1) Tea
Is Tea Better Than Coffee: Young Camellia synesis leaf buds and leaves are steeped in recently cooked water to create Tea. The small-leaved China plant (C. synesis variety synesis) and the large-leaved Assam plant (C. synesis variety asemia) are the two main kinds utilized. These two types’ hybrids are also cultivated. The leaves can either be fermented or not.
History of the tea trade
Tea has reportedly been consumed in China from 2700 BCE. Tea was first used daily beginning in the third century CE and was originally prepared by boiling fresh leaves in water for medicinal purposes. This was the beginning of tea production and cultivation. In 350 CE, the earliest description of plantation, processing, and drinking practices was recorded. Around 800, the first seeds arrived in Japan, and by the 13th century, cultivation had spread all throughout the nation. In 1810, Chinese immigrants from Amoy introduced tea growing to the island of Formosa (Taiwan). The Dutch introduced laborer’s, equipment, and seeds from China in 1833 after bringing Japanese seeds and Japanese employees to Java in 1826.
In the highlands along the border between Burma and the Indian state of Assam in 1824, tea trees were found. The British introduced the tea culture to India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), respectively, in 1836 and 1867. They initially utilized Chinese seeds, but later on they switched to Assamese seeds. The first shipment of Chinese tea to reach Europe was sent by the Dutch East India Company in 1610. In 1669, China tea was shipped by the English East India Company from Javan ports to the London market. Later, teas produced on British plantations in Ceylon and India made their way to Mincing Lane, the hub of the London tea trade. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tea was produced in Russian Georgia, Sumatra, Iran, non-Asian countries including Queensland in Australia, Natal, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, and Mozambique in Africa, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru in South America.
Classification of teas
Teas are divided into categories based on their country of origin, such as Chinese, Ceylon, Japanese, Indonesian, and African teas, or by smaller districts, such as Kemon from Chi-men in China’s Anyway Province and Enshu from Japan.
The size of the processed leaf is another way that teas are categorized. Larger leafy grades and smaller broken grades are the results of conventional processes. Flowery pekoe (FP), orange pekoe (OP), pekoe (P), pekoe slouching (PS), and slouching (S) are the leafy grades. Broken orange pekoe (BOP), broken pekoe (BP), BOP fanning, fanning, and dust are the broken grades. While leafy grades are mostly derived from the harder and older leaves, broken grades can contain significant contributions from the more delicate shoots. In current commercial grading, broken grades account for 95 to 100% of production, although leafy grades made up a significant portion of output in the past. This change is a result of growing consumer demand for teas with lower particle size that brew quickly and strongly.
The three classifications of fermented (black), unfermented (green), and semifermented (oolong or pouching) are the most significant ones and are determined by the production procedure. The China plant, which is often used to make green tea, is mostly grown in Japan, China, and to a lesser extent Malaysia and Indonesia. The infused leaf is green, and the resulting liquid is mild, lemon-yellow or pale green, with a little bitterness. Assam or hybrid plants are better for producing black tea, which is by far the most popular kind produced. The infused leaf is copper or brilliant red in color, and the resulting beverage is bright red, somewhat astringent but not bitter, and it has the distinctive tea scent.
Processing the leaf
The leaf passes through some or all of the withering, rolling, fermenting, and drying steps while making tea. Drying the leaf and allowing the chemical components of the leaf to develop the distinctive qualities of each variety of tea are the two goals of the procedure.
Caffeine, the most well-known component of tea, gives the beverage its stimulating qualities but makes only a little contribution to color, flavor, and scent. One teacup of the beverage has 60 to 90 milligrams of caffeine, which makes up around 4% of the solids in fresh leaves. The tannins, also known as polyphenols, are the most significant chemical components in tea. These colorless, bitter-tasting compounds give the beverage its astringency. The flavoring components of the beverage are created when polyphenols undergo an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, which gives them a crimson hue. The flavor of tea is influenced by a few volatile oils, and the quality of the beverage is influenced by a number of sugars and amino acids.
Only black tea goes through the whole production process. Differences in the essential fermentation stage give green tea and oolong their distinct characteristics.
Black tea
Withering
When a leaf is plucked, the withering process begins. During this phase, the leaf loses water and becomes flaccid. From a fresh moisture content of 70 to 80 percent by weight, the withered content ranges from 55 to 70 percent, depending on the kind of processing.
Green Tea
In order to prepare unfermented tea, the freshly picked leaf is steam-blasted in perforated drums or roasted in hot iron pans before rolling to destroy the oxidizing enzymes. After then, the leaf is heated and rolled once more until it turns dark green and has a blue color. The leaves are ultimately processed into a powder or crushed into small bits after being dried to a moisture percentage of 3 to 4%.
Oolong Tea
The leaf is softly rolled by hand till it turns crimson and aromatic after a brief withering stage. It is then fermented for approximately half the period permitted for black tea with oolong and for one-fourth the time with pouching. The leaf is heated in iron pans to stop the fermentation process, then further heated and rolled until it is dry.
Matcher Tea
Matcher is a powdered green tea with Japanese roots that originated in China and is a favorite among tea lovers worldwide.
2) Coffee
The roasted and ground seeds of tropical, evergreen coffee plants with African ancestry are used to make the beverage known as coffee. Coffee is one of the three beverages that are drank the most globally, along with water and tea, and it is also one of the most profitable global commodities. Despite the fact that many beverages employ coffee as their foundation, the energizing properties of coffee are largely attributed to the alkaloid caffeine.
There are two varieties of coffee plants: C. arabica and C. Almost all of the world’s consumption is provided by canephor. The primary type of C, Robusta, is thought to provide a stronger, more flavorful, more fragrant beverage than Arabica. canephor. Arabica requires a cool subtropical climate and grows more widely than Robusta but is more delicate and pest-prone. Arabica has very precise requirements for shade and must be cultivated at higher elevations (2,000–6,500 feet [600–2,000 metres]). It also requires a lot of rainfall. Leading Arabica coffee producers include Asia, Arabia, eastern Africa, and Latin America. As its name implies, the harder Robusta bean is rounder and more convex, and it can grow at lower elevations (from sea level to 2,000 feet). Robusta coffee is often the bean of choice for low-cost commercial coffee brands since it is easier to grow, has twice as much caffeine as Arabica, and is less costly. Brazil, Southeast Asia, Western and Central Africa, and Brazil are the principal producers of Robusta coffee.
History
The 15th century saw the introduction of wild coffee plants from Kef (Kafka), Ethiopia, to southern Arabia for cultivation. One of the numerous myths surrounding the discovery of coffee is that of Kaldi, an Arab goatherd who was perplexed by his flock’s peculiar actions. Kaldi is said to have tasted the berries of the evergreen bush the goats were munching on about 850 CE and, feeling ecstatic, announced his discovery to the world.
Regardless of coffee’s true origin, its stimulant properties unquestionably contributed to its popularity. Ironically, many Muslims were drawn to the beverage as an alternative for alcohol, which is also prohibited by the Qur’an, despite the fact that Islamic authorities declared the drink to be intoxicating and so forbidden by the Qur’an. Despite the fear of harsh punishment, Arabs and their neighbors quickly adopted the practice of drinking coffee, which even gave rise to a new social and cultural institution known as the coffeehouse. Several European countries were introduced to coffee in the 16th and 17th century. Numerous examples of its acceptance or rejection as a religious, political, and medicinal remedy are available. By the end of the 17th century, coffeehouses were booming in Britain, the British colonies in America, and continental Europe.
Up until the end of the 17th century, Yemen, a region in southern Arabia, provided practically all of the world’s meagre supply of coffee. The seeds of the plant, however, swiftly migrated to Java and other Indonesian archipelago islands in the 17th century then to the Americas in the 18th as the drink’s ubiquity increased. around the Hawaiian Islands, the first coffee plantations appeared around 1825. By the 20th century, the Western Hemisphere—particularly Brazil—had the highest output concentration. Industrial roasting and grinding equipment, vacuum-sealed containers for ground roasts, and techniques for decaffeinating green coffee beans were all created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The development of instant coffee after 1950 enhanced the production of the less expensive Robusta beans in Africa. see also coffee history.
Classifications of Coffee
The coffee bean comes in four varieties. Excelsis, Liberia, Robusta, and Arabica. They all have flavor characteristics that are vastly dissimilar.
Processing the bean
Coffee cherries are the ripening fruits of the coffee plant, and each cherry typically contains two coffee seeds (also known as “beans”) that lie flat against one another. Only one seed is present in around 5% of cherries; these pea berries are smaller and denser single seeds that, in the view of some, result in coffee that is sweeter and more flavorful.
The coffee seeds are separated from their covers and the pulp during the processing of the cherries, and they are then dried. Before roasting, all beans must be freed from their fruit and dried. The dry, or “natural,” process, the wet (and washed), and a hybrid method known as the semi-washed, or “pulped natural,” method are the three methods used to prepare the coffee. These procedures produce green coffee, which is prepared for roasting afterward. see also growing coffee.
Using coffee
Brewing and drinking
Ground coffee can be prepared hot or cold to extract taste and fragrance, and the amount of caffeine depends on the kind of bean and brewing technique. A serving of brewed Robusta may contain 200 mg of caffeine, compared to around 70 mg in a serving of five fluid ounces of Arabica instant coffee.
When steeping or boiling, ground coffee is weighed into hot water, which is then typically cooked before the grounds are drained out. Water is heated to a boil in an urn and then delivered via a tube to a basket containing the coffee in the percolation process. The water drips back to the urn after passing through the coffee and is then pumped back up the tube and recirculated until the brew reaches the appropriate strength. Hot water is gently filtered through the coffee and poured into a container using the filter, or drip, technique; it is not recirculated.
Finely ground coffee is pushed into boiling water under pressure by the espresso maker. Additionally, hot water is forced through coffee grinds using single-serve coffeemakers.
However, the coffee is made via infusion in a French press. A mesh-lined plunger is used to push the coffee grinds to the bottom once it has soaked in hot water, leaving the coffee above ready to pour directly from the container. French-press coffee is sometimes ranked second only to the robust flavor of espresso by traditionalists.
Health effects
Coffee drinking has been linked to both positive and negative health effects. In general, moderate use, or three to four cups per day, is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, liver cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. A longer lifespan has also been related in research to moderate coffee drinking.
Heartburn, anxiety, jitteriness, and sleep difficulties can all result from drinking too much coffee. A causal relationship between coffee and cancer was hypothesized by studies done in the 20th century. The World Health Organization (WHO), however, withdrew coffee from its list of potential carcinogens in 2016 since several studies have refuted any causal link between coffee drinking and cancer.
Coffee plants
Coffee arabica and C. canephor, two species of the genus, produce virtually all of the coffee consumed worldwide. Arabica, the dominant type of C. canephor, yields a flatter, longer bean that is said to be gentler, more flavorful, and fragrant when brewed. Arabica demands a cooler subtropical environment, is more widely cultivated than Robusta, but is also more fragile and pest-prone. It must be grown at higher elevations of 600–2,000 meters (2,000–6,500 feet), needs a lot of moisture, and has quite particular shadow needs. Asia, Arabia, eastern Africa, and Latin America are among the world’s top producers of Arabica coffee.
As its name implies, the harder Robusta bean is rounder and more convex, and it can grow at lower elevations (between sea level and 600 meters). Robusta coffee is often the bean of choice for low-cost commercial coffee brands since it is easier to grow, has twice as much caffeine as Arabica, and is less costly. Brazil, Southeast Asia, Western and Central Africa, and Brazil are the principal producers of Robusta coffee.
Two more species have negligible commercial value as sources of coffee. The large-seeded C. Liberia, which is often thought to be more flavorful than Robusta, is cultivated to a far lesser extent due of its high susceptibility to diseases including fusarium wilt and coffee rust. C. eugenocide’s is a different species that is grown on a very limited scale for specialty “wild” coffee with less caffeine.
Summary
Tea contains caffeine, which improves taste and fragrance, improves focus, and takes some time to enter the bloodstream. Contrarily, a cup of coffee contains 125–185 mg of caffeine. It has been noted that those who drink coffee feel better right away. Both coffee and tea have a long history, as well as a rich and varied body of folklore surrounding their precise origins. In the present day, coffee and tea are still quite popular, with the majority of individuals regularly consuming one of the two beverages.
