Who says Spain is only a coffee and wine drinking country! Spaniards, too, like to drink tea although they don’t have a deep tradition or history attached to it, unlike China, India or any other South Asian region.
In every season, you may find a variety of tea available in Spanish market. These days, in every cafeteria in Spain, it’s common to spot tea bags placed just on your dining table, but those are not of good quality. Only seeing the menu, you may find special tea available there.
As demand of tea drinking in Spain is increasing, it’s natural to find a good range and quality tea in Spain. Hand packed in glass jars; you will mostly have six unique varieties: Mandarin, Orange Blossom, Fruits of the Forest, Green, Black and Red.
Variety of Tea in Spain
Artisan Tea in Spain
Available in glass jars, hand-tied and sealed with wax, and then packed in an attractive wooden box, these are perfect for drinking throughout the day and also suitable for all ages.
Fruit of the Forest Tea
This one available in tea shops in Spain with a blend of mulberry, blackberry, gooseberry and blueberry fruits and black tea leaves. Mulberries are primarily harvested in Extremadura, while the blackberries are grown in Asturias.
Besides, the gooseberries and the blackberries usually grow in Cantabria alongside slope terrains of the rugged las montañas de la Cordillera. The berries are favourites of the Spanish Oso Pardo — the Black Bear that free ranges in the oak forests of the Cordillera mountain range.
Mandarin Tea in Spain
This one is an exclusive variety of premium tea, very much popular in China, It has a long history and traditionally it’s consumed more as medicinal purposes. It’s unique and intense earthy flavour comes with a centuries old secret processing method which allows the broad leaves to oxidize longer than the oolongs.
Orange Blossom Tea in Spain
Yes, you must have heard about authentic Moroccan orange blossom tea. Fresh orange blossoms are used to fragrant the tea. Here this special variety of tea in Spain goes with the flowers mostly gathered in the springtime from the Spanish Azahar orange groves of Alicante and Valencia. The aroma from a cup of orange blossom tea is invigorating!
Green, Black and Red Tea in Spain
Green Tea: – As we all know, green tea has several health benefits like slimming and even reducing risk of esophageal cancer and cholesterol level. For green tea, the tea leaves are steamed, rolled and dried in a proper process to preserve the herbal contents like polyphenols, antioxidant compounds that are of health benefits.
As per the traditional method, the oxidation process is stopped after a minimal amount by applying heat; either with steam – a traditional Japanese method; or by dry cooking in hot pans – the traditional Chinese method. The unique part of preparing green tea in Spain or any other part of world is that it is processed within one to two days of harvesting.
One important thing for everyone preparing green tea in Spain is that when brewing green tea, try to watch and listen to your kettle, and remove it from the heat when the bottom is full of bubbles, but before they start to release to the surface.
Boiling water on green tea will actually “cook” the leaf and result in a bitter brew, losing all the subtleties of the tea. Some do it the other way, and allow the water to cool just a touch after it boils before pouring.
Red Tea: – This is stronger in flavour and colour, and just like any other herbal tea in Spain; this, too, gives various health benefits. Beside its soothing scent and very pleasing strong flavour, it is also caffeine free, has more anti-oxidants than green tea, and contains high amount of Vitamin C, along with calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, sodium, copper, manganese, and fluoride.
Black Tea: – In southern Asia region, black tea is the most common form of tea available. For this, tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidize and the tea leaves usually used are black in colour. But in some parts of South Asia, you may see the same tea served in Spain called as Red Tea, as the actual tea liquid after boiling is red.
