Below are some of the facts that suprised me when I found out (and busted some of my assumptions). I found the interesting and surprising and maybe you will too. It’s weird what we believe to be true until it’s factual basis is questioned.
A lot of the products that many of us use every day, we often assume come from very different sources but that often isn't the case.
- Black and white pepper come from the exact same plant (not different plants). The only difference is that black pepper berries are dried whole (and they become black and pungent) where as white pepper is created by soaking the exact same berries until the skins comes off which creates a milder and less pungent lighter coloured product.
Image source: White Pepper vs. Black Pepper: What's the Difference?
- Red and white wine can both come from green grapes and vice versa. The colour in wine comes from the skin of the grape meaning that white wine can be made from the flesh of dark coloured grapes too as long as the skins are removed immediately (champagne is made in this fashion).
That blew my mind. When I was younger, I genuinely thought all white wine came from green grapes and all red wine came from red/black grapes.
- Black, green and white tea also come from the same tea bush (Camellia Sinensis - sidenote - I’ve purchased some seeds and will be attempting to grow my own just for funsies) - they are just processed quite differently (oxidation, rolling, withering, drying and sometimes fermentation and steaming) giving them very different flavours and appearance. Macha powder also comes from the exact same bush, but (again) is processed quite differently in that the bushes are shaded some weeks out from harvest which forces the bush to release more chlorophyll which is why macha powder is so intensely green.
Image source: Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract - greengredients