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Tea (Camellia sinensis): Fresh Tea

Green Tea Plant With Leaves & Bud
Fresh Tea is tea made out of freshly picked tea leaves, with no processing--the leaves are placed into water to steep, without even drying them. Fresh tea is virtually unknown (and unavailable) in western countries as tea is generally not grown there.

Making "fresh tea" with herbal teas, however, is very common, especially with mint tea; the leaves or other parts of the plant can be picked and placed directly into boiling water to steep.

Many companies refer to teas as "fresh tea" to denote that their leaves are fresh (recently picked, processed, and packaged). These teas, green, white, oolong, or herbal teas, are not to be confused with actual unprocessed fresh tea.