Teas Around The World Trivia Quiz

Answer: Morocco

For Moroccan tea, or touareg, green tea and mint leaves are boiled up together with sugar then the infusion is allowed to brew in a pot. The traditional ceremony of making and drinking the tea is called atai and the tea-maker pours the brewed liquid into a small glass from about a foot above the glass.

If no foam appears on top of the liquid this means the tea has not been brewed for long enough so it is poured back into the pot and allowed to brew for a while longer. Nuts and sweets may be served with the tea.

Answer: Korea

The Korean word 'omija' translates into English as 'five-flavours' and the tea made there from dried berries of the magnolia tree has bitter, salty, sour, pungent and sweet flavours. The tea is made by water being added to the berries before the mixture is boiled over a low heat and honey added. As an alternative method of making the tea, the berries can be ground then added to cold water.

This tea has been found to aid in detoxification and in lowering blood pressure. Omija-cha can also be used as a base for the fruit punch called omija-hwachae, which has been used to help people who are experiencing heat stroke.

Answer: Taiwan

Bubble tea is also known as boba or black pearl tea and it is believed it was created in 1988 in a teahouse in Taiwan when someone, unintentionally or otherwise, dropped tapioca balls into iced tea.

This evolved into the manufacture of bubble tea, which is made when hot water is poured over the tea leaves and allowed to brew before the tea leaves are removed. Sugar syrup and small balls of cooked tapioca or fruit jelly then milk or milk powder are added. The mixture is shaken hard or stirred to introduce air bubbles into the otherwise smooth drink and then ice is added.

Answer: Turkey

At one time people in the area that is now Turkey often drank coffee but after the Ottoman Empire broke up in the early 1920s the price of coffee, which then had to be imported, increased. In response the Turkish people began drinking and growing more tea, and now export large amounts.

Cay is made from black tea leaves and often served with sugar cubes. Water is boiled in the larger, lower teapot then some is poured into the smaller, upper pot and the tea leaves are then added. The resulting strong liquid is poured into glasses, which allows the tea's deep brown colour to be seen. It also enables the drinker to regulate the strength of their tea by adding their desired amount of additional water from the lower teapot.

Answer: Japan

The traditional Japanese chanoyu tea ceremony involves very specific routines in making, presenting and drinking tea. The tea used is made from green tea leaves picked from plants which have been grown in the shade. These leaves are ground up to make matcha powder.

During the tea-making ceremony a measured amount of matcha powder is transferred into a tea bowl or chawan using a small ladle called a chashaku. Then hot water is gradually added, and the powder stirred into it by means of a bamboo whisk or chasen. This results in frothy tea which contains high levels of caffeine and has a somewhat bitter taste so that sweets are generally served with it.

Answer: Russia

Tea was apparently introduced into Russia in the seventeenth century but only became widely drunk there in the nineteenth. Traditionally, water to make the tea with is boiled in a tall urn called a samovar. Using some of this boiled water, the very concentrated black tea known as zavarka is then brewed in a teapot that sits on top of the samovar.

A little zavarka is poured from the teapot into each teacup then diluted with more hot water from the samovar. Honey or sugar can then be added and sometimes herbs or slices of lemon are also added to flavour the drink.

Answer: South Africa

'Rooibos' means 'red bush' and the bush with this name is native to South Africa's Cederberg region. The tea made from the leaves of this bush is generally known as rooibos in South Africa but can be known as red bush tea or red tea in other countries, such as the UK.

The rooibos leaves are put into a teapot and boiling water is added and the tea allowed to brew before being strained into a glass or cup. The tea has a reddish-brown colour and milk and sugar or honey may be added to it. Rooibos contains no caffeine, has lower levels of tannin than black or green tea and has a somewhat bitter taste.

Answer: Thailand

In Thailand cha-yen is made using black tea from Ceylon or a locally-grown variety of Assam tea. Hot water and often spices such as cinnamon, star anise, orange blossom and/or ground tamarind are added to the tea leaves and the mixture is allowed to brew for a while. Then milk - usually condensed and/or evaporated milk - and sugar are added and the tea is poured into glasses over ice, although sometimes the milk is added last.

Although it only seems to have been created in the twentieth century and commentators suggest it shows some Western influence, cha-yen has become very popular in Thailand. It is on restaurant menus and is also sold in plastic glasses or even in plastic bags from street and market stalls.

Answer: Argentina

Yerba mate is drunk in some other South American countries as well as in Argentina. Leaves from the yerba mate plant, a species of holly, are dried then placed in a gourd. Then very hot, but not boiling, water is added and the tea allowed to brew for a short time before being drunk from the gourd through a bombilla or metal straw, which is constructed so as to allow only liquid through.

Generally a number of people drink from the same gourd of tea in turn so that after one person has drunk the tea the gourd is filled with more water and passed to the next drinker. Yerba mate contains caffeine and apparently has more anti-oxidant properties than green tea.

Answer: India

Masala chai can be made using different spices although cardamom, cinnamon and cloves are generally among the spices used. The usual traditional way to make this tea is to add the spices and some milk to water and boil the mixture. Black tea leaves are added and the mixture is simmered while the tea brews. The tea is then strained into cups and sugar added according to the individual taste of the drinker.

India now produces something like a million tons of tea leaves each year, although exact figures can vary. Large amounts are exported as well as used inside the country, where chai wallahs make and sell Masala chai to passers-by from tea stalls in the streets.