eli5: what makes tea, tea? like what’s different than me plucking leaves off a random tree or finding dry ones off the ground and essentially making flavoured water?

Question

eli5: what makes tea, tea? like what’s different than me plucking leaves off a random tree or finding dry ones off the ground and essentially making flavoured water?

In: 20

Answer 1

Tea are the leaves of one specific plant, Camellia sinensis.

Strictly speaking, if you poured boiling water over the dried leaves of any other plant, what you would have is an “infusion,” not tea, although such concoctions are often called “teas,” e.g. chamomile tea. You could certainly try it with any old leaf off the ground, but it’s unlikely to taste very good.