泡茶之前，请先了解：茶是什么？

在最近的文章中，我们推送了一些在家泡咖啡的技巧，因为我们被困在家里或无法拜访一些精品咖啡厅时，但是这不应阻止人们享用一杯咖啡。
诚然如此。
In a recent blog, we gave some tips for brewing coffee at home, reasoning that when we are stuck at home, or otherwise unable to get to a great café, that shouldn’t stop one from enjoying a great cup of coffee.
True that. 
但是，当然还有其他一些因素值得让我们步行或者驾车前往咖啡厅，原因不一。毕竟，我们经常光顾的咖啡店也经常提供咖啡之外的饮品，也许是您不会想到的时髦的招牌饮料（以后还会更多样化），或者这可能是您非咖啡饮用朋友（或您自己）喜欢的好茶-没人说您必须一直喝咖啡，对吧。
今天让我们点亮另一项“在家”技能——泡茶。
But there are certainly other factors that make the walks and drives to our favorite cafes worth it. Among them: variety. The coffee shops we frequent, more often than not, after all, serve non-coffee products as well. Maybe this is a snazzy signature drink that wouldn’t have occurred to you (more on this to come), or maybe it’s a great tea for your non-coffee-drinking-friend (or yourself – no one said you had to drink coffee ALL the time, right?).
Building on our last “at-home” tutorial, let’s add another beverage to our home-barista skillset: tea.
什么是茶？
全球范围内作为饮料种植和制作的产品均来自热带和亚热带常绿植物，称为茶树（Camellia sinensis），原产于印度和中国。
What is tea?
The product that is cultivated and prepared as a beverage around the world comes from a tropical and subtropical evergreen plant known as Camellia sinensis, which is native to India and China. 
茶是世界上最古老的饮料之一，并且在全球范围内甚至比咖啡更受欢迎。据称，在中国公元前2700年左右，神农发现茶叶，当时是有一些茶叶意外地掉入一锅开水，但是，就像著名的卡尔迪（Kaldi）和他的山羊传说中的咖啡民间传说一样，这条故事的起源是编造的。
Tea is one of the oldest beverages in the world and, globally, even more popular than coffee. Allegedly, tea was discovered around 2700BC by Chinese Emperor Shen-Nung when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water, however, like the loveable legend of Kaldi and his goats which is prevalent coffee folklore, the origins of this tail are apocryphal.
现在，茶在全球30多个国家/地区种植（咖啡在70多个国家/地区种植），主要生产国是中国、印度、肯尼亚、斯里兰卡和越南，茶主要生长在南北回归线之间的富含矿物质的酸性土壤中，大约在MASL1,000至2,200米的山区。
Tea is now grown in over 30 countries around the world (coffee is grown in ~70 countries)(4) with the primary producers being China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. (5) Tea is predominantly grown in mountainous areas at around 1,000 – 2,200 MASL in mineral-rich, acidic soils between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.
像咖啡一样，大多数产茶区都有不同的收成季节。灌木通常每年两到四次收成，尽管有些地区每年只有一次收成，有些气候适宜的地方（例如斯里兰卡）全年都产茶。
Like coffee, most tea growing regions have distinct seasons. Tea bushes will typically yield between two and four harvests per year, although some areas see just one harvest per year, and some places with the right climate – like Sri Lanka – produce tea year-round.
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真相：在茶树自然产地中，野生茶树可以长到65英尺高以上，并且可以产茶3000多年！
Fact: In their natural habitat, wild tea trees can grow to more than 65ft tall (6) and may continue to produce tea for more than 3,000 years(3)!
茶有1000多种，最常见的分类有白茶、绿茶、乌龙茶、红茶和黑茶，所有这些类型都来自山茶，其中有两个主要的茶生产品种：
There are over 1,000 types of tea, most commonly classified as white, green, oolong, and black and dark teas(3). All of these types come from Camellia sinensis, of which there are two primary varieties used in the production of tea:
茶树变种：China Jaat在中国、中国台湾和日本被广泛发现，并有约2-5厘米的小叶子
Assam Jaat是一种耐寒茶树，有约4-7厘米的大叶子，主要生长在印度、斯里兰卡和肯尼亚，主要用于生产红茶。
Camellia Sinensis var Sinensis (AKA China Jaat), is found widely around China, Taiwan, and Japan and features small leaves of ~2” - 5”
Camellia Sinensis Assamica (Assam Jaat) variety is a hardy tree that  features large leaves of ~4” - 7” and is grown predominantly in India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya for the production of black tea.
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趣闻：新生发芽的茶叶边缘泛着微微的红色，随着季节变化而变化。经过一个冬天的休眠期，春季采摘的第一道茶叶被认为是品质最好的茶叶。
Fun Fact: The arrival of a new germination of tea leaves is known as a “flush” and coincides with changes in the seasons. The “first flush”, which features the longest period of dormancy before harvest, is often considered as offering the highest quality tea.
通常，为饮用而生产的茶可分为两类：氧化和非氧化，根据需要生产的茶叶类型，可以人为刺激、控制、然后停止或者完全阻止氧化过程。。
Very generally, tea produced for consumption can be divided into two groups: oxidized and non-oxidized. Depending on the style of tea being created, oxidation may be intentionally encouraged, controlled and then stopped, or prevented altogether.
非氧化茶包括白茶和绿茶。氧化茶的例子有乌龙茶、黄茶、红茶、普洱茶和黑茶。在这些大类中也存在细微差别，例如，红茶被完全氧化而乌龙茶被部分氧化。