All true tea is made with the leaves harvested from a single plant in the genus Camellia, the most harvested species being C. sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica. The tea plant is an evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia and is said to have originated in Yunnan province in southern China.

 

Although many subvarietal variations exist, these are the two main plants used for the production of tea. The assamica varietal is also referred to as “large leaf” or “broad leaf” whereas sinensis is referred to as “small leaf”.

 

Allowed to grow in the wild, the tea plant grows into a tree that reaches many meters in height requiring skilled locals to carefully climb the trees to hand pluck the leaves. 

 

Although from the same plant, Camellia, tea leaves are processed into at least 6 distinct types: white, green, oolong, red tea (known as black tea), hei cha, & pu'er. Within each of these 6 categories there are hundreds of sub-types produced by skillful masters highlighting the unique characteristics of the rich and diverse plant we know as Tea.

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teawithskill STORY​

 

Born out of two decades of study in the fields of nutrition, herbalism, ethnobotany, and culinary anthropology:

teawithskill strives to bring you the highest quality tea, teaware, & botanicals. Explore our site for information on tea, botanicals, and foods - from history and locality to preparation.

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In addition to tea service, we also offer Gong Fu Cha ("making tea with skill") classes

for individuals and groups wishing to experience and learn tea preparation.