No one really knows for sure when tea drinking started, one popular Chinese legend suggests that an emperor called Shennong was responsible. He also seems to have been responsible for inventing traditional Chinese Medicine too! Clever chap, if it's true. Apparently, he had a bit of a thing for tasting plants (and probably animals too) and whenever he came across something toxic that made him ill he would take tea! There is also a similar legend about a Chinese deity - just versions of the same legend I suppose ... but whilst tea is not really a miracle cure as described in these legends, it is potentially a healthy drink.
Why's that?
Tea leaves contain many natural chemicals, some of which are known to have powerful antioxidant properties. These can help the body deal with bad chemicals called 'free radicals' which are known to cause harm damaging the heart and linked to cancer. Antioxidants can alter free radicals and render them int a form that is no longer harmful.
There are plenty of other foodstuffs around that contain antioxidants so tea should form just a part of your daily healthy diet. Studies have been done and suggest that you would need to drink a lot of tea to supply the body with a usefully high antioxidant concentration. A study in Japan (sorry, I don't have the reference now) suggested that people who drank at least 7 cups of green tea per day may well have less chance of developing cancer. Sadly, the report was fairly arbitrary and just looked at a few people in a certain village - as with all health related studies, it is impossibly difficult to carry out a controlled experiment and the numbers involved are inevitably too small to make it scientifically valid.
So green and oolong teas may not be the 'silver bullet' that will ensure long life and good health, as claimed by many marketers (are they cynical or do they not realise that these stidies are not particularly scientific?) and sellers of tea ...but they do taste good and may just contribute in some small way to your healthy lifestyle.
Buy Green Tea
Buy Oolong Tea
Monday 19 April 2010
Thursday 8 April 2010
About the amazing Camellia Sinensis
This is the scientific name for the amazing plant that gives us the goodness of green and oolong teas. It is native to south east asia which probably explains why China was the birthplace of the tea industry. Did you know that all types of tea come from this plant? The differences come from the fact that there are two varieties, the time of picking and the method of processing. Green tea is the least processed, in fact it is not really processed, preserving the natural compounds that are reputed to do you good. OK, back to Camellia.
It is a small shrub which has small white fragrant blossom during late winter and the spring. In warmer climes is grown outdoors as an ornamental garden plant - the leaves are a bright green and often have a hairy underside making the plant tactile as well as a visual ornamental. White tea is so called because the hairy leaves are used in its manufacture. When dried, the hairs give a white, almost silver sheen to the tea leaves. The fruits are a dull brown-green. Left wild, it grows to a tree standing just under 20m in height so to grow it as an ornamental will normally require pruning. Propagation is normally by cutting as it is notoriously hard to raise from seed. The reason for that is that if the seeds are dried, viability is reduced - they need to be planted fresh whilst they are still moist. However, if the seeds are stored in moist conditions at a temperature a little above freexing, they can remain viable for a year or more. It prefers a slightly acidic well drained sandy soil. Chinese tea is produced from the hardier variety Camellia sinensis var. sinensis which is hardy to about -5 degrees C. The leaves are more delicate than its Indian counterpart Camellia sinensis var. assamica.
Remember, always use loose leaf teas in preference to tea bags. The latter are made from the fannings - the waste material from the real thing. Because the fannings are effectively tea powder, they present a large surface area to the air and any goodness and flavour will oxidise much faster than in the leaf tea. So the green tea tea bags sold in health shops are probably not as healthy as they claim, nor will they be as tasty.
Prices: £5.45
It is a small shrub which has small white fragrant blossom during late winter and the spring. In warmer climes is grown outdoors as an ornamental garden plant - the leaves are a bright green and often have a hairy underside making the plant tactile as well as a visual ornamental. White tea is so called because the hairy leaves are used in its manufacture. When dried, the hairs give a white, almost silver sheen to the tea leaves. The fruits are a dull brown-green. Left wild, it grows to a tree standing just under 20m in height so to grow it as an ornamental will normally require pruning. Propagation is normally by cutting as it is notoriously hard to raise from seed. The reason for that is that if the seeds are dried, viability is reduced - they need to be planted fresh whilst they are still moist. However, if the seeds are stored in moist conditions at a temperature a little above freexing, they can remain viable for a year or more. It prefers a slightly acidic well drained sandy soil. Chinese tea is produced from the hardier variety Camellia sinensis var. sinensis which is hardy to about -5 degrees C. The leaves are more delicate than its Indian counterpart Camellia sinensis var. assamica.
Remember, always use loose leaf teas in preference to tea bags. The latter are made from the fannings - the waste material from the real thing. Because the fannings are effectively tea powder, they present a large surface area to the air and any goodness and flavour will oxidise much faster than in the leaf tea. So the green tea tea bags sold in health shops are probably not as healthy as they claim, nor will they be as tasty.
Fresh Green Tea - Long Jin
Long Jin tea is also known as Dragon Well and is often called the national drink of China. It is probably the most well known green tea produced in China.
When brewed, this green tea produces a yellow-green colour, giving off a distinct but subtle aroma with a great taste. It is incomparably better than the beverage produced from cheaper green tea bags.
When brewed, this green tea produces a yellow-green colour, giving off a distinct but subtle aroma with a great taste. It is incomparably better than the beverage produced from cheaper green tea bags.
Pack size: 50g
Servings: 50 cups or more. Full instructions on how to prepare the perfect cup of tea inside each box
Servings: 50 cups or more. Full instructions on how to prepare the perfect cup of tea inside each box
Prices: £5.45
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