Tea vs Tisane (Herbal)

TEA (Korean: 차 cha) – is a product of a specific type of plant, increasingly becoming more well known by its “real” name…camellia sinensis. No matter what, if it doesn’t come from this plant/tree, it technically is not “tea”.

Until the more recent boom in the interest in tea, the term “tea” was used more loosely to describe hot beverages made from infusions of plants, leafs and/or flowers. It is the same in Korea – when steeping a leaf, flower or plant in hot water, the resulting product is usually called —cha. Nowadays, there is more of an effort for differentiating between tea and tisane (or more commonly, “herbal tea”).

Photo taken during a trip to the one of the tea farms in the Honam Tea Estate (managed directly by Hankook Tea Company) in July. Please do not use photo without permission.

Two leaves and a bud – a phrase commonly used to describe the tip of the tea tree/plant. The stem branches out from the tea bush and on each stem is a series of leaves. At there very tip, there is a bud in the center and two small leaves on either side. This portion is hand-picked to create some of the world’s highest quality artisan teas. Depending on the plant, this will grow back several times for multiple hand-pickings. The larger leaves below this section are harvested later on (usually by machine) to produce other types of teas.