all about tea. We're going to look at what tea is, where it comes from and why it's so

amazing. Because if you haven't already guessed, I love it. So what is tea? Well tea is a drink

commonly made from infusing curred tea leaves with hot water, it originated in China around,

five thousand, yes five thousand years ago, but luckily now it's spread all around the

world. You can get tea in tea bags, you can get loose leaf tea and people tend to get

pretty passionate about it. It has on average less than half the caffeine of coffee per

cup. It's got so many health benefits, it's hydrating, there are loads of varieties and

it's low in calories. Amazing. All tea leaves come from the same plant. The camellia Sinensis.

Commonly known as the tea plant. It's native to Asia but now it's grown all around the

world. Herbal tea doesn't actually contain Camellia Sinensis so it's not strictly a tea

but we'll come back to that. There are thousands of types of tea I've probably collected a

load of them but five main styles. Black, white, green, oolong and Pu-erh. These styles

differentiate because of the processing of the leaves and the oxidation. The types however

completely depend on the growing climate, even year by year. The first one black tea,

is the most popular, it accounts for 72% of tea drunk right accorss the world and it is

especially popular in the U.K and the U.S. You'll find it in everyday tea bags just like

this and the varieties include things like Darjeeling, Lapsang Souchang, Assam and Ceylon.

Now darjeeling is known as the champagne of the tea world it tastes amazing and you can

have this at any point in the day. This one Lapsang Souchong, this is one of my favourites

but it does divide people it's quite an acquired taste. They make it by smoking the tea leaves

over bamboo and that gives it such a deep smoky flavour. They say Winston Churchill

used to love drinking this with a scotch. Now Ceylon and Assam are a match made in heaven,

blend them together and you have got yourself a pretty amazing English Breakfast Tea. This

is one of the most popular teas in the U.K and is perfect first thing in the morning.

Just for the record Earl Grey is a flavoured black tea. That for instance is blended with

bergamot orange. Black tea contains anti oxidants like flavanoids and tannings which help to

deactivate damaging molecules that could play a role in the development of cancer. Now white

teas, these are actually the leased processed that we've talked about from all of those

styles. These are actually made from young silver buds. They dry out in the sunshine

and when the farmers pick them they'll loose those leaves which means they can be used

for other teas and that's why white teas are more rare and expensive. The two main varieties

are silver needle and white peony. Now true white tea is only made in Fujian China. Now

you can tell white tea because it's got a silvery and fuzzy appearance and when you

brew it, it's got such a mild flavour and a really pale look. Next up, green tea, this

is the most popular tea drunk in Asia, and accounts for 26% across the world. But really,

green tea is most well known for it's health benefits. It's associated with lower blood

pressure, healthier blood cholesterol and that all helps your heart. There are two main

styles of green tea, Chinese and Japanese. Now Chinese is often heated over a fire which

gives it a really nice toasty flavour, that is perfect if you're a first time tea drinker.

Japanese however is usually steamed so that kind of gives it a real grassy, vegetable

taste. Now, whilst we're on the subject of green tea, take a look at this, this is actually

Matcha tea. You may well of heard of it, it's becoming so popular at the moment. This is

actually a powdered Japanese green tea, now it's associated with reduced food intake so

could potentially help weight loss. Next up Oolong tea, this literally translates as black

dragon. It's a traditional Chinese tea, it sits half way between an unoxidised green

tea and a fully oxidised black tea. Now as teas come this is actually pretty complex.

It's full bodied it's got a really sweet aroma to it and you can get so many different varieties

of flavour in this. Now last, but definitely not least, Pu-erh, this is actually a fermented

tea and it's produced in China, take a look at this. This is what it looks like when it

comes out of the packet. Totally different to the other teas. It actually goes through

a really complex kind of stage of fermentation and it's got such a strong and earthy taste

to it. This actually can taste better the older the tea gets which is really strange

for teas. This is so good at any time of the day, you have to try one of these if you come

across them. Now herbal tea, I told you we'd come back to this. Now for all you herbal

tea lovers it doesn't have any tea leaves in it. Any at all, not even a teeny bit so

it's not strictly a tea, it's a bit of a cheat but it tastes delicious. It's actually made

from mixing herbs and spices and dried fruit to hot water. It tastes delicious and it's

caffeine free. You can get things like lemon, ginger, raspberry, peppermint for example

is amazing for your digestive system and while we're on the subject take a look at this.

Rooibos, or redbush tea, isn't a tea either. This is actually a native plant from South

Africa and it produces such a delicious reddy brown infusion. So there you go that's what

tea is. I hope you enjoy my little tea lesson and are starting to love tea just as much

as I do. If you want to watch more click on this video right now, that's my tea infusion

video made with green tea it's so delicious you're going to love it. Most importantly,

click on the subscribe button to Drinks Tube, you'll be able to see lots more of my videos,

other videos as well on wine, beers, cocktails, soft drinks. Whatever drink you love, we've

got videos for you and I just know you're going to love it. Tea time for me now guys,

Bye