Mae Field, age 12, of Carson City, Nev., for her question:
WHERE DO WE GET TEA?
Tea is a beverage made by pouring boiling water over dried tea leaves. In summer, iced tea is a popular drink. The leading tea growing country in the world is India, followed by Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Russia, Kenya, Indonesia and Turkey.
According to legend, tea was discovered by Emperor Shen Nung of China about 2737 B.C. The custom of drinking tea spread gradually to Japan and other countries of the Orient. Tea was introduced to Europeans about 1600 by merchants who imported it from the Far East.
In Europe, tea quickly gained wide popularity. During the 1600s it became the national drink of Great Britain. By 1650 it was being imported by the American colonies.
In 1767, the British government placed a tax on the tea being used by the American colonists. Colonial resistance to the extremely high tax brought about the famous Boston Tea Party in 1773 which in turn led to the Revolutionary War.
There are three main kinds of tea: black, green and oolong. They differ in the method used to process the leaves.
Black tea is produced in all tea growing countries. Workers first spread the leaves on shelves called "withering racks." Air is blown over the leaves to remove excess moisture, leaving them soft and flexible. Next, the leaves are crushed between rollers of a machine designed to release their flavorful juices.
In a fermenting room, the tea leaves change chemically under controlled humidity and temperature until they turn coppery in color. Finally, the leaves are dried in ovens and become blackish brown.
Green tea is made by steaming the leaves in large vats. The steaming prevents.the leaves from changing color. The leaves are then crushed and dried in ovens.
Oolong tea is made by partially fermenting the leaves. This gives the leaves a greenish brown color.
Tea plants grow in tropical and subtropical climates at elevations from sea level to more than 7,000 feet. The plant, an evergreen, grows quickly at low altitudes but the finest tea comes from altitudes of 4,000 to 7,000 feet. The plants grow more slowly in the high, cool air.
Tea plants grown commercially are started from seeds and then transplanted into fields with about 3,000 tea plants per acre. Commercial plants are pruned to keep them from three to four feet high. Wild plants can grow as high as 30 feet.
Tea plants mature in three to five years. Workers, called tea pluckers, pick the "flushes," which are growths of new shoots, by hand. A plucker can harvest about 40 pounds of tea leaves a day, enough to make about 10 pounds of manufactured tea.
Instant tea is made by brewing tea in large vats and then removing the water by a drying process. Only a powder remains.