I was bought up on black tea –Thank you Mr Lipton! I was taught how to make a cup of tea at Brownies. We spent many times during my guiding life, making cups of tea for visitors, elderly people whose homes we would visit and each other. Brown Owl said, “Girls, boil the water, make sure it’s hot, one teaspoonful of tea for each person and one for the pot.”So I guess I grew up drinking quite strong tea and it was always hot; Too hot for me. I used to put lots of milk into it and lots of sugar.
At the time I didn’t know of the existence of all the other types of tea. I hadn’t heard of white, green, oolong (wu long). The first, non-black cup of tea I think I had was at the Chinese takeaway at the Gold Coast. I was about 12 years old and on holiday, staying with my cousins. We went to get some Chinese food and while we waited, one of the girls from the shop gave us a small cup of greenish/yellowish, very hot tea. I quite liked it. Very bitter but also refreshing.
When I visited my grandparents, as a teenager, I had my first flavoured tea. I now know it to be Earl Grey. I loved it. For me the good thing about this cup of tea was that I could also have my (beloved) milk and sugar!
Now, I have been fortunate to have had many, many different types of tea. Don’t you just love it when you go to Yum Cha [Dim Sum] and the waiter constantly refills the teapot with delicious Jasmine tea? I quickly learnt the lesson to leave the lid ajar so the waiter would quickly recognise that we needed the refill!
"Tea comes in more varieties than you may suspect. However, based on the way the leaves are processed, all teas are divided into four basic types: black, green, oolong and the very rare white.
Black teas are oxidized; this means that the leaves are exposed to the air for a precise length of time in order to allow natural chemical reactions to occur. These reactions change the leaves' colour from green to copper and intensify their flavour until it is rich and complex. Earl Grey, English Breakfast and Darjeeling are some examples of black teas.
Green teas are not oxidized; they are merely withered and dried. Generally subtle and pale, they are a wonderful accompaniment to Oriental foods. Because of their slightly bitter taste, they are sometimes best enjoyed after a very sweet dessert. Green teas include Lung Ching, Bancha and Sencha.
Oolong teas are a combination of green and black leaves. They are partly fermented and stronger than green teas, but are more delicate than the fully fermented black teas. Black Dragon and Pouchong (Pao-Chung) are a couple of oolong teas.
China whites, produced exclusively in China and highly prized, are simply steamed and dried, providing light, fragrant brews. These are usually taken without a meal, and are available from only the best specialty stores and importers. White teas include Flowery White Pekoe, Silver Needles and Noble Beauty.
Incidentally, for those who may be wondering, herbal teas are often called "tisanes" or "infusions" by purists, who hate to see them confused with teas from the tea plant. Chamomile and Peppermint are just two of the many herbal teas available today."
I am very fond of the Twining’s blends of teas. There are so many brands and blends of tea around today there is no excuse to just stick to one for your daily brew. You need to be adventurous with your tea drinking.
When travelling in Asia I tried some amazing tasting and looking teas. The flower teas are entertaining to watch. The flower ball goes into the glass and after a few seconds it ‘sprouts’ leaves and finally a flower. The flowers are different colours and shapes, depending on the type. One of my favourite flower teas is Buddha’s tears.
Another I like a lot is Rooibos; again, there are many varieties of this tea. I like vanilla and also cherry! It depends what I am eating at the time and what the weather is.
Sometimes I make a large pot of my favourite tea of the day and wait until it is cool (or refrigerate it) and drink it like cold water. Much better for you than flavoured (aerated) drinks and not as stimulating as cawfee.
Tea is known as nature’s 'wonder drug'. Of late, tea and its healthy benefits have been receiving wide attention in the media. The ability of tea to promote good health has long been believed in many countries, especially Japan, China, India, and even England.
The buzz about tea and its benefits is getting louder and is simply becoming too difficult to ignore. Enlightened tea drinkers are rediscovering the protective and revitalizing benefits of this ancient drink. Ever wonder why the Chinese and Japanese have some of the longest life-expectancy rates in the world. Shhh…here’s the secret: they drink tea a lot.
Polyphenols in tea have been known to:
• Help protect cells from the normal, but damaging, physiological process known as "oxidative stress." Although oxygen is vital to life, it's also incorporated into reactive substances called free radicals. These can damage the cells in our body and have been implicated in the slow chain reaction of damage leading to heart disease and cancer.
• Help prevent blood clotting
• Help lower cholesterol levels • Help neutralize enzymes that aid in the growth of tumors
• Help deactivate cancer promoters • Help stimulate the immune system
Tea also has fluoride for strong teeth, virtually no calories, and half the amount of caffeine found in an equally-sized cup of coffee. Whether decaffeinated tea has the same level of polyphenols, and thus the same health benefits, as regular tea has not yet been studied. Caffeine is a natural component of tea leaves. It is not yet known if removing caffeine also removes polyphenols.
Apart from polyphenols, tea also contains a variety of ingredients that are beneficial to one's health. These include theanine (an amino acid unique to tea), vitamins, minerals, and methylxanthines. These are the components that are the source of the healthful properties of tea. These are known to:
• Help fight against mutagenic agents
• Delay aging
• Help fight high blood pressure
• Help fight against viral and bacterial infection
• Help improve the functions of the digestive and excretory systems
To sum it up - by drinking 2-4 cups a day of tea, you can reap in the numerous curative and preventive tea benefits.
Well, it’s great to read about the benefits of tea – I drink it for the flavour/s.
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