A Red Green Tea Test

Did you know that white, green and black tea all comes from the same Camellia sinensis plant? It is the variety of tea plant, when the leaves are harvested and how they are processed that defines the final type of tea. For example, white tea is harvested before the tea plant’s leaves open fully. It is the least processed type of tea; the leaves are simply allowed to wither and dry in a carefully controlled environment. Conversely, black tea leaves are harvested and allowed to fully oxidize before they are heat-processed and dried. Green tea leaves, on the other hand, are harvested and then quickly heated and dried to prevent too much oxidation from occurring that would turn the green leaves brown.

Similar to harvesting and treating leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant differently to create a variety of teas, I have read that harvesting raspberry leaves at different times can also result in differently flavoured tea. Steeping tea with green raspberry leaves is supposed to produce delicate, fresh-from-the-garden tasting tea that is ideally suited for iced tea.

Conversely, steeping red raspberry leaves is supposed to create a deep brown to black coloured tea with a rich, malty flavour. Some compare the flavour of red raspberry leaf tea to that of Tetley's orange pekoe.

This was enough to pique my interest so I made the necessary preparations for a raspberry leaf tea experiment. I harvested green leaves off of this year's canes when I pruned them back after they were finished producing for the season. Later, just before our first snowfall, I harvested the leaves off of next year's canes that had turned red naturally.

Both of these have been dried and stored in mason jars ready to be steeped for a blind taste test.

I am so very eager to see how they compare and which I like the most. Stayed tuned for the results of the Great Raspberry Leaf Tea Taste Test of 2019 in a future post.

Citations

Tea Varieties 101. https://www.teatulia.com