Tisanes

Tisanes, more commonly known as herbal teas, are teas which do not contain the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant and are made with any kind of plant matter such as flowers (in the case of rooibos tea) or tree bark (lapacho).

Mate

(Pronounced "Mah-Tay")

Mate is a very popular South American infusion. It is made from the dried leaves of the Yerba Mate plant which is a species of holly grown in sub-tropical South America leaves are dried, chopped, and ground into a powder mixture called yerba.

Mate is a stimulant and is very high in xanthines, these are alkaloids in the same family as caffeine, however, despite this Mate is lower in Caffeine than tea or coffee and those folk who may be avoiding caffeine but needing a stimulant should turn to mate for alternatives.

Mate is served with a metal straw (bombilla) from a hollow calabash gourd.

Mate is usually consumed at family gatherings and social settings and is known as a "friendship drink". It is beleived
The drink has a delightfully pungent taste like a cross between coffe and green tea with hints of oak

Tea variety no.2

Black Teas

Assam

Assam is a very well known and popular black tea from Assam(surprisingly).
Assam is grown in the lowlands (almost at sea-level) and has a brisk malty taste. This contrasts with other black teas grown upland such as Darjeeling which have a fragrant and light taste.

Assam is the primary ingredient in Irish breakfast tea and English breakfast tea. Second flush assam is generally used in breakfast teas because it has a very bitter, straw like taste, so you kind of need to add...MILK ;)

Breakfast Teas

Breakfast teas are the most popular teas in the UK and Ireland, here they are coloquially referred to as "tea".

They are usually comprised of Assam, Ceylon, kenyan and Keemun. Although they are called breakfast teas they are enjoyed all day in the countries where they are blended.

They can be drunk with milk added or with sugar or with lemon.

Tea Varieties

Tea varieties vary depending on climate and culture and processing techniques. I will begin with Green tea. Green tea is tea which has undergone minimal oxidation,(white tea is unoxidized.

The traditional tea for tea ceremony in Japan is Matcha. Matcha is a shade grown tea which was originally shipped over from China. "Shade Growing" is an ancient technique of production where the tea is covered weeks before harvest to allow minimal sunlight to reach the tea. This results in the plant making smaller darker leaves that have a higher concentration of amino acids and are sweeter. One cup of matcha is the equilvaent of 12 cups of ordinary green tea in terms of caffeine and anti-oxidants. One cup of matcha has the antioxidants of seventy cups of orange juice :O

Wow. It also lowers cholesterol, lowers blood pressure and is just generally great!