TEA

Overview

This is life: relax with a pot of tea.

Inhale the delicate scent, let the tea calm your mind, unwind. Slow to the first sip, take your time and savor it. Soft and earthen, slightly sweet, teas remedy the anxious beat.  Some are subtle and other astringent, the color of leaf hides no secret. Tea is a drink that has been pleasured for millennia, and there are as many teas as there are occasions, so there’s always an opportunity and always a tea to match the mood.  Tea is far more than a warm drink, it is full of nutrients and properties (antioxidants) that give tea the titles of “Preventative Health Care” and “Natural Medicine.”

Antioxidants?

The antioxidants in tea, particularly white and green, strengthen and reinforce the cell’s imperviousness against the damage that could be caused by free radicals.  Free radicals are molecules that are produced when the body breaks apart and digest food or toxins in the environment such as smog or tobacco smoke. These free radicals are dangerous to our main components (cells) because they damage and help break down cells leading to aging, cancer, heart disease and so many other health problems.

Antioxidants interact with free radicals and stabilize them. Once free radicals become stable they do not cause damage to cells.

The main antioxidants in white, green and yellow tea are catechins, types of flavonoids or polyphenols.

Health Benefits

The Medical Center at the University of Maryland conducted studies that conclude that countries where people consume a lot of green tea, such as Japan, are likely to have lower cancer rates. Also, the polyphenols in green tea could inhibit or hinder the growth of cancer cells.

Some Varieties of Green Tea

Japanese green teas are loaded with antioxidants.  Principally there are two that are renowned; Matcha which is a powdered green tea and Sencha which has a grassy fragrance and flavor. Matcha is the typical tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony. When brewing, this powdery tea floats down to the bottom of the cup and is destined to be consumed along with the tea.

Dragon Well is a particularly wonderful Chinese green tea. It has a sweet fragrance and a delicate taste. Green Jade has a mild grassy flavor warm and a nutty fragrance.

Warning
Green tea does have caffeine, though less than coffee and regular black tea. Caffeine levels can be decreased by steeping the tea for longer-than-usual periods.

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White tea is a Chinese tea consisting of the leaf buds and sometimes young leaves that are steam dried or dried by the sun. White tea leaves are not fermented which is similar to green tea and yellow tea leaves. Black tea, green tea, white tea and oolong tea all come from the same plant:  Camellia sinensis. Of these teas, black and oolong are oxidized.

White tea is one of the fortes of Fujian; a southeastern Chinese coastal province.

A study held in 2009 at Kingston University explained that white tea had high anti-oxidant, anti-elastase, anti-inflammatory, and anti-collagen properties that help reduce the possibility of developing heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, several cancers and even reduce the speed of the enzymatic break down of collagen and elastin (i.e. sagging skin such as baggy eyes and skin tone) which assist in the aging process.

Green Tea next to White Tea

Pace University conducted a study in 2004 which demonstrated that white tea had more anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties than green tea.

White tea has comparable levels of catechins to green tea; however the concentration of specific oxidation products differs slightly due to its lack of processing. Moreover, one study compared brewed white tea and brewed green tea and established that white tea contained more theobromine and gallic acid.

White tea is primarily made out of youthful buds and leaves which consequently have more of the amino acid theanine, which has calming, mood enhancing and soothing capacities, than black and green teas which are generally made up of adult leaves.

The caffeine dosage of white and green tea is parallel however is quite dependant on particularities and circumstances like the tea variety, the steeping technique and the length and cut of the leaf.

White tea is considered to have less fluoride than green tea because white tea consists of young leaves however both green and white teas use adolescent leaves.

Preparation

White tea is very light and can be reused therefore around 2 to 3 grams of tea per 8 ounces (or one cup) of water, or simply a large pinch of uncut tea leaves per mug is recommended. White teas should be prepared with hot water but never boiling (boiling water will burn the leaves) and steeped for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the water is bright yellow. Contrarily, there are some tea lovers who prefer to infuse their white tea for as long as 10 minutes on the first infusion to allow the subtle aromas to develop. The teas of finer quality allow a more profound savour, flavour and intricateness without the bitterness.  Teas of lower grades do not survive this particular taste test due to the bitter flavors that develop which are also referred to as tannins. When steeping consecutively the time length of each brew is extended by minutes.  White, green and yellow teas can be brewed for three infusions and give generous aroma however brewing a fourth will decrease the quality.

*Note: The temperature of the water is decisive: if the water is boiling it will burn the leaves and ruin the tea.

Kinds of White Tea