Rooibos of South Africa
Rooibos, also known as the African red bush, is a plant that grows in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It’s a member of the legume family with broom-like growth. The leaves are shaped something like pine needles or those of the rosemary bush. The leaves are harvested, dried, and oxidized much in the same way that black tea is processed. They are then steeped in hot water to create an herbal tea called South African red tea.
The liquid produced by steeping the rooibos is reddish brown, hence the nickname of red tea. It’s naturally sweet without sugar and many people drink it with milk for a warm drink. South Africans, however, drink it without milk, often adding sweetener and lemon. In South Africa you can even get “red espresso” highly concentrated rooibos served espresso style. This trend has moved to the US and you can now buy red espresso based drinks such as red lattes and red cappuccinos.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 7th, 2010
Making Your Perfect Cup of Coffee—One Cup at a Time
The French press may well be the world’s best method of brewing coffee. Unfortunately, it isn’t always the best method if you want to brew just one cup. Sometimes if you’re by yourself, one cup is all you need. You certainly don’t want to make a pot full pot and have to keep warming it up. How, then, will you make that one perfect cup of coffee you long for?
This is where the individual drip coffee cone comes in handy. Melitta makes one just the right size for one 8-ounce mug of coffee. It fits perfectly on the rim of most coffee mugs and uses a #2 filter. If you’re only planning to drink one cup of coffee, this is definitely the best way to go. Here are a few tips to help you make that one cup of coffee exactly right for you.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 6th, 2010
Drinking Green Tea May Prevent Lung Cancer Even in Smokers
Over the past few months, we’ve read a lot about studies involving green tea and cancer. Most of these studies seemed to involve using green tea extract to slow or even reverse the progress of certain cancers. Now comes news from a study in Taiwan that indicates that drinking green tea might prevent lung cancer even in people who smoke.
A student at the Graduate School of Public Hygiene at Chung Shan Medical University, Lin Yi-hsin, performed the study. Her research concerned the effectiveness of tea on the prevention of lung cancer in people who smoke. To that end, she involved in her study 500 people, 170 of whom had lung cancer. Her findings are both surprising and hopeful when it comes to battling lung cancer.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 5th, 2010
Men who Drink Tea May Have Less Belly Fat
Medical science has told us for decades now that being overweight is unhealthy. In recent years, they have told us that fat concentrated around the abdomen is the worst. Having excessive belly fat puts a person at higher risk for ailments such as diabetes and heart disease. Even if they aren’t severely overweight elsewhere in their bodies, the excessive belly fat puts them in danger.
A number of studies have been conducted regarding how drinking tea and coffee affects obesity. It’s an important factor in our diets because 60% of adults drink coffee or tea, usually with something like sugar added. Until recently, none of these studies specifically focused on abdominal fat. However, last week the first study about coffee, tea, and waistlines was presented at the First International Congress on Abdominal Obesity in Hong Kong.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 4th, 2010
