What do you mean by ‘fresh’ tea? We explain.
Fresh seems like the highest attainable standard in food. Fermented bites excluded. The fresh hype has even spilled over to tea. Or rather: infusions. From the familiar sprigs of mint in hot water to fresh verbena.
‘Fresh’ mint tea
For years, we in the hospitality industry have been sighing under the tyranny of ‘fresh’ mint tea: a few half-wilted sprigs of mint stuck upside down in a glass of hot water at around 3.50 per glass. But by now, you can order a whole range of ‘fresh’ teas at the bar.
Camellia Sinensis
But tea, as it happens, isn’t ‘fresh’ at all to begin with. To make a good cup of tea, the tea leaves undergo a whole series of specialist processes such as firing, drying and oxidizing, carefully carried out by skilled and experienced tea masters. This means that the leaves of one and the same camellia sinensis (tea bush) can produce white, green, black, oolong and yellow tea.
So when you see ‘fresh’ tea on the drinks menu, it by definition isn’t tea, but an infusion. In other words, herbs and/or flowers steeped in hot water. Verbena is one such infusion that has been drunk for years. Until recently only in dried-leaf form, but now also fresh.
Dandelion
Just like ginger, chamomile, rose petals, nasturtium, Japanese cherry, thyme, dandelion and rosemary. Preferably freshly picked from a decorative pot on the counter and dipped in hot water. In a mix with other herbs and flowers, or on their own. And not whole sprigs, but a few beautiful leaves. It looks nice and often tastes surprisingly good too. Even for a real tea drinker.
Healthy
Still, the main reason for the rise of fresh ‘tea’ seems to be that we immediately want to become very healthy with everything we eat and drink. And fresh herbs are healthy. Ergo: fresh ‘tea’. But I do want to point out that real tea is also very healthy. Does this finally mean the exit of flavored tea bags?
Read also:
- Which temperature is a perfect match for which tea?
- Never cold tea or coffee again
- Coffee? Tea? When in doubt: rooibos espresso!
