With thousands of years under my belt, it's becoming increasingly difficult to remember my early years as a young and wild child in China's Yunnan province. I vaguely recall accidentally ending up in the cauldron of a Chinese emperor, Shen Neng, who immediately fell for the flavour I added to his boiling water. Since then, I've shared tables with Chinese emperors and British imperialists, as well as Japanese cultural elite and Russian nobility. I've been thrown into the sea in political protest, cut up, bagged and mixed with everything from spices to citrus oil. Now you'll find me trimmed like a pretty little bush in tea gardens along much of the equator. And, of course, in countless teacups in most corners of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are a plant with many qualities and talents - what's the secret?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How you experience me in the cup is influenced by many factors. The soil I grew up in, how high above sea level I've lived, who has cared for me - and so on. While some choose me dark and powerful, others prefer my milder and more delicate sides. It's the way I'm treated after picking, \"processing\" as you call it, that determines what characteristics I get in the cup. The rougher I'm treated, the darker and more powerful I tend to be perceived. Depending on these events, I am called everything from green and black tea, to oolong and white tea. If I've been left to mature for a while, I get the name Pu Ehr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There's a lot of talk about your positive health effects - can you vouch for these?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I've been the subject of research since the early 1990s, partly because it's common in many cultures to associate my characteristics with a long and healthy life. As recently as this December, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published eleven studies that shed light on my health effects. Researchers are particularly interested in my high content of antioxidant polyphenols. The list of alleged health benefits is long, but I don't want to portray myself as some kind of super plant. That's for others to find out. It's also worth noting that the way I'm dried and processed has an impact on the substances you ingest. If I contain a large proportion of buds and shoots, I'm usually richer in caffeine, while you'll get the most antioxidants if you drink me as green tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With its wide range of flavours and properties, it's no wonder the plant has become a favourite across borders, cultures and continents. Whatever your cup of tea, you can't go wrong with Camellia Sinensis.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Behind every pure tea is a versatile plant. It can be rich, dark and powerful, or elegant and extremely delicate. Often calming, possibly fortifying, definitely invigorating. An influential figure for thousands of years already, but more relevant than ever. Meet the origin of the world's most popular brew: Camellia Sinensis.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historie"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sh.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/2013.11.05-Solberg-og-Hansen-1-1-1024x683.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOne plant, many colours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sh.no\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/2013.11.05-Solberg-og-Hansen-71-1-1024x930.png\")
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