Tea product and process for preparing the same
The present invention relates to a tea product and more particularly the present invention relates to a black tea product. According to the present invention there is provided a process for producing a tea product comprises the steps of: a) extracting a leaf tea product including both a soluble part and an insoluble part with a solvent; b) separating the insoluble part from the soluble part; c) compacting the insoluble part to obtain a base tea material; d) drying the base tea material to a moisture content of less than 5% by weight. e) contacting the soluble part obtained in step (b) with the dried base tea material; f) further drying the mixture to obtain the tea product.
1. A tea product comprising:
a) 5 to 95% by weight of a base tea material which is porous and has a porosity of less than 5 cc/kg and which comprises less than 5% of polyphenols by dry weight; and
b) wherein the base tea material comprises a coating of 95 to 5% by weight of soluble tea solids, and wherein the soluble tea solids comprise 10 to 40% of polyphenols by dry weight.
2. The tea product as claimed in claim 1 wherein the soluble solids comprise 0.1 to 5% by weight of theaflavins.
3. The tea product as claimed in claim 1 wherein the soluble solids comprise 1 to 20% by weight of catechins.
4. The tea product as claimed in claim 1 wherein the soluble solids comprise 0.5 to 10% by weight of theanine.
5. The tea product as claimed in claim 1 wherein the soluble solids comprise 4 to 40% by weight of caffeine.
6. A process for producing the tea product as claimed in claim 1 comprising:
a) extracting a leaf tea product comprising both a soluble part and an insoluble part with a solvent;
b) separating the insoluble part from the soluble part;
c) compacting the insoluble part to obtain a base tea material to provide a porosity of less than 5 cc/kg;
d) drying the base tea material to a moisture content of less than 5% by weight;
e) contacting the soluble part obtained in step (b) with the dried base tea material;
f) further drying the mixture to obtain the tea product.
7. The process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the solvent is water.
8. The process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the porosity of the base tea material is less than 5 cc/kg.
9. The process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the polyphenols content in the base tea material is less than 5% by dry weight of the base tea material.
10. The process as claimed in claim 6 wherein bulk density of the base tea material is at least 350 g/L.
11. The process as claimed in claim 6 wherein the hydration capacity of the base tea material is less than 50 mL/100 g.