Monday February 26, 2007 | 15 comments
What about all these other ‘teas?’ Confusion about what is a true tea comes from the indiscriminate use of the word ‘tea.’ It seems that any beverage made from hot water and a plant ends up with the appellation ‘tea.’ People say they like mint tea, rooibos tea, yerba mate tea, and others. While these beverages may have healthful properties, they are not products of Camellia sinensis and therefore should not be called ‘tea.’
Tisanes and Herbal Infusions
Often packaged in teabags, and also infused in hot water like tea, herbal infusions are other botanicals. These beverages are made from herbs, grass, barks, fruits, and flowers. Also known as tisanes, popular flavors include mint, lemongrass, cinnamon, chamomile, and hibiscus.
Rooibos (pronounced “roy-boos” or “roy-boss”)
Rooibos, or “red bush,†is produced from Aspalathus linearis a three-foot high
grass-like shrub which grows exclusively in the Cedarburg Mountain range in the nation of South Africa. The needle-like rooibos leaves are cut, bruised, oxidized and sun-dried. When infused, rooibos is reddish beverage with a distinct taste.
Mate (pronounced “ma-tay”)
Yerba mate, known to botanists as Ilex paraguariensis, is a member of the holly
family and grows as a small tree in subtropical South America – Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Bolivia. The flat green leaves are plucked and dried. Steeped in hot water in a rounded gourd-like bombilla or canudo, the resulting infusion is sipped through a straw. Taste is similar to some green teas.
You are absolutely right Susan, we should not allow people to use the word Tea to encash the right properties attached to this particular commodity.
We should propagate this message. Rooibos, Mate and all these tisanes are not Tea at all.
I’m afraid the English language has perhaps accepted that all plant infusions may be called tea, whether that’s accurate or not. Imagine the look on your restaurant server’s face if you asked if they carry any “herbal infusions” or “tisanes”? In fact, my trusty old copy of the RandomHouse Dictionary identifies tisane as an obscure word meaning “a ptisan” which isn’t listed in the Dictionary. How might we attempt to bring the word “Tisane” into common use?
Although technically correct, I’m afraid I don’t see how insisting the general consumers to know the term difference is beneficial to all parties involved. Please correct me if I’m wrong, in the land of tea’s origin, the word “cha” is also used to refer to some non-Camellia sinensis and herbal concoctions. And the word “Tea” came from “Teh”, which is the Fujianese dialect for the mandarin “Cha”. So now I wonder if it’s even linguistically correct to refer to herbal concoctions as “tisane”.
In any case, I believe there are other more pressing appellation issues…such as calling non-Darjeeling teas Darjeeling, non-Xihu green tea Xihu, etc.
In response to the comment:
How might we attempt to bring the word “Tisane†into common use?
Making consumers aware of “tisanes” vs “tea” will take time. Bringing ’tisane’ into common use is certainly possible. We now ‘make copies’ instead of ‘xeroxing.’ It is possible to retrain/educate consumers with correct terminology. Perhaps some enlightened tea company will take the ball and start an advertising campaign.
Phyll, only the other day I saw a Castleton Cylon Darjeeling second flush tea discussion on a tea blog.
If we do not take up the cause of educating people about the right terminology, then who else will? You people are authorities on tea, so allowing everything to be called tea could go contrary to our excercise.
Mr. Lochan, I don’t consider myself an authority on tea. I am merely its enthusiastic consumer. It may not be correct to refer to herbal tisanes as “tea”, but I’m not so sure if it is incorrect either. I’m only questioning the wisdom of telling consumers that it is “wrong” to refer to non-Camellia sinensis brew as “tea”. To me, it sounds intellectually snobbish — and perhaps mundane — to insist so. Tea is and has become a generic word for daily use and simplicity. If it is insisted, you’d undermine the other person’s intelligence…and I’d say “I know I’m drinking a chrysanthemum extract, and why are you telling me that it’s technically/philosophically/historically not ‘tea’?”
I guess I arrived at my opinion through the parallel world of wine. We don’t hear anyone telling anybody that “wine” can only be used to refer to the fermented juice of Vitis vinifera grapes. Fermented juices of apples, pears, plants, rice, and even grapes from other vine families (e.g. Vitis lambrusca) are also called “wineâ€. No one alcoholic beverage is pursuing for the exclusive right of the word “wine”.
I’m certainly not a linguist or an expert of the English language. I will appreciate anyone straightening me up if I’m misguided.
Phyll -
I checked out your blog Tea & Wine. Very interesting! I agree that tea and wine share many similarities.
If I may weigh in on the “tea” apellation controversy that I inadvertently started……
I think that the tea industry suffers from a lack of clarity in its product line. It is not fair to the general public for us (the tea industry, media, etc) to promote particular health benefits from “tea.” Consumers are confused why they are not getting the benefits from their “tea” as stated in the media, when in fact they are consuming something other than Camellia sinensis. People say to me, “I love chamomile tea. It is so relaxing and I know the anti-oxidants are good for me.” It makes me throw up my hands in aggravation.
The Tea Association of the US was instrumental in working within the industry and with government regulators to define what is “green tea.” I think consumers and businesses will both benefit from more clarity as to what is “tea” and what is not camellia sinsensis.
It’s not just consumers who are uniformed though, it unfortunately extends into the tea industry as well. I recently visited an outlet of the store Teavana. The young man working there decided that I knew something about tea, and asked me for a little known tidbit about tea. I responded by letting him know that technically, only Camellia sinensis brews should be called tea. His immediate response was “what about Rooibos and chamomile?”.
And he wondered why his attempts to hard sell me on a Tetsubin and water heater were unsuccessful… (although in all honesty, I already own a water heater and two tetsubins which I bought while living in Japan… but, I HATE salesmen who don’t know thier product, and try to push hard for me to buy something I don’t want or need).
But, getting back to the debate… unless we educate the general public about tea (loose vs bags, time and temperature, good water…, etc…) what words we use are likely to be a moot point. I guess it’s all just part of the same educational process.
Ms. McKeen & Mr. Lochan: minutes after I typed my comment above, I quickly realized that I was arguing rhetorics while you are pushing the mission of the tea industry, which is to promote tea as a healthy beverage. As such, tea needs to be differentiated from non-C. sinensis beverages.
I admit that I lack the mentality and the desire to talk about tea from its health angles. However, through your lens, I respect your opinion.
And thank you for your kind words about my blog.
What is exciting to me about the specialty tea business is that there is so much room for education and the public is so excited about all things ‘tea’ and more than willing to learn and move into this ‘new area’ for many of them. Everyone who loves tea and tisanes (I prefer tea to tisanes/herbals other than Rooibos and Yerba Mate) has such a great opportunity to be part of this ‘tea revolution’ that is building rather quickly.
Personally, the most important thing to me to educate people on is the difference between the taste and quality of loose leaf and bagged tea. Then would come the proper way to brew good tea. And then maybe talk about terminology regarding the differences in tea and tisane and also the differences in black/white/green/oolong. Rooibos and Yerba Mate are chocked full of many of the same healthy benefits as true tea, but the herbals haven’t had the same amount of study, so who knows…that area is fairly subjective at this point regarding calming, etc., that people tout them for.
What gets me really going is when I hand someone a glass of iced tea freshly brewed from loose leaf and they get a strange look and then a big smile and say “I never knew tea could taste like this.” That’s what my mission is..to show people what quality loose leaf tea is all about.
With the horrendous treatment tea has had (especially in the U.S. it seems), isn’t it amazing that SO MANY people still buy it? Imagine when they see what it is at its’ best!!
On a personal note, I am really taken with Rooibos. Not a true tea, but an incredible beverage; not only for its’ health benefits but its’ taste, color when brewed, naturally caffeine free…what’s not to like? I can see it surpassing green tea in popularity if given the right opportunity. It just seems to have almost everything going for it.
Debate is getting more and more interesting with different openions.
The debate is becoming more and more interesting with growing number of opinions.
We must congratulate Susan on her attempt to educate the American tea consumer, who are comming out of coffee shell.
If you deduce things quite simply, Camellia sinensis is a medicinal herb/plant(evergreen shrub) with history rooted in Chinese Herbalism. It is made, as other medicinal herbs suggest through an infusion. As we know, an infusion is made by steeping an herb or herbal blend in boiling water. Consumers need classification & clarity, without taking a biology or botany class, that “true tea” is from the Camellia sinensis plant (including it’s varietals). Any other herbal plant, flower, fruit made as an infusion is not “true tea” but is considered an herbal infusion. True Tea and Herbals both have health benefits. However, one should educate themselves on origin, medicinal/health properties of herbals if they are selling them or even blending them with true tea. There is extensive research being done on true tea as well as herbals. As our consumers seek a more healthy lifestyle, we should be prepared to provide the product as well as educate. See http://www.herbalgram.org for more on herbals.
And the waiter continues to ask “Do you want regular tea or herbal tea?
Great advice Susan, they should not be called tea!
As the manager of a busy retail tea shop in Seattle, I make sure we always refer to herbal beverages as “herbal beverages” or “herbal infusions.”