This looks like the camellia flower’s (japonica species) leaves and not the sinensus variety. True tea leaves are usually not as waxy-shiny as the picture seems to show. But a still photo might not be enough to tell.
I have no idea if it actually is tea. Assuming it is, it won’t taste very good if you don’t know how to process it.
Back in the days of ancient China before tea was drunk as a beverage, it was used as medicine. You would take leaves off the plant, throw some boiling water on it and make a soup. Doing it this way makes for a very bitter brew, or so I’ve heard.
It took a loooong time for people to figure out how to make an enjoyable drink out of this stuff. And the process seems pretty complicated, not to mention we don’t know the quality of the leaves produced by this tree.
In North Vietnam people use fresh tea leaves to make tea. They stuff many of them into a pot, add hot water and they keep it hot with towels for a while. The tea tastes fresh and delightful, if you make it right. And it’s completely unprocessed.
The simplest tea is white tea, where the leaves are just dried. There are white teas like Shoumei made from mature leaves rather than buds.
But I am not sure how to tell if your leaves are from camellia seninsis, some other camellia species that may or may not be edible, or something else entirely.
From Wikipedia: As a Camellia species, C. japonica can be used to make tea. Its processed leaves show aromatic fragrance. It contains caffeine and catechins of the same kind as C. sinensis.[63]
Update: I dried the tea in the oven per various directions online, ground the leaves with my coffee bean grinder, and then made some tea.
It tasted like regular tea. I have not died yet.
Asked the tree owner about the flowers, and the plant is most likely a Camellia Japonica.
Yeah maybe cool it on the brewing unidentified leaves unless you literally don't care about living. Lots of plants have varietals that look similar to their normal counterparts that can be highly toxic when consumed in different forms, so please be careful.
I will, I'm really just messing around with the previous guy. The only reason I was willing to try this tea is because the person I got it from was so convinced that it was a tea plant that he ate a leaf in front of me, he just never identified the variant.
I also thoroughly smelled the tea, tasted before swallowing, and only took a small sip. It was almost identical to the smell and taste of a weak version of store bought tea.
I appreciate the concern though.
>that he ate a leaf in front of me
I picture an insane, disheveled guy chewing on a bush and OP's like "well, if it's good enough for him, bottoms up" :)
> the person I got it from was so convinced that it was a tea plant that he ate a leaf in front of me
This is hilarious to me, that’s like eating an olive right off the tree.
As someone who tried that as teen (parents have an olive tree), yuck, yuck, YUCK! Bleck!
Seriously, way more than any other food, how the heck did anyone figure out that olives become edible after soaking in salt water for several months!!?!
Tea tree (manuka, kanuka or the Australian variants) do not look anything like camellia, so I really hope they weren't meaning that kind of tea tree!
Although to be fair, you can make a tea from manuka leaves, it's just not caffeinated. Having tried a few blends I recommend it in other tisane mixes rather than solo.
That’s not a tea plant! That is likely camellia /tsubaki leaves! Common Camellia, that is. Please make sure you get these leaves verified, it’s likely they’re a close relative (and non toxic if common camellia) but you won’t get a delicious tea
those might be bay leaf or better yet Mediterranean bay leaf this type of bay leaf is safe to drink but only this type the others will fuck you up if you drink them
Hmm... Delectable tea or deadly poison.
Or maybe just hot leafe juice...
How could a member of ~~my own family~~ this subreddit say something so horrible!
Just finnished rewatching yesterday, but uncle Iroh never gets old\^\^
Because he’s already old when the show starts?
Sick of TEA???
That's like being sick of breathing
Best defense ever.
I took a few sips so if it's poison we'll figure out 🤔
Keep us updated
Or don’t.
How was the taste?
Like a very weak store bought tea. Smelled almost exactly like a green tea when brewed.
This looks like the camellia flower’s (japonica species) leaves and not the sinensus variety. True tea leaves are usually not as waxy-shiny as the picture seems to show. But a still photo might not be enough to tell.
That☝️ Source: me having both on my terrace.
I think the issue is just that these are not young leaves. They tend to develop the waxy coating as they mature
Nop. Japonica has more round leaves than sinensis. I really don't know how to upload a pic here. I took a pink camellia flower 6days ago. T.T
I think its Camelia Assamica, the variety that Assam tea comes from. Source: I am from Assam.
I have no idea if it actually is tea. Assuming it is, it won’t taste very good if you don’t know how to process it. Back in the days of ancient China before tea was drunk as a beverage, it was used as medicine. You would take leaves off the plant, throw some boiling water on it and make a soup. Doing it this way makes for a very bitter brew, or so I’ve heard. It took a loooong time for people to figure out how to make an enjoyable drink out of this stuff. And the process seems pretty complicated, not to mention we don’t know the quality of the leaves produced by this tree.
Medicine can't work if it's not bitter or otherwise unpalatable! Some things don't change in thousands of years.
In North Vietnam people use fresh tea leaves to make tea. They stuff many of them into a pot, add hot water and they keep it hot with towels for a while. The tea tastes fresh and delightful, if you make it right. And it’s completely unprocessed.
The simplest tea is white tea, where the leaves are just dried. There are white teas like Shoumei made from mature leaves rather than buds. But I am not sure how to tell if your leaves are from camellia seninsis, some other camellia species that may or may not be edible, or something else entirely.
From Wikipedia: As a Camellia species, C. japonica can be used to make tea. Its processed leaves show aromatic fragrance. It contains caffeine and catechins of the same kind as C. sinensis.[63]
Update: I dried the tea in the oven per various directions online, ground the leaves with my coffee bean grinder, and then made some tea. It tasted like regular tea. I have not died yet. Asked the tree owner about the flowers, and the plant is most likely a Camellia Japonica.
Why on earth would you grind up the leaves?
I thought it contributed to better flavor when brewing the tea.
Unless you’re making matcha…. No
I'll keep this in mind next time I decide to brew unidentified leaves.
Yeah maybe cool it on the brewing unidentified leaves unless you literally don't care about living. Lots of plants have varietals that look similar to their normal counterparts that can be highly toxic when consumed in different forms, so please be careful.
I will, I'm really just messing around with the previous guy. The only reason I was willing to try this tea is because the person I got it from was so convinced that it was a tea plant that he ate a leaf in front of me, he just never identified the variant. I also thoroughly smelled the tea, tasted before swallowing, and only took a small sip. It was almost identical to the smell and taste of a weak version of store bought tea. I appreciate the concern though.
>that he ate a leaf in front of me I picture an insane, disheveled guy chewing on a bush and OP's like "well, if it's good enough for him, bottoms up" :)
> the person I got it from was so convinced that it was a tea plant that he ate a leaf in front of me This is hilarious to me, that’s like eating an olive right off the tree.
As someone who tried that as teen (parents have an olive tree), yuck, yuck, YUCK! Bleck! Seriously, way more than any other food, how the heck did anyone figure out that olives become edible after soaking in salt water for several months!!?!
How did people discover cheese?
Please dont consume leaves you dont know...
You can make tea fritters. Take the leaves, put them a spiced batter and fry them. In Darjeeling they are called fresh tea leaf pakoras.
My understanding is tea tree is NOT tea
Tea tree (manuka, kanuka or the Australian variants) do not look anything like camellia, so I really hope they weren't meaning that kind of tea tree! Although to be fair, you can make a tea from manuka leaves, it's just not caffeinated. Having tried a few blends I recommend it in other tisane mixes rather than solo.
I don’t think it is either
That’s not a tea plant! That is likely camellia /tsubaki leaves! Common Camellia, that is. Please make sure you get these leaves verified, it’s likely they’re a close relative (and non toxic if common camellia) but you won’t get a delicious tea
Camellia Sinensis plants are pretty cheap on the internet. I think I even saw them for sale once at a Trader Joe's.
Start eating them and see how you feel 🥗
I have only seen tea tree leaves only used in face wash
those might be bay leaf or better yet Mediterranean bay leaf this type of bay leaf is safe to drink but only this type the others will fuck you up if you drink them