THE AROMAS

OF TEA
(Camellia
sinensis)

Segundo Ríos Ruiz

Director Jardín Botánico de Torretes
University of Alicante
THE AROMAS
OF TEA
(Camellia
sinensis)

Segundo Ríos Ruiz

Director Jardín Botánico de Torretes
University of Alicante
1. PRESENTATION
• Origin and distribution
• Morphology and variability
• The vegetable drug and its location in the plant
• Phytochemistry: active ingredients/toxicity
• Ethnobotany and modern phytotherapy
• Classification of teas
• Tea in the global market
2. PRACTICAL PART
• Identification of various types of tea
• Organoleptic tasting of diverse types of tea from around the world
 ORIGIN

Camellia* sinensis (L.), Kuntze (Fam.

Theaceae) tea is a 1-to-3-metre-tall bush
−but which can reach a height of 15
metres− generally grown as a 1.5-to-2-
metre-tall hedge.

It is native to southern and eastern China,

where its cultivation can certainly be
traced back to two centuries before our
Era, though it might be older.
From there, it subsequently spread to Sri
Lanka (Ceylon), India (1841), Thailand,
Indonesia, Japan and also to the African
continent (mainly Kenya).

*dedicated to the Jesuit George J. Kamel (Lat. Cameli), who worked in Luzon
and introduced tea in the Philippines, from where it arrived in Europe.
 VARIABILITY

At a taxonomical level, four botanical varieties of tea

(Camellia sinensis ) are accepted:

• sinensis typical with small leaves;

• assamica (J.W. Mast.) Kitam. with very big leaves;
• dehungensis (H.T. Chang & B.H. Chen) T.L. Ming; and
• waldenae (S.Y. Hu) H.T. Chang

Morphologically, they are grouped together into three

types:

a) Chinese: it has a bush-like shape and is 1-to-3 metres

tall, with multiple suckers from the trunk. Dark-green
leathery leaves. It blooms all year round.
b) Assam: a tree up to 15 metres high with a robust trunk.
Large shiny leaves. Flowers in the axillary buds of
cataphylls. It resists the cold.
c) Cambodia: a small tree with a height of up to 10
metres and several tops. Middle-sized leaves and an
Assam-type flowering.
 THE VEGETAL DRUG

The drug stems from the young leaves of

the shoots or upper leaf buds, including
the leaf buds themselves (also known as
Tips) with the unripe leaves still unfolded
(Flowery Orange Pekoe) and the
subsequent 4 or 5 already developed
−albeit tender− leaves. The processing
with a greater or lesser degree of
fermentation/ oxidation influences the
chemical composition, the level of
caffeine increasing with the length and
completeness of that process (black teas),
as opposed to those in which oxidation is
stopped by means of water vapour (green
teas), with a lower content.
Coffee, tea, maté, guaraná, cocoa and cola nut
Tea is one of the world’s main six stimulating plants. They all have in common the
presence of the alcaloid 3 methylxanthine or caffeine in concentrations ranging
from 1 to 10%.
 PHYTOCHESMISTRY / ACTIVE INGREDIENTS / TOXICITY

Tea’s most important active ingredient is caffeine (the so-called theine is

practically the same molecule), but it also contains other similar xanthines which
are also stimulants (theobromine, theophylline, adenine, etc.) and catechins
which are oxidised and /ACTIVE
polymerise in black tea, which additionally contains
INGREDIENTS/TOXICITY
phenolic acids (among them many tannins), theaflavins, flavonoids,
caffeoylquinic acids, anthocyanidins, saponins and carotenoids.
 PHYTOCHESMISTRY / ACTIVE INGREDIENTS / TOXICITY

Caffeine is a stimulant of the nervous central system which enhances the waking state (it
reduces sleepiness) and the ability to carry out physical and mental work.
It seems to have a positive effect in migraine cases (it is a peripheral vasodilator and a
brain vasoconstrictor). Likewise it increases gastric secretion and diuresis (digestive and
diuretic).
Both catechins and several extracts of tea have been thoroughly studied for their
antioxidant properties and the possible action in cancer pathologies. Theaflavins
additionally have immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. The action of
tannins on diarrhoeas has been extensively analysed too. It is used as an adjuvant in
weight loss treatments.
TOXICITY: An excessive consumption of caffeine (more than 6-to-8 cups of coffee a day,
approximately twice as much in tea) may result in allergies, cardiovascular disorders,
insomnia and gastroduodenal ulcers. Its consumption is particularly risky during pregnancy
and while breastfeeding, as well as in children below 12 years of age. It must not be mixed
with other tranquilisers or stimulants (ginseng, cola nut, guaraná, maté, ephedra, etc.)
which can reinforce its effects and must be borne in mind when calculating the maximum
caffeine dose. It also interacts with tobacco and alcohol.
 ETHNOBOTANY / MODERN PHYTOTHERAPY

Tea has traditionally been used as a digestive infusion, as a stimulant or as

an antidiarrhoeal adjuvant. It is important to remember that, although the
infusion in boiling water for 2 minutes is stimulating, if it continues over a
10-minute period, that effect disappears, its diuretic, gastric and
antidiarrhoeal action being enhanced instead.

Officinally and in phytotherapy, it is widely accepted that tea can help to

fight psychophysical asthenia and diarrhoea, and act as an adjuvant in
weight loss treatments. The results regarding other effects such as reducing
the risk of cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular pathologies are
inconclusive, and geographical patterns −not sufficiently explained− seem
to exist. Apart from the variations due to the different tea types.
 ORIGIN

The noun ‘tea’ has an uncertain origin, although

the plant is referred to using a variety of terms
in the different Chinese dialects:
chá in Mandarin; zo/dzo in Wu Chinese; ta/te
in Min Chinese; and teh in South East Asia. The
first Chinese word related to this plant may
have been tú, with the meaning of ‘bitter
herbs’.

From the first one, chá, derive the names of tea

in Russian, Arabic, Turkish and Portuguese too.
The second, through the Dutch Thee, is the one
the English term Tea and its Romance variant Té
come from.

At present, chai/cha is the word used in China

to describe a black tea to which honey and
spices are added.
Even though the utilisation
of tea as a stimulating
drink has a thousand-year-
old tradition in China, tea
and its culture did not
spread all over China until
the 8th century, during the
reign of the Tang dynasty,
when Lu-Yu wrote his
book Cha-Jing (The Classic
[Art] of Tea). If Buddhism
played a key role in the
extension of tea
throughout China, it also
favoured its entry into
Japan, where tea is equally
venerated.
Although tea also originated in some areas of
Nepal and the Himalayas where it has been
grown since ancient times, its extension
through the Indian subcontinent and
especially the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
took place after its expansion around China
and Japan.
Many western countries knew about tea
through the Silk Route, other Arab trade
routes, and later the Venetian, Portuguese
and Dutch commercial routes, among others.
The inhabitants of Arab countries are fervent
tea drinkers, also Russians (who could access
Chinese tea directly, without the need for sea
voyages) and, of course, the English and the
people from other Anglo-Saxon countries,
where this hot drink became the
predominant one and has remained as such
to the present day.
 CLASIFICATION OF TEAS

By the processing technique:

• White tea: with wilted leaves, but

without oxidation/fermentation
• Yellow tea: yellowish leaves which are
neither wilted nor oxidised/fermented
• Green tea: leaves which are neither
wilted nor oxidised/fermented
• Oolong tea: wilted, partially crushed
leaves, and with partial
oxidation/fermentation
• Black tea: crushed, completely
oxidised/fermented leaves; Chinese
people call it red tea
• Post-fermented black tea: this is the true
black tea for the Chinese
 CLASIFICATION OF TEAS

Diagram describing the different tea processing techniques

 CLASIFICATION OF TEAS

By the type of harvest:

• Annual tea harvests are called ‘gardens’.
• The regrowth of new leaf buds, known as ‘flushes’,
takes place every 2 weeks.
• The upper parts of the new shoot, with the small leaves
still folded are referred to as buds or ‘tips’ –and
commercially as Flowery Orange* Pekoe (FOP).
• The first small leaf, not completely unfolded yet, is
called Orange* Pekoe (OP).
• The first unfolded, but very tender leaf is Pekoe** (P).
• It is followed by Pekoe Souchong (PS).
• Further down, the following −already somewhat more
leathery− leaf is known as Souchong (S).
* Orange, for its colour rather than its aroma
** Pekoe is a Chinese term of uncertain origin, perhaps associated with the white soft
hairs −like those of peaches− that small young leaves have.
 CLASIFICATION OF TEAS

By the type of harvest:

• Leaves gradually lose quality from here.

• The different types of ‘not entire’ leaves are
known as Broken (B).
• The fragments of the different leaves are called
Fannings (F).
• Finally, the term Dust (D) applies to powder and
smaller particles.

The last two categories are mostly absorbed by the

infusion industry in tea bags, iced teas, soluble teas…

In accordance with the above and depending on

whether entire or broken leaves are used, the
following categories exist for black tea:
 CATEGORIES FOR ENTIRE TEA LEAVES

FOP Flowery Orange Pekoe: it corresponds to the first leaf of each new shoot and
contains new folded leaves and a proportion of the tip, which guarantees its quality.
GFOP Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe : inside the previous category, it includes only
the tips of the “yellow-golden” leaf buds.
TGFOP Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe : inside the previous category, when it
contains a large proportion of these golden tips.
FTGFOP Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe : similar, but of exceptional
quality.
SFTGFOP Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe : The best selection
within FTGFOP.
OP Orange Pekoe : The first leaves opening at the end of the leaf buds, larger-sized than
FOPs. They rarely have “tips”-
P Pekoe : The leaves following OPs, a little rougher than them.
FP Flowery Pekoe : They are P-like leaves, but folded and ball-shaped.
PS Pekoe Souchong : The leaves following Ps, rougher than the latter.
S Souchong : The following leaves. They are the longest and most tightly rolled leaves
which produce big, frayed pieces. This term sometimes refers to Chinese smoked leaves.
 CATEGORIES FOR BROKEN TEA LEAVES

They correspond to the same categories, but adding the word broken, which means that they have
lower quality. They can still be interesting because they are good value for money, though.
FBOP Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
GFBOP Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
TGFBOP Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
BOP Broken Orange Pekoe
GBOP Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
TGBOP Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
BP Broken Pekoe
BPS Broken Pekoe Souchong
Having selected the above, the small remains and powder respectively known as FANNINGS (F) and
DUST (D) are also classified as follows:
OF Orange Fannings; BOPF Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings; PF Pekoe Fannings; and BPF Broken Pekoe
Fannings.
PD Pekoe Dust; RD Red Dust; FD Fine Dust; GD Golden Dust; SRD Super Red Dust; and SFD Super Fine
Dust.
BMF Broken Mixed Fannings is one of the lowest-quality categories in tea.
All these last ones are generally used to make infusion bags; they are sometimes utilised in blends, for
instant teas, iced teas, etc.
 CATEGORIES FOR BLACK TEA

Once the previous categories have been selected, the following adjectives can serve to
denote provenance, other qualities or types of tea:

CHOPPY if it contains many leaves of heterogeneous sizes

FANNINGS if it has an excess of small particles

FLOWERY with large leaves, but collected from the second or third
regrowth
Pressed Pu-erh tea

GOLDEN FLOWERY with abundant very young and “golden” shoots

TIPPY the one containing exclusively young shoots (tips)

White tea Yellow tea Oolong tea Oolong Mountain tea

 TEA BY TERRITORIES

CHINA
• YUNNAN black teas resembling ASSAM (India), YUNNAN PU-ERH is the well-known red tea
• KEEMUN highly consumed in China because of its orchid aroma
• PAI MU TAN, known as white tea, has a special, short fermentation and a very soft flavour
• LAPSANG SOUCHONG is a smoked black tea made with very big leaves
• TOUCHA is a tea from Yunnan pressed in the shape of a nest
• GUNPOWDER, also referred to as green pearls, is a very popular brilliantly-coloured and somewhat
bitter green tea
• CHUM MEE, with very twisted leaves reminiscing of the shape of eyebrows, gives a soft yellow infusion
• JASMINE SPECIAL DRAGON PHOENIX PEARL highly popular with hand-rolled leaves and a jasmine
aroma
• Other widely liked Chinese teas are aromatised with roses or jasmine.
TAIWAN
• OOLONG is one of the island’s specialities with a longer fermentation and a darker colour than that of
continental China.
• FORMOSA OOLONG, is a reddish, not too bitter tea.
 TEA BY TERRITORIES

INDIA
• DARJEELING black teas with at least three qualities (flushes): the first one more astringent; the second,
softer; and the third, harvested in autumn and intermediate.
• ASSAM typical malted Indian tea with an intense flavour
• SIKKIM of the Darjeeling type, but with plenty of golden tips
• NILGIRI with a not-too-strong flavour
• NEPAL Darjeeling-type black tea
• Some tea specialities also come from the HIMALAYAS.

CEYLON (SRI LANKA)

• CEYLON FP ST JAMES is a speciality of the island with PEKOE leaves. Those from the highlands have
better quality.

KENYA
• A speciality with abundant golden tips
 TEA BY TERRITORIES

JAPAN
• SENCHA OP teas from the Fujiyama slopes
• GENMAI-CHA with roasted rice (also known as “popcorn tea”)
• KOKEICHA tea powder pressed like needles
• MATCHA is the typical pulverised tea used during the “tea ceremony”
 THE TEA MARKET: CURRENT SITUATION

• Over 5 million tons of tea leaves (data from 2013) are produced worldwide.
• More than 14,000 cups of tea per second are drunk around the world, albeit the
proportions are remarkably lower in Latin countries (in favour of coffee, of course) than
in those with an Anglo-Saxon culture.
• Among the main producing countries −China, India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Kenya…− only the
latter is a net exporter, since China and India are also important consumers and export
very little.
• The countries importing the most tea are Russia, Great Britain and the USA.
The correct preparation of tea is internationally regulated by the ISO 3103 norm, according
to which the dose must be 2g/100ml of freshly boiled water, and the brewing time, 6
minutes.
[Extracto ISO 3103: -La tetera debe ser de porcelana blanca o cerámica vidriada y contar con un borde parcialmente cerrado.
Debe contar con una tapa que calce con holgura. -Si se utiliza una tetera grande, su capacidad no debe exceder 310 ml (±8 ml)
y su peso debe ser 200 g (±10 g). -Si se utiliza una tetera pequeña, su capacidad debe ser de 150 ml (±4 ml) y su peso debe ser
118 g (±10 g). -En la tetera se deben colocar 2 gramos de té (medido con una precisión de ±2% ) por cada 100 ml de agua
hirviendo. -Se vierte en la tetera agua recién hervida hasta una distancia de 4 a 6 mm del borde. -El agua debe ser similar al
agua potable de la zona en que se consumirá el té. El tiempo de preparación debe ser de seis minutos. -El té preparado es
luego servido en un tazón de porcelana blanca o de cerámica vidriada. -Si se utiliza un tazón grande, debe tener una capacidad
de 380 ml y un peso de 200 g (±20 g). -Si se utiliza un tazón pequeño, debe tener una capacidad de 200 ml y un peso de 105 g
(±20 g)]
 TEAS FROM AROUND THE WORLD: TEA TASTING

The practical session will consist of two activities:

A) Visual identification of preparations

B) Tasting of 16 types of pure (unblended) tea

corresponding to different processing techniques and
areas of origin (in accordance with ISO 3103):
 TEAS FROM AROUND THE WORLD: TEA TASTING

CHINA 11. DARJEELING SECOND FLUSH (Black tea, harvested

later, stronger)
1. SNOW BUD (White tea, only the two leaves and
the bud) 12. CEYLON “Highland Grape” (Black tea from
highlands)
2. PAI-MUN-TAN (White tea, tender shoots)
13. CEYLON “Berebeula” (Strongly-flavoured black
3. PU-ERH YUNNAN (Red tea, long fermentation) tea)
4. GRAN LAPSANG SOUCHONG (Smoked black tea)
5. OOLONG “Fancy Black Dragon” (Black tea, long JAPAN
fermentation, also called blue)
14. GENMAI-CHA (Green tea blended with roasted
6. YELLOW TEA (very light, almost white) wholemeal rice)

INDIA KENYA
7. ASSAM BORBAN (Malted black tea, a little less 15. KENYA “Marinyn” (Hand-harvested black tea with
bitter) an intense flavour)
8. ASSAM HURVAL (Black tea, the typical breakfast
tea of the English)
GREEN TEA
9. DARJEELING HIMALAYA (Black tea, with many
golden tips) 16. GUNPOWDER (Chinese green tea, also known as
“Green Pearls”)
10. DARJEELING FIRST FLUSH (Black tea, April
harvest, softer)
Thank you
for your
attention