Tea Plant
The Tea plant is a small shrub about 1-2 meters in height, though it will grow taller if you don't prune it. In the fall, your tea shrub will flower with small white blossoms that have a delightful scent. These plants are often grown as ornamentals. For planting, Camellia sinensis likes well-drained and sandy soil that is on the acidic side. If you are going to grow your tea in a container, add some sphagnum moss to the potting mix. The Leaves of this plant are used to make teas including Green Tea, Oolong Tea and Black Tea.
Plant Description
Small evergreen tree to 16 m tall, usually pruned back to shrubs in cultivation, with strong taproot giving rise to a surface mat of feeders with endotrophic mycorrhizae; leaves alternate, exstipulate, lanceolate to obovate, up to 30 (usually 4-15) cm long, 2-5 (7-12) cm broad, pubescent, sometimes becoming glabrous, serrate, acute or acuminate; flowers 1-3, in axillary or subterminal cymes, deflexed, 2-5 cm broad, aromatic, white or pinkish, actinomorphic, sepals and petals 5-7, pedicels 5-15 mm long; stamens numerous; ovary 3-5-carpellate, each carpel 4-6-ovulate; capsules depressed-globose, brownish, lobate, to 2 cm broad, valvate, with 1-3 subglobose seeds in each lobe; approximately 500 seeds per kg. Fl. Oct.-Dec. in Japan.
Making Your Own Tea
Once your tea plant is growing well, you'll need to harvest and process your tea leaves. From your plant, you can make black, green or oolong tea.
Green Tea
- Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
- Blot the leaves dry, and let dry in the shade for a few hours.
- Steam the leaves (like you would vegetables) on your stove for about a minute.
- For a different flavour, try roasting them in a skillet for 2 minutes instead of steaming.
- Spread the leaves on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
- Store the dried tea leaves in an air-tight container
Oolong Tea
- Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
- Spread them out on a towel under the sun and let them wilt for about 45 minutes.
- Bring your leaves inside and let them sit at room temperature for a few hours.
- Make sure to stir the leaves up every hour.
- The edges of the leaves will start to turn red as they begin to dry.
- Spread the leaves on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
- Store the dried tea leaves in an air-tight container.
Black Tea
- Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
- Roll the leaves between your hands, and crush them until the leaves start to darken and turn red.
- Spread them out on a tray, and leave them in a cool location for 2-3 days.
- Dry them in the oven at 250F for about 20 minutes.
- Store in an air-tight container.
Once you get the hang of it, try experimenting with different drying times to get different tastes. Mix your teas with jasmine or hibiscus flowers for a lovely summer tea right from your garden.
Tea Plant Uses
Dried and cured leaves widely used for a beverage, which has a stimulant effect due to caffeine. Used for this purpose in China for nearly 3,000 years. Chasei is a tea extract; powdered tea (Teu-cha) a ceremonial tea. Green tea is made from leaves steamed and dried, while black tea leaves are withered, rolled, fermented and dried. Steam distillation of black tea yields an essential oil.