How About Drinking A Soothing Cup Of Tea - A Great Way To Relax, And Add Medicinal Benefits To Boot!

Furthermore, at Pace University new studies conducted have indicated that White Tea Extract may have prophlactic applications in retarding the growth of bacteria that cause Staphylococcus, Streptococcus infections, pneumonia and dental caries. As far as the medical community goes, a study at the University of Oregon indicated that consumption of moderate amounts of green or white tea might provide a protection against colon tumors about as well as a prescription drug, sulindac that has been shown effective for that purpose. Some leaves even have slight hairy down on them. The leaves of these varietals are slightly paler in color which is evident in the brewed infusion.

According to the Metropolitan Tea Company, white teas are slightly fermented and come from selected varietal tea bushes. What is White Tea? Wow, this is good!! I love tea with vanilla in it and I like white tea so I chose a tea called Wedding Tea. Today I chose to drink a cup of TEA while I relaxed on the porch of my store.
More on the medicinal side of Tea: Cinnamon in tea can reduce blood sugar, cholesterol & triglyceride levels. Cinnamon fights tooth decay, is an antiseptic that help kill the bacteria that cause tooth decay & gum disease, soothes an upset stomach and cleans up urinary - tract infections. You may want to try Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon & Spice Tea. You will get a cinnamon JOLT for sure in this Tea!!!
Harney & Sons also has a Peppermint Tea as well. In olden days some doctors claimed mint was an aphrodisiac. As an infusion they may stimulate the stomach and be intestinal antiseptic.

Spearmint and Peppermint are known for their digestive properties.
I hope this helps you out a little, just a bit of information to convince you that maybe you Herbal teas have special and unique flavors and many are often consumed for their medicinal properties, and, Herbal Teas have NO CAFFEINE!! Now as for Herbal Teas, these are not true teas. That's just my opinion!!

It tastes crisp and feels good on my tongue. I like to think of White Tea as the champagne of Tea. White teas are particularly high in polyphenols. White Teas are slightly fermented and come from selected varietal tea bushes. Oolongs are easily recognized by appearance of the leaves which are stout, crinkled and when infused, often look greenish with reddish edges.

For instance: Oolong Tea is a semi-fermented compared to Green Tea which is fully fermented. The variety of teas is due to differences in growing conditions, the kind of leaves harvested and the processing technique. So here we go; all tea comes from the same species of plant -CAMELLIA SENENSIS. I don't want to overwhelm you with information like some articles do to me. I'll try to help you a little.

You might ask: What are the differences between Green, Black, Oolong, White and Herbal Teas?
Here are a few things you might not know - I know I didn't until I started researching Tea Facts a few years ago:
- Ceylon is the general name for tea produced in Sri Lanka. The plant is a close relative of the Assam indigenous tea plant that is the ancestor of most teas grown in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya.
- The term ORANGE PEKOE refers to the size of the leaf and not to the flavor of the tea. The size of the black leaf affects the speed of infusion with large leaf types steeping more slowly. I have always said Orange Pekoe is just your plain old regular type Tea!!
- Tea is a rich source of Antioxidants that are believed to fight free radicals that can cause cancer, heart disease and strokes, rheumatoid arthritis, cataracts and Alzheimer's disease.
- The Tea Council of Canada states: tea taken without milk or sugar contains no calories or fat; but if milk is taken in tea it is a vital source of calcium. The British Dental health Fdn. Confirms Tea is a healthy drink which has many beneficial properties for teeth and everyone should be encouraged to drink it.
- In tea taster's jargon there is a term called ‘Agony of the Leaf' which refers to the unfolding of the tea leaves when boiling water is applied to them.
- Tea sometimes may taste bitter. It contains tannins and if a tea is allowed to steep too long, more of the tannins are released causing what some people say is a bitter taste. A dash of sugar can reduce this bitterness or alternatively add some milk, as this will reduce the pH level of the tea.
Much of my knowledge comes from The Metropolitan Tea Company - whose tea I have enjoyed for about 3 ½ years now. I respect this company and all their research and their Tea is good too.
Blessings, Shyrll Olson
www.sandjcountrystore.com

Gyokuro Green Tea - What It Is And How To Brew It

If you consider yourself an "advanced" green tea connoisseur, perhaps you may have considered or have even tried brewing gyokuro. Since good gyokuro is expensive, it's common for people to try it once, not find it to their liking, and then give up on it. This is often a result of an enthusiast brewing it like they brew their normal sencha green tea. Once you have tried a good gyokuro brewed correctly, however, you will understand what a great green tea it actually is.
Obviously, there is a reason why growers go to all of this trouble - gyokuro is delicious! All of this of course means extra labor, which has a lot to do with why gyokuro is so expensive in the first place. This is accomplished by building an enclosure around the plants using bamboo poles covered with rice straw.

About 3 weeks before the anticipated harvest date, the tea bushes are covered under 90% shade. In case you are not aware, gyokuro is shade grown green tea.
Probably the most important aspect of brewing gyokuro is temperature. Gyokuro needs to be brewed at a lower temperature than other green teas, about 155 Fahrenheit (68 Celsius.) Since water boils at 212F, obviously the temperature needs to be reduced somehow. Even when cooled, however, one can't really start the process with water that is 155F for numerous reasons. If one pours 155F water into a teapot that has been sitting at room temperature, expect that the water will no longer remain at 155F, but will instead drop about 15 degrees. Great, now we're at 140F - too cool for brewing. If in turn one pours that tea into two teacups sitting at room temperature, expect another 15 degree temperature drop. Now we're at 125 F, and two cold, boring cups of improperly brewed gyokuro. So the devil is in the details, and to brew a good cup of gyokuro, these things need to be taken into consideration.
Where you normally can get away with a teaspoon of loose leaf sencha in an 8 ounce teapot, for gyokuro you will need instead about 1 tablespoons of tea per person, and about 5 or 6 ounces of water for each person served. Where you normally can get away with a teaspoon of loose leaf sencha in an 8 ounce teapot, for gyokuro you will need to use more tea. Where you normally can get away with a teaspoon of loose leaf sencha in an 8 ounce teapot, for gyokuro you will need to use more tea.

Where you normally can get away with a teaspoon of loose leaf sencha in an 8 ounce teapot, for gyokuro you will need to use more tea. Where you normally can get away with a teaspoon of loose leaf sencha in an 8 ounce teapot, for gyokuro you will need to use more tea. To brew a good cup of gyokuro, you will need to use more tea.
Western teapots and the like can be used as long as you know what you are doing and take all of the above into consideration. This is not to say you can't use other types of teapots. Additionally, Japanese teapots are usually just the right size for the job. That means it needs a lot of room to expand.

Gyokuro, like other green teas, is compact. One other aspect of brewing gyokuro that is often overlooked is the teapot that one brews it in.
To get down to brewing, I think I can best sum this up by saying the traditional Japanese way of brewing their green tea is also probably the best way to do it, no surprises there. So let's make two cups of gyokuro green tea. You will need three empty teacups, your teapot, and a good gyokuro. Start off by boiling your water in a kettle. When the water "just" starts to boil, immediately turn off the heat and allow the water to cool on it's own for a few minutes. Pour your hot water directly into the empty teapot, filling it, and allowing the teapot to sit a minute or so and warm up. This not only warms the teapot, it also cools the water some. Next, pour the hot water from the teapot into two of the three cold teacups, and then empty the remaining water from the teapot. At this stage we now have a warm teapot, two teacups with hot water in them, and a cold, still empty third teacup. More likely than not, the hot water in those two teacups is still a bit two warm for gyokuro, so what you will want to do is pass back and forth the water between the three teacups, warming the cups and cooling off the water. You usually only have to do this once or twice. This also has the effect of adding oxygen to the water and will improve the taste of the finished product.
All of this does take a little practice to get the hang of, but you'll soon be able to sense when you have cooled the water enough. Put about one and a half tablespoons of loose leaf gyokuro into the warm teapot, and pour the hot water from the two filled teacups directly into the teapot. Brew for 2 to 3 minutes, not disturbing the teapot. Lastly, pour from the teapot back into the warm teacups, draining all of the tea to the very last drop. If you've done that correctly and were patient, you should have one of the finest cups of green tea you've ever tasted. For subsequent infusions, simply re-brew for 30 seconds. It's normal for the second infusion to have a more "green" color than the first. Enjoy your superior cup of green tea!
Kevin Moore is the founder of O-Cha.com, one of the internet's first and largest websites dedicated to Japanese green tea. Based out of Japan, in addition to offering a wealth of information on the health benefits of green tea, O-Cha.com offers a large selection of loose leaf green tea, matcha, and tea brewing supplies.
http://www.o-cha.com
Contact him at
kevinrm@o-cha.com