THE BIG CONFUSION!
In our country, as in almost all of Latin America, there is a great tradition of herbal medicine inherited from our pre-Hispanic ancestors. Thus, we have all known since childhood the “tea” of chamomile, orange leaf or anise, the same ones that our mothers or grandmothers gave us when we had stomach ailments or felt bad. However, the word TEA* is not the appropriate one to call these drinks, since the action of extracting the soluble ingredients in hot water from plants, herbs, flowers, fruits, bark, roots, etc. is an INFUSION*.
There are specific words to designate some infusions such as COFFEE, TEA and MATE, which due to their great popularity earned the right to have their own name. Any infusion of another ingredient also has a name, it is called TISANE* (a very common word in French “Tisane”) but it has not been used in our country, perhaps because during the Viceroyalty the Tea boom began in Europe (17th century) and since that drink was made in the same way (or very similar) to our herbs, the Spanish used the same word to describe any herbal infusion: Tea.
It is very disconcerting and even annoying for foreigners to arrive in our country, ask for a tea and the waiter brings them a sachet with chamomile, lemon or cinnamon. And if by chance he manages to understand that what his client wants is a tea, the only thing he has is black tea without any special characteristics, he doesn't even know where it is from!!!
To put it more graphically, it is as if you order a bottle of red wine and they bring you a bottle with a label that only says “Red Wine” without specifying its strain(s), its origin and, if applicable, its vintage, you will surely not feel very comfortable with this selection.
There are currently several suppliers in the country that have a wide variety of teas of different types and origins. They should explain the characteristics of each one so that you can select the one that best suits your taste.
So remember, if you want to use words properly:
- All drinks obtained by extracting the soluble substances of the ingredient in hot water are Infusions. (Coffee, Tea, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Epazote, Cuachalalate, etc.)
- Some infusions have their own name: Coffee, Tea, Mate
- The other infusions are called Tisanes
- Infusion : From the Latin Infusio- onis . Action and effect of infusing. Drink obtained from various fruits or aromatic herbs, such as tea, coffee, chamomile, etc., by introducing them into boiling water. Action of extracting the water-soluble parts from organic substances, at a temperature higher than that of the environment and lower than that of boiling water. Liquid product thus obtained.
- Tea: From Chinese dialect. From Amoy tea . Shrub from the Far East, from the Theaceae family, which grows up to four meters high, with evergreen, alternate, elliptical, pointed, toothed and leathery leaves, six to eight centimeters long and three wide. It has white, axillary flowers with a peduncle, and a capsular, globose fruit with three blackish seeds. Infusion of the leaves of this shrub.
- Tisane: From the Latin Ptisana . Medicinal drink that results from the light cooking of one or more herbs and other ingredients in water.
Olivia Medina
Tea Master, EURO TEA
