什麼是茶

茶樹（C. sinensis，屬茶科）的嫩葉和芽浸泡在開水中製成的飲料。茶樹包括40種喬木和灌木。西元350年中國的文獻中首先提到茶的栽培；根據傳説，大約從西元前2700年後中國已經知道種茶了。13世紀時在日本確立茶業，19世紀時，由荷蘭人傳播到爪哇，由英國人傳播到了印度。如今，茶是世界上消費最廣泛的飲料，世界上約有一半人喝茶（熱飲或冷飲）。根據加工的方法不同而分成幾個大類：發酵茶，或稱紅茶，生成琥珀色的、不帶苦澀的、口味濃郁的飲料；半發酵茶，或稱烏龍茶，產生略帶苦味的、淺棕－綠色的液體；非發酵茶，或稱綠茶，產生温和的、略苦的、淺綠－黃色的飲料。茶的刺激作用來自咖啡因。在遠東，長期以來認為綠茶有益於健康，近年來，以它許多可能的有利效應吸引着許多西方愛好者的注意。許多其他不相關的植物的葉、莖皮和根的浸劑和煎劑作為草藥或藥茶也被普遍地飲用。

tea

Beverage produced by steeping in freshly boiled water the young leaves and leaf buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, a member of the family Theaceae, which contains 40 genera of trees and shrubs. Tea cultivation is first documented in China in AD 350; according to legend, it had been known there since c. 2700 BC. It was established in Japan by the 13th century and was spread to Java by the Dutch and to India by the English in the 19th century. Today tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world, drunk (either hot or cold) by half the world's population. Major tea types are classified by processing method: fermented, or black, tea produces an amber-colored, full-flavored beverage without bitterness; semifermented, or oolong, tea yields a slightly bitter, light brownish-green liquid; and unfermented, or green, tea, results in a mild, slightly bitter, pale greenish-yellow beverage. Caffeine is responsible for tea's stimulating effect. Green tea, long regarded as healthful in the Far East, has in recent years attracted much favorable attention in the West for a wide range of possible beneficial effects. Infusions and decoctions of the leaves, bark, and roots of many other, unrelated plants are commonly drunk as herbal or medicinal teas.