The majority of teas you will find in stores today are blends. The reason for this is that pure teas are never exactly the same, anyway. The same type of tea from the same place will grow slightly differently each season, and it will have its own subtle hints of taste and savor.

There are two main reasons in creating premium tea blends. The first reason is just an attempt to secure invariable quality of a certain tea. Then tea blend will be optimized by prime cost and become a mixture of a small amount of good tea with a greater amount of second-rate tea. The second reason for tea blends is the creation of new tastes.

The tea plant known as Camellia Sinensis is native to both China and regions in India. In the wild, tea plants are known to reach heights of over 90 feet. Historically, primates were taught to climb the plants, tear of the leaves, and drop them to their human counterparts for collection. In modern times we trim our tea plants to about three feet each, and harvest them in large crops to facilitate easy harvesting. Storing premium tea blends in sealed airtight containers away from light is essential to ensuring that they retain their flavor and don't soak up other smells or tastes.

There are over 2000 types and varieties of tea. Although tea is produced in more than 25 countries, the major tea producing countries include: China, India, Japan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Tea has many health benefits. It tastes good and warms the spirit.

The three main categories of tea are: Black, Green, and Oolong, each with its own varieties. Black and Green teas originate from the same tea plant, but are being processed differently. Black tea is oxidized for several hours before drying. And Green tea is steamed immediately after picking. Oolong (green/black) tea is also partially fermented to preserve some of the delicate flavor of the black tea. Green Tea has long been known as a health tonic, elixir, and satisfying beverage. Many scientific researches today have proved that fact.

Tea became the Chinese national beverage of choice during the Tang Dynasty (816-906 B.C.). Prior to the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869, shipping tea from China to Europe was extremely expensive. Sea could travel by sea around the Horn of Africa, or overland through the Silk road, but it took months of transit time, and the tea lost some of it's freshness along the way. Tea shipped by sea was known as "Canton" tea, and tea shipped overland was known as "Caravan" tea. Caravan tea was more highly valued as it was of better quality.

Today, tea is a major industry. In addition to premium tea blends, you can buy many tea related products and gift kits that would be greatly appreciated by members of your family, friends and co-workers. For example, themed tea gift baskets, tea and chocolate packages, tea chest and pots, holiday gift baskets, and many other types of tea related gifts are available. To find the perfect tea gift, go online and read some tea blend reviews.

Since most completely pure teas are never the same, almost all teas available today are blends. Premium tea blends are created for two different purposes. A common one is simply to create an economical blend of a given quality by mixing a costly high grade tea with a lesser grade to achieve the correct level of quality at the optimum price. You can buy many related products and even themed tea gift baskets including tea, chocolate, tea chests, teapots, mugs and so on. Just get online and read some of the tea blends reviews.