"Oooh that looks like a nice cup of tea!"

The oldest compliment it may be but it stands up to scientific scrutiny.

When we consider the attributes that are delivered by the good chemistry of tea then yes, the appearance of your cuppa matters.

For complete disclosure, this little foray, is talking about teas made from camellia sinensis leaves and not from other plant material so, true tea only!

You are, no doubt, aware of the collective noun "Polyphenols" used to describe a host of organic compounds in tea that are responsible for the in cup characteristics and healthy properties of tea.

This group, starts off very small (in variety and compound size) and then, with age (as the new leaf unfurls and matures) multiplies and then, acted on by harvesting and processing conditions, changes yet again until the original organic "soup" has morphed into something quite different.

Why would a plant produce these compounds in the first place, in the knowledge that we might enjoy them? No, of course not, they start off as a plant protection mechanism, a bitter (astringent) cocktail that makes the young growth unpalatable for insects and other predators but, as the leaf matures the complex needs of a plant changes, including the need to feed, drink and support itself mechanically. Somewhere in this transition of needs is the building up of positive scoring attributes, from a tea drinking perspective, and then a rapid decline, as these soluble, tasty "bits" become too large to dissolve in water and therefore deliver much to the cuppa.

Okay, so what about the title, brightness of cup and this primordial soup?

Well, it just so happens that brightness or glossiness, if you want paint parlance, is what you get from "flavanols" a group stage within the polyphenol metamorphosis which, as the name suggests also gives you???.....yes, flavour!

This group is concentrated in the leaf by slow growth, usually after a period of no growth (dormancy) but can be due to altitude, access to nitrogen and stress, among other factors. It is also known, by tea farmers, that it is concentrated in the new leaf growth so selective harvesting helps to maintain the quality potential of the harvest.

From the moment this material is plucked from the Bush everything becomes a matter of speed, conditions and careful monitoring to ensure the potential of this green stock is maximized through to the finished article.

Too much or little of any parameter can ruin the leaf and so every great looking cup is a testament to the time, temperature pressure tightropes walked by producers every day.

So next time you say "Oooh that looks like a great cup of tea" know that you are acknowledging a body of work engaged by Mother nature, Farmer and Producer some distance away from where you sip, unless of course you are lucky enough to be sitting on a tea estate drinking their version of bungalow tea, in which case you can give a thumbs up to she and them, before you.