Thursday 9 January 2014

Lung Chin Tea Health Benefits

First of all, many of you may not have come across Lung Chin tea. You may recognise it as Long Jin or Dragon's well (or variations on the names). The naming of Chinese tea in English is difficult. Often, where there is no really translatable name, a phonetic name is used. In this case the closest English can get is to try to represent how this tea variety is said. Lung chin, Long Jin, say those out aloud and the do indeed sound similar.

Dragon's well is a direct translation of one of the Chinese names for this tea.

An authentic Lung Chin comes only from the Zhejiang province in eastern China. The province is coastal. There are various legends about the Dragon's Well name origin. One of these suggests that there is a well in the region that was widely known to the inhabitants. The water in the well is denser than normal water. When it rains and the rainwater enters the well, where the two waters meet, they slowly mix and the striations in the region of mixing create the appearance of a moving dragon. You can see the effect for yourself if you carefully add tap water to brine. 

Another legend says that during a drought, the inhabitants prayed to a dragon for rain. When the dragon eventually sent the rain that re-filled their wells, they re-named their village Dragon's Well. The tea they produced and sold was duly given the same name!

As with all true teas, Lung Chin tea is made from the dried leaves of Camellia Sinensis, the tea bush. The particular variety used for Lung Chin grows in a wet and mild climate, such as that found between 1500 and 4500 feet in the mountains of the Zhejiang province.

This is the reason for the health benefits.  All varieties of tea contain anti-oxidants to varying degrees. Teas in which the enzymes that destroy the latter chemicals are deactivated soon after picking have the highest levels. Lung Chin is a green tea. Green teas are gently roasted early in their production. Heat deactivates the enzymes that oxidise the anti-oxidants such as EPCG thus preserving the potential benefits. Lung Chin is also rich in Vitamin C, the vitamin known to be extremely helpful to your body as it helps to keep your immunity to infections high.

The Chinese have known about the beneficial effects of Lung Chin for centuries. Pharmacies prescribe it in a variety of situations such as as a stimulant, diuretic and as an aid to digestion.

Treat yourself to this healthy tea ...