Tea Time
By: Nancy Honig
Wild West District Adult Development and Aging Agent
Like many of you I am looking at the calendar and wondering where the summer has gone and how we can be looking at September already! With the move towards fall it is time to move towards some upcoming Family and Consumer Sciences programming from our office.
Starting right away in September will be “Exploring the World of Tea”. This program will be offered on the following dates and times: September 3rd 6:00 pm Stevens Co Library, September 9th 6:30 pm Dudley Township Library Satanta, September 12th 6:00 pm Liberal Memorial Library, September 18th 6:00 pm Kismet Public Library, and September 19th Haskell Township Library Sublette.
If you are a fan of tea, or if you just want to learn more about tea this is a great opportunity. Being able to taste and compare a wide variety at once is a good way to understand what flavors it is that you enjoy the most. Tea is an aromatic beverage that is prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, and evergreen shrub native to East Asia. Aside from water, tea is the world’s most widely consumed beverage.
We will explore the five primary types of tea including white, green, black, oolong and dark tea. Here is a little bit of information to “wet” your tastebuds to encourage you to come and learn more!
White tea is essentially unprocessed tea and is typically the newest growth on the tea bush. White tea does not have to be drunk fresh. It can actually can be aged and is sometimes pressed into bricks for aging in China.
Green tea is not oxidized during the rolling process because the leaves are pan-fired or steamed to preserve their fresh character. It does not age as well over time so it does need to be consumed within a year. There is also Japan’s powdered green tea matcha that has become very popular not only drunk with steamed water or milk, but it has also been added to a wide variety of baked goods in recent years.
Black tea is typically richer, fuller and more robust in flavor than other teas. It is the type that works well with milk and sugar and is the most popular bases for iced teas.
Oolong tea level of oxidation is midway between black and green. The flavors are very different based on where the tea comes from and how it has been treated. The brewing style for Oolong needs to match the specific type as well.
Dark tea or Pu’erh tea is an aged and fermented tea. The tea leave if larger and they are processed like green tea (picked, wither and pan fired) but then they are packed into small cakes and allowed to sit and age. True Pu’erh is aged 20-25 years but there are methods to “speed up” the fermentation process.
If you are interested in learning more about teas, plan to attend one of the programs in the Wild West District. Also, check out our Wild West District Facebook page for other programs coming this fall and winter including, making pasta from scratch, cookie baking 101, and using assistive devices around the home.-
