White Tea to retain nearly all of its Polyphenols and health giving compounds.
  
  For people who drink Green Tea specifically for health benefits, it's not unusual to hear them say they find the taste a bit too grassy for their palates. If this is the case, then White Tea can be a subtle, sweet-tasting alternative with the same (maybe more) benefits to health.
  
  
• Oolong Tea
  Grown in the Fuijan province, these are semi-fermented or "semi-green" teas with flavors varying from light and delicate to very strong. In a category between Green and Black tea, is the partially fermented Oolong Tea.
  
  Although partly fermented, Oolong still boasts a relatively high Polyphenol content. Oolong is a full-bodied tea, with a fragrant flavor. Fujian province remains one of the main growing areas for this particular tea.
  
  Processing - Traditionally plucked early in the morning on a clear day, it is harvested in the time-honored formula of one bud to every three leaves. After the harvest, the leaves and buds are exposed to the sun before quickly being moved indoors for drying. The drying process begins the fermentation of the leaves, and for oolong, it is crucial that the fermentation is only partially completed. The timing of the fermenting is carefully monitored, and is stopped when the leaves are about 30% red and 70% green. After fermenting, the leaves are rubbed together vigorously to bring out the flavor and aroma.
  
  
• Black Tea
  In the 16th century a fully fermented tea was developed and became a major export to Europe.
  
  Processing - To make black tea the leaf is allowed to withered and then is rolled. This turns it into a mass of bruised and sticky leaves whose juices are now exposed to the air. Then this green mass is spread out for the exposed juiced to oxidize, it begins turning brown, as would a freshly sliced apple. The leaves are allowed to oxidize (ferment) completely before firing.
  
  
• Tisane or Herbal
  Drinks made from other plants and herbs, such as peppermint, technically are not “tea” since they don’t come from the tea plant. The correct name for them is Tisane, from the French word for infusion.
  
  These drinks are commonly made from dried plant roots, herbs, and fruits.
  
  
• Mate
  Like a Tisane, Mate is not technically a tea. It is a South American beverage that is made from herbs. It is considered an invigorating stimulant without caffeine.

• The first cup of tea was an accident - According to Chinese mythology, in 2737 BC the Chinese Emperor, Shen Nung, scholar and herbalist, was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water. A leaf from the tree dropped into the water and Shen Nung decided to try the brew. The tree was a wild tea tree.
  
  
• High tea - For the working and farming communities, afternoon tea became high tea. As the main meal of the day, high tea was a cross between the delicate afternoon meal enjoyed in the ladies' drawing rooms and the dinner enjoyed in houses of the gentry at seven or eight in the evening. With the meats, bread and cakes served at high tea, hot tea was taken.
  
  
• Japanese green tea is served in cups without a handle and is never drunk with sugar or crème. The most polite way of drinking green tea is to hold the cup with one hand and support it from below with the other hand.
  
  
• Brew Time - Larger the leaf the longer you steep.