Coffee 2 Tea

As of November 2004, the PubMed database contained more than 1,000 studies on green tea, with more than 400 published in 2004! Following is a brief summary of some of the high points of this most current research.

Green tea drinkers appear to have lower risk for a wide range of diseases, from simple bacterial or viral infections to chronic degenerative conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, periodontal disease, and osteoporosis. The latest studies provide a deeper understanding of the ways in which green tea:

Protects against Death from All Causes, Especially Cardiovascular Disease

In August 2006, a European study, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that tea is a healthier choice than almost any beverage, including pure water, because tea not only rehydrates as well as water, but provides a rich supply of polyhenols protective against heart disease.

Now, a Japanese study published in the September 2006 issue of JAMA, suggests that drinking green tea lowers risk of death due to all causes, including cardiovascular disease.

Shinichi Kuriyama, M.D., Ph.D., of the Tohoku University School of Public Policy, Sendai, Japan, and colleagues examined the association between green tea consumption and death due to all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer.

Green tea is particularly rich in health-promoting flavonoids (which account for 30% of the dry weight of a leaf), including catechins and their derivatives. The most abundant catechin in green tea is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is thought to play a pivotal role in the green tea’s anticancer and antioxidant effects. Catechins should be considered right alongside of the better-known antioxidants like vitamins E and C as potent free radical scavengers and health-supportive for this reason.

Most of the research showing the health benefits of green tea is based on the amount of green tea typically consumed in Asian countries-about 3 cups per day (which would provide 240-320 mg of polyphenols). Just one cup of green tea supplies 20-35 mg of EGCG, which has the highest antioxidant activity of all the green tea catechins.

The health benefits of green tea have been extensively researched and, as the scientific community’s awareness of its potential benefits has increased, so have the number of new studies.

Many coffeehouses are now selling chai tea or chai lattes, but what is chai exactly? In many countries, chai is actually the word for tea. In the U.S., chai has become synonymous with masala chai, which is a beverage from the Indian subcontinent made by brewing tea with a mixture of spices and herbs. There is no set recipe for chai, but the spices usually consist of cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, pepper and ginger. Chai is usually served hot and sweet; the sweetness helps bring out the full flavors of the spices.

Chai tea can be brewed with black tea, the aforementioned spices, milk and sugar. It can also be found in prepackaged tea bags that are ready to brew. It’s also available as loose leaf and can be brewed with the help of a tea strainer. No matter how you drink chai, you’re sure to enjoy its sweet, distinct flavor – try a cup today!

All tea plants belong to the same species-Camellia sinensis-, but local growing conditions (altitude, climate, soils, etc.) vary, resulting in a multitude of distinctive leaves. The way the leaves are processed, however, is even more important in developing the individual characteristics of the three predominant types of tea: green, black and oolong.

Green tea is the least processed and thus provides the most antioxidant polyphenols, notably a catechin called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is believed to be responsible for most of the health benefits linked to green tea. Green tea is made by briefly steaming the just harvested leaves, rendering them soft and pliable and preventing them from fermenting or changing color. After steaming, the leaves are rolled, then spread out and “fired” (dried with hot air or pan-fried in a wok) until they are crisp. The resulting greenish-yellow tea has a green, slightly astringent flavor close to the taste of the fresh leaf.

In black tea production, the leaves are first spread on withering racks and air-blown, which removes about one-third of their moisture and renders them soft and pliable. Next, they are rolled to break their cell walls, releasing the juices essential to fermentation. Once again, they are spread out and kept under high humidity to promote fermentation, which turns the leaves a dark coppery color and develops black tea’s authoritative flavor. Finally, the leaves are “fired,” producing a brownish black tea whose immersion in hot water gives a reddish-brown brew with a stronger flavor than green or oolong teas.

Oolong tea, which is made from leaves that are partially fermented before being fired, falls midway between green and black teas. Oolong is a greenish-brown tea whose flavor, color and aroma are richer than that of green tea, but more delicate than that of black.

Green tea has always been, and remains today, the most popular type of tea from China where most historians and botanists believe the tea plant originated throughout all of Asia. Why is this so? Perhaps because green tea not only captures the taste, aroma and color of spring, but delivers this delightful bouquet along with the highest concentration of beneficial phytonutrients and the least caffeine of all the teas.

All true teas-as distinct from herbal and flower infusions, which afficiandos call tisanes-are made from the leaves of a magnolia-related evergreen tree with the botanical name of Camellia sinensis. Although reaching a height of 30 feet in the wild, on tea plantations (called gardens or estates), the plant is kept as a shrub, constantly pruned to a height of about 3 feet to encourage new growth and for convenient picking.

Green Tea plants grow only in warm climates but can flourish at altitudes ranging from sea level to 7,000 feet. The best teas, however, are produced by plants grown at higher altitudes where the leaves mature more slowly and yield a richer flavor. Depending upon the altitude, a new tea plant may take from 2 ½ to 5 years to be ready for commercial picking, but once productive, it can provide tea leaves for close to a century.

Tea plants produce abundant foliage, a camellia-like flower, and a berry, but only the smallest and youngest leaves are picked for tea-the two leaves and bud at the top of each young shoot. The growth of new shoots, called a flush, can occur every week at lower altitudes but takes several weeks at higher ones. The new leaves are picked by hand by “tea pluckers,” the best of whom can harvest 40 pounds per day, enough to make 10 pounds of tea.

Too Your Health

Well its not exactly an easy question to answer due to the huge variety of teas out there and how exactly you want to measure health benefits.

If we say the health score of a tea is based on its levels of antioxidants (flavinoids, catechins) then we could draw up the following table…

[1] Jasmine tea’s base is green tea and its total antioxidant content is boosted by the presence of jasmine.

[2] Although Rooibos isn’t of the same species and not strictly a tea it is commonly referred to as a tea. Now although many have claimed it has a higher antioxidant content than tea this isn’t true although it does contain a variety of unique antioxidants.

[3] The general consensus is that iced tea is the most heavily processed and thus least antioxidant rich of the teas. However, Lipton do claim that their tea with lemon contains an unusually high amount of flavinoids. How much we believe this is up to you.

(Hakim IA, Hartz V, Harris RB, Balentine D, Weisgerber UM, Graver E, Whitacre R, Alberts D. Reproducibility and relative validity of a questionnaire to assess intake of black tea polyphenols in epidemiological studies. Cancer Epidem Bio & Prev 2001; 10:667-78).

Antioxidant Activity of Black Tea vs. Green Tea (Ki Won Lee and Hyong Joo Lee) Department of Food Science and Technology School of Agricultural Biotechnology Seoul National University Suwon 441–744, Korea

Tea pots and tea kettles can look very similar, and perhaps why the confusion that began in the first place. But these two things will certainly be more used for different functions in the tea lover. People who are not regular tea drinkers sometimes get different bits of tea terminology confused. You are amazed at how many times I heard the others all get together when it comes to tea kettles and tea pots, electric teapot. They use the terms interchangeably, and it is enough to make a true connoisseur of tea and if your nails down a Board hearing!

The teapot is a container that is sometimes decorative, sometimes very simple. It is used for tea in a serious supply of hot water and tea is loose or tea bags. Often, you can use a tea kettle on the stove or on an open fire. The tea kettle is designed for use above a stove or hot plate to heat the water is in the kettle of persons wanted by hot water. When the water has reached the right temperature, it is usually used to make tea, even if it can be used for any purpose in very hot water which is necessary.

Typically, a kettle is a type of pottery that the mind of someone who needed a good tool for use in a fire or a stove for cooking purposes. The word “kettle” comes from Latin. “Catillus” is Latin for “a deep dish or pan used for cooking. You can go back to research the history of cooking lore and found that every house, rich or poor, a sort of kettle in the kitchen.

This is a cuisine that was a vital necessity. Over time, some people saw the need for kettles slightly below the monster that had become a kitchen staple. They want something that can be used with particular boil water for making tea, and through the cup and the pot. Therefore, the first born teakettle.

By the time we reached the 20th century, the various types of cuisine and dishes had come and gone, but the tea kettle and tea pot are two devices that are not faded into the background of culinary history. Instead, they would be more useful and indispensable.

What a kettle to make tea? Tea kettles that sit on an open fire, of course, that was fashioned from a material capable of withstanding the heat. Different types of metal to fill the bill very well. Stainless steel, copper, chrome, and are all popular. The design of your basic, generic tea kettle is an eligible lid comes off easily so you can put the water in a kettle, a spout to pour easily heated the water outside the boiler, and a sturdy handle for a kettle tea can be withdrawn from the heat and moved from the area, if desired area.

An important part of the project will be a test of heat. Do you want a handle that will not be too hot for you to understand and hold. Many of the cheapest tea kettles do not offer this option, and is not captured by the cruel used to it, especially when they are burned by hand for nurses as a result of the test until a heat manage a tea kettle and the kettle did not discover the have one!

Some tea kettles are equipped with whistles to allow a piercing sound when the water began to boil. People can be really fun on whistling tea kettles! They either love or hate love these close, without in-between feelings. The whistle could come in easy when you’re going to be able to stay in the same room with tea kettle – at least we know when the water is ready to make the tea, when you hear the whistle! Tea kettle purists say there is no need for a whistle, and distracts the mind from the true purpose of the kettle, which will lead water to a rapid boil.

Believe it or not, you can find true for replacement whistling tea kettles! And, you can also buy a tea kettle whistle that only a tea kettle spout started without a whistle at all. The most popular type of tea kettle whistle is made in the form of a bird in flight, and its color is light red. The notes of the whistle is clear and bright, very much like a bird song.

You can also find tea pots can also be used as tea kettles, because the material is a craft. Some good ones made from cast iron double-duty as a tea kettle. You can also consider an electric tea kettle like most lovers of British tea use. Usually bring water to a boil in half the time a regular tea kettle, and the price for electric models is well justified.

So you’re bored with black tea and green tea doesn’t cause much of a stir either. Perhaps it’s time to throw caution to the wind and taste some tea with a little added zip. White tea is characterized by its less processed flavor and comparatively higher caffeine levels. Most white teas are brewed from buds and young leaves, which harbor a unique flavor that is lost by the time they age enough to make black tea.

White tea also boasts some notable health benefits. Many white teas contain high levels of catechin, an antioxidant that has been shown to reduce the signs of aging. Some studies have even concluded that white tea has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties – more so than even green tea.

There are six types of tea– Black, Green,White, Oolong and Scented and Compressed.

Black tea includes Assam, Darjeeling and Nilgiri form India: Ceylon and from Sri Lanaka; and keemun and Lapsang Souchong form China. Each has its own distinctive flavor and aroma. The leaves undergo four processing stages: withering (which happens when the leaves are laid out to dry), rolling, fermenting (a process that makes the leaves turn their familiar brownish color and imparts a healthy flavor), and drying. Darjeeling – considered to be the Premier of teas – is grown at varying altitudes in the Himalayas; the higher up it is grown, the lighter the tea. Especially prized by connoisseurs is the new season’s tea, the light and fragrant first flush Darjeeling, picked in April.

Green tea, which is paler and milder than black tea, was the first to be enjoyed throughout the world, but its popularity waned as peopled showed a preference for a stronger brew. There are only two processing stages involved in producing green tea: rolling and drying. Varieties include gunpowder form China and Matcha and Sencha from Japan.

White tea is produced in very small quantities in China and Sri Lanka and is available from specialist tea suppliers. A tea for the connoisseur.

Oolong tea is semi-fermented and is generally the most expensive type of tea. The best varieties are produced in Taiwan and include the exclusive Monkey picked.

Scented teas are made from green, oolong, or black tea flavored with fruits, herbs spices and flowers, such as roses, orchids, and jasmine.

Compressed teas are formed into ball, brick, hest, and cake shapes. These are produced in China.

Blended Teas

Blended teas have an important place in modern tea-drinking, particularly the English Breakfast tea blend. Originally a mix of black Indian and Chinese teas, today Assam, Ceylon, and African teas are blended to provide drinkers with the three elements they require – strength, flavour and colour. More exotic sounding is the blend of Chinese tea called Russian Caravan tea, which is named after the camel caravan that bought Chinese tea to Europe along the silk and spice trade route.

Earl Grey, so called after Charles, the second Earl Grey who was the Prime Minister of Britain between 1830 and 1834, is a popular blend. Made with Indian and Chinese teas, flavoured with bergamot oil, it is a refreshing tea, best served black or with lemon.

The basic rules that most people follow today includes using freshly drawn and boiled water and allowing one scoopful of loose tea or a one tea bag per person.

Brewing time is, it is agreed , all-important and depends on the type of tea you are brewing, Darjeeling requires from 3 to 5 minutes, Kenya form 2 to 4 minute and China Oolong 5 to 7 minute. At what point you add milk, however, has been a contentious subject for decades, Victorian etiquette was definite on the matter; the milk or cream had to be put in last, so that its addition could be rejected or limited.  The British novelist and essayist, George Orwell, who also published his own eleven golden rules for a “nice cup of tea’ in 1945, had equally firm views. Last was best, he wrote, for “by putting the tea in first and then stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk.” The last word goes t Nancy Mitford, the English aristocrat novelist and biographer, who claimed that “milk in first,” know as the “MIF” debate, was without doubt, not the “thing” to do.

Excerpt form Where to Take Tea: Susan Cohen