The Varying Levels of Tea Lovers
Tea drinkers seem to love tea in varying degrees of intensity, with extremes on both ends. The lower end buys boxes of teabags from the grocery store, the kind that just say the ingredients are “black tea.” They might drink a green tea now and then, but it’s probably that sweetened stuff in the bottle. They might have tried white tea once, but were confused because the beverage looked yellow, and never tried it again. They don’t know a true tea from an herbal tea and don’t really care as long as it tastes good.
Next, we have the tea appreciators, the ones who know loose tealeaves steeped in freshly boiled water taste best. The also know that this isn’t always obtainable, so being reasonable people, they will tolerate tea made from teabags. It isn’t ideal, but there are a few high quality teabags around, so they’ll take what they can get. They’ve even been known to drink an herbal tea now and then, even though it isn’t “really tea.”
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 18th, 2010
Hey, You Can’t Drink that Tea Here
Visitors to the historical Delapre Abbey in Northampton, England have been banned from drinking their tea in the walled garden. The local council feels that they’re slurping their tea and clanking their china too loudly. According to Andrew Holden, planning officer of the Northampton Borough Council, they want the walled garden to remain tranquil. Apparently, the simple act of drinking tea disrupts the tranquility of the garden.
The council, who are the landlords of Delapre Abbey, have banished the tea drinkers to parking area in front of the building. This is not a pleasing thing to the Friends of Delapre Abbey, who operate the abbey tearoom. They use revenue from the tearoom to keep the abbey and its grounds in good repair. FoDA chairman Graham Walker feels that the action of the council is petty and will cause the tearoom to lose income.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 17th, 2010
What’s ECGC Anyway?
You hear it all the time, drink green tea because it has EGCG, but what is EGCG really? EGCG stands for epigallocatechin gallate, one of four Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins found in plants. Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins, or OPC’s, are bioflavanoids that help your body fend off free radicals that cause your body to age. Of these four OPC’s, epigallocatechin gallate is the most potent. Amongst the more than 4,000 chemical compounds found in tea, it’s the most important.
From what we’ve seen in the health news the past few years, EGCG is one phenomenal antioxidant. There seems to be more research about the health properties of green tea going on than just about anything else. It’s been connected with everything from slowing the growth of cancer cells to preventing arthritis. But exactly what do these studies show and can we believe all we hear about the benefits of drinking tea?
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 12th, 2010
But is it Tea?
There’s a heated controversy going on in the chat rooms and message boards of the online tea community. It’s not about the price of tea in China, even though the price for a cup of pu-erh can run as high as $1000 in Hong Kong. In fact, it’s not even about tea itself, but about the English language and the meaning of the word “tea”. Some people don’t approve of some of the ways that word is used.
True tea, that luscious brown liquid that fills your cup and sharpens your brain, all comes from a plant called Camellia sinensis. Whether it’s black, green, white, or oolong, it all comes from either the Camellia sinensis var. sinensis or the Camellia sinensis var. assam. The only difference is the way that it’s processed, the white being not processed of all and the black being the most processed.
Continue reading Comments (0) brewed on Feb 10th, 2010
