Never thought I’d be wishing I bought a larger quantity of Lapsang. This is utterly incomparable to any tea bearing the same name that I have ever seen, tasted, or even heard of.
First, and foremost – it is not smoky. There are light whiffs of toasted marshmallows, wheat bread just finishing cooking in an oven, or a very hot smokeless oak fire oven/grill, but really it is more about the light “smokiness” of tobacco leaves and milled grains. Pay little heed to the company description of “strong and smoky”!
While this is not a pure bud tea (two leaf and a bud intact sets are common throughout) it is entirely covered in light golden hair. Leaf length and color is very similar to a pure bud Yunnan red. Measuring the 4g I used for my gaiwan resulted in a volume around 1.5-2 tablespoons. Used 125ml with steep times-temps: 1.5min-95C, 2.5min-95C, 4min-90C, 5min-85C, 5min-100C, 9.5min-85C.
Dry fragrance is similar to the Golden Monkey reds I’ve been going through a lot lately – dried apricot and nectarine – but when tossed into the prewarmed gaiwan, the fragrance was straight up natural cocoa powder. Wet leaves like doused, burned hardwood – not smoky, but toasty with a refreshing light char note oddly reminiscent of grilled Tilapia (not fishy, mind you) and indiscernible fruit “ripeness”. The lid from the gaiwan, however combined a touch of the former cocoa with piles of ripe fruit aromas. Kumquat above the rest, but also white peach, uncut nectarine, longan, intact raspberries, black figs, apricot kiwi, and just a hint of avocado and coconut. These carry through in the liquor aroma but longan takes the stage.
Liquor is bright red-orange and very clear.
Flavor takes the fruit notes and blends them nicely with roasted nuts – almonds and macadamias primarily, but chestnut, cashew, brazil nut, pecan, and peanut also play a small part. The taste is a base of woody characteristics – brown rice, sesame seed, dried grasses, barley, oak, sunflower seeds and palms. Aftertaste brings in a mineral quality of adobe clay or mud bricks and a bit of gravel in the afteraroma. Not heavy on the minerals, but it certainly draws up similarities to other WuYi Shan teas. Nice heavier-medium body is much thicker than most Lapsangs, on par with heavier Keemuns. Smoooooooth. Mouthfeel again makes me think of clay in a sort of slip-slurry. There’s a very slight astringency just up against the uvula… Don’t think I’ve had a tea that hits that part of the mouth and nowhere else. Fleeting crispness and faint herbaceous acidity leaves a mouthwatering effect, but not a ton. Really clean – - aftertaste diminishes really quickly and afteraroma is short. impression of the tactile elements lingers for a while, though.
Man, this is yummy. Definitely getting more the next chance I can make the excuse. Expensive, but oh so worth it. I brewed this up with the intent of something to kick me awake, but it wound up being comforting and satisfying, making me want to curl up and take a nap. I finished long before the tea did and this would be a great candidate to drink straight from the gaiwan with. Again, you can not compare this to other Lapsangs – this is much more akin to specialty Taiwanese Reds.
From steepster.com by Thomas Smith
2010年12月22日星期三
How To Buy The Perfect Tea!
White, Green, Oolong and Black tea all are produced from the "Camellia sinensis" plant. "Camellia sinensis" is native to China and Asia and grown in many tropical regions throughout the world today. WikiPedia states, "It is an evergreen shrub or small tree that is usually trimmed to below two meters (six feet) when cultivated for its leaves. It has a strong taproot. The flowers are yellow-white, 2.5–4 cm in diameter, with 7 to 8 petals." The main difference in each one of these teas is when and how they are processed. "Processed" means picked, fermented (or oxidized), dried, etc. etc. Optimal time to pick the tea leaves is April-May with some variations expected. It can take several years for these plants to produce a plentiful harvest. Green and White tea is considered the least processed with the most antioxidants and the least amounts of caffeine. Green tea will have a pleasant grassy taste while White tea will boast a more floral flavor. White tea is actually produced using the plant's flower buds. The buds are picked before they bloom and then baked or steamed to halt any oxidation process. This preserves the high anti-oxidant properties of the tea. Green tea is made in a similar fashion but with the leaves of the plant. The highest quality green tea will contain only leaves while some lesser quality varieties will be leaves and twigs combined. Next in line is oolong tea. Oolong teas are said to be the hardest of the four to create. Oolong tea is somewhere in between green and black tea. This is because they are only partially fermented "oxidized" during the processing cycle. Oolong tea has less antioxidants than green and white tea but more than black tea. Caffeine levels are in the middle. Finally the most processed of the teas are black tea. Black tea leaves are picked the same way green and oolong tea leaves are picked but these leaves are fermented "oxidized" the longest. The term oxidized refers to how long the leaves are exposed to a set air temperature and humidity. You can compare this to an oak tree leaf falling on the ground and beginning to turn brown. The longer the tea leaf is oxidized the more it is considered "processed". The tea leaves that are most processed have a unique taste that is loved by many but lack the high levels of antioxidants that the green and white teas contain. Black tea contains the highest levels of caffeine also and have a full bodied taste.
Basically there are 3 main things to consider when choosing your tea. You have flavor, nutritional benefits, and price.
White tea has a light, delicate, flavor with a touch of sweetness. Green tea can have a range of flavors depending on many factors but most all will have a fresh green grassy taste. You will either love or hate green tea but it is a must try. Oolong tea will produce a woody, earthy taste with slight flowery taste and last of all black tea can be compared to your morning cup of coffee. It gives a bold, deep, earthy flavor. The nutritional benefits of tea are vast and deep. Several studies have revealed the anti-cancer properties of antioxidant poly-phenols found in tea. From cancer fighting properties to health skin support it has been proven that 2-6 cups of tea per day is healthy addition to any diet. Some teas have higher antioxidant levels than others. To reap the amazing anti-oxidant properties choose either white or green tea. These are the least processed and have the highest levels of poly phenols (antioxidants) per ounce as well as the lowest levels of caffeine.
As far as cost goes, well we would have to give white tea the highest prices. A high quality Darjeeling White Tea can cost upwards of $150/lb.! Green and black tea have the most appealing prices as these are the teas which are produced the most. Supply and demand tend to dictate the cost of tea just as with anything else. Oolong teas are second in price after white tea. So in conclusion the cost from high to low is white, oolong, green, and black tea. Sampling different teas is not only fun and relaxing but healthy for you too! May the tea be with you always!
From allvoices.com by floridaherb
Buy black tea, green tea and oolong tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月21日星期二
Keemun Black Tea (High Grade)
Keemun Black Tea (High Grade)
Black Tea by Foruntay Tea (ChineseTea-Shop.com)
Black Tea- Keemun Black Tea
Other Name: Qimen Black Tea, 祁门红茶
Origin: keemun Black Tea is a famous black tea variety, produced in the areas of QiMen County, southwest of AnHui Province.
Description: The branch of the Yellow Mountain runs though the county, and the fertile red soil and mild climate with adequate rainfall and moderate sunshine make the tea trees very good quality. The shape of the Keemun Black Tea is tight and neat, and the needles are beautiful with a shinning black color (commonly known as “Glory” ). It has a mellow flavor. Keemun Black Tea is one of the Top 10 Famous Chinese Tea.
Taste: It tastes fresh and mellow with the flavor of honey fragrance, and the best-quality one even carries the everlasting orchid fragrance (commonly known as “QiMen fragrance” ). The liquor is bright red and the residue is also red. Drinking the tea alone is the best way to taste its fragrance, while adding some milk will still keep.
How to brew:
1. Containers selected: usually white porcelain tea set.
2. Tea and water consumption: 3-5g for a commonly-used cup, ie, the tea covers the bottom of the tea cup; for serving 3 or 4 people, 10-15g tea leaves are appropriate amount.
3. Water temperature and brewing time: best brewing for 3-5 minutes with hot water of about 90-100 ℃. In order to maintain the original flavor of tea, we suggest you’ d better draw the tea 7-8 times at most.
Harvest Period: Spring, 2010
Wow, another good Keemun!
I’m really happy to have stumbled upon this company – both the teas I bought from them really exceeded my expectations.
Really pretty leaves with a preponderance of golden buds. I’d have trouble telling this apart from Silk Road’s Golden Monkey by just looking at it, but the leaves are a bit smaller here.
I’m on my second preparation of this today. First time ’round I used 4g per 125ml with steep times-temps: 1.5min-95C, 3min-90C, 4min-85C, 5min-85C, 5min-100C. Second round I used 2g per 125ml and drank from continuous infusions using 95C water and finishing at around 27 minutes first brew and 15 minutes second brew.
Dry fragrance is a bit like hay in a barn… a clean barn, but still – straw and hardwood. Wet aroma pops up with some tart apple smell and more resinous redwood. Liquor carries an apple and pear cider aroma mixed with toasted sesame seeds, flax seed, and whole wheat pasta. Tacky smelling and sort of carries a smell that reminds me of a cork board.
Flavor is a tad earthy and ever so slightly bitter, like a potato or pear carries bitterness. Balances nicely with the refreshing crisp qualities it has. Toasty, and certainly “Keemun-like” but it’s a mellow one. Soothing yet with a touch of spice. Cassia, nutmeg, and allspice. Aftertaste like the taste the air takes on around dry sand or river rocks – slight dusty tasting mineral quality I feel as a bit “spicier” than more clay- or gravel-like mineral tastes. Very pleasant, and adding dimension to this approachable tea. Aftertaste brings a bit of that flaxseed back from the front and ends on a brown rice note. A bit of dried fig/prune comes through at the end of a very long infusion. Flavor has a slow recession, but the aftertaste doesn’t linger very long at all. I usually prefer a very long lasting aftertaste and aroma, but this is the second red tea I’ve enjoyed greatly today that fades quickly.
Maybe not as complex as the Xian Zhen from TeaSpring, but every bit as enjoyable. Smoother, and with a little bit more body, though the flavor progression is a soothing flow in, then out with little trace. A huge plus for me is this is slightly less consistent between brews, developing from crisp and floral (orchid and honey notes mentioned in company description come through easily at first), to fruited and ripe, to toasty and salivating tannin, then richer wood before receding to bamboo, pecan and slight caramel accents in later infusions.
From steepster.com by Thomas Smith
Lapsang SouChong (Special Grade)
Lapsang SouChong (Special Grade)
Black Tea by Foruntay Tea (ChineseTea-Shop.com)
Black Tea- Lapsang SouChong
Other Name: ZhengShanXiaoZhong, 正山小种
Origin: WuYi, FuJian Province
Description: Lapsang souchong is a black tea originally from the WuYi region of the Chinese province of FuJian. It is sometimes referred to as smoked tea. Lapsang souchongs is distinct from all other types of tea because lapsang souchong leaves are traditionally smoke-dried over pinewood fires, taking on a distinctive smoky flavour. The name in Fukienese means “smoky sub-variety.” Lapsang souchong is a member of the WuYi Bohea family of teas. The story goes that the tea was created during the Qing era when the passage of armies delayed the annual drying of the tea leaves in the WuYi hills. Eager to satisfy demand, the tea producers sped up the drying process by having their workers dry the tea leaves over fires made from local pines. Lapsang souchong from the original source is increasingly expensive, as WuYi is a small area and there is increasing interest in this variety of tea.
Taste: High quality of lapsang souchong possesses a taste of dried Longan for the first few brews. Its’ flavour is strong and smoky, similar to the smell of a campfire or of Latakia pipe tobacco.
How to brew: When drunk by itself, black tea is prepared by first cleaning the tea ware, then putting a certain amount of tea leaves into a teapot with a teaspoon, and finally pouring in boiling water at about 90 degrees celsius from a kettle lifted high above the teapot at a proportion of 50 to 60 ml of water to one gram of dried leaves. In order to maintain the original flavor of tea, we suggest you’ d better draw the tea 7-8 times at most.
Harvest Period: Spring, 2010
Drinking Tea Could Keep the Pounds at Bay
Drinking tea may prevent weight gain caused by a junk food diet.
Researchers found regular consumption of tea also suppressed damaging changes in the blood linked to fatty foods that can lead to type 2 diabetes.
They said the research on mice could signal another set of health benefits from tea drinking if they are confirmed in trials on humans.
In the study some mice were given a high fat diet and others a normal diet. Each of these two groups were then split into smaller groups and given water, black tea or green tea for 14 weeks.
Both types of tea suppressed body weight gain and the build-up of belly fat linked to a fatty diet.
But black tea, which is used in most ordinary cuppas, also counteracted the harmful effects on the blood normally associated with a high-fat diet.
These included increases in cholesterol, high blood glucose and insulin resistance – a precursor to type 2 diabetes where the body does not efficiently use the insulin it produces. Rising obesity levels in Western countries have resulted in many more people having insulin resistance.
The study at Kobe University, Japan, was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Eight out of ten Britons drink tea. Dr Carrie Ruxton from the industry backed Tea Advisory Panel said: 'This study is good news for tea drinkers, particularly those who drink black tea.'
'Though the findings need to be confirmed in human studies, this study found that tea helped to prevent weight gain and adverse changes in blood glucose, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance and lipid regulation evoked by a high fat diet.
'Black tea had particularly favourable effects on blood cholesterol and insulin resistance.'
Tea drinking has already been linked with lowering the risk of heart disease, cancer and Parkinson's disease. Other research shows drinking tea on a regular basis for ten or more years may improve bone density.
From dailymail.co.uk by Jenny Hope
Buy tasty black teas in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月20日星期一
Green Tea in My Cup
Green Tea
Green tea is known to be anti-obesity, in the extensive research conducted, it is scientifically proven that it has the secret of weight loss effects. Green tea extract contains polyphenols and caffeine these are the main ingredients that block he conversion of energy not to transform into fats through the process of thermogenesis. These chief components responsible for the natural increase of metabolism that helps the body absorb less dietary fats and regulates the blood sugar level. It has the intrinsic agent that control food cravings and maintain the ideal weight.
Green tea has been used over 4,000 years ago by Chinese as a medicine. It was reported to treat several minor illnesses such as headache and depression. The key fact about Green tea is the miracle health benefits we can get when imbibing it. It was mention in Chinese ancient proverb the importance of green tea in their lives for them it is “Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.” That might be one of the main reasons why Chinese people appear as slim package in parallel with the western.
Although we can consider other theoretical existing factors affecting the embodiment of possessing the leaner and slimmer physique which is verily visible amongst Chinese, Japanese and Korean inhabitants
one of the considerable factor we can account into that is the Eastern lifestyle, their culture is known to be tight and traditional unlike with the Western who are liberated and modernize, another factor that we can looked into is their food, Authentic Chinese Food is cook with less colours, less or minimal artificial flavours and no added preservatives. Although the Chinese food revolution found tending to become fattening recently, the Chinese still remain to be more leaner and slimmer this stemmed several research comes to the surface that potentially accredited to the eastern customary practice of drinking Green tea. Green tea is exclusively made from the leaves of Camellia Sinensis which originated from China that is proven to be more effective than any other tea for it undergone minimal oxidation during processing.
Green tea doesn’t lose its EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) for its leaves were process by steaming unlike the black tea that was fermented that tends to lessen the effects in preventing and fighting various illnesses. A short time ago, Green tea has been reached western household territories.
Scientific research, studies and reviews provide a well-founded evidences regarding green tea extract that it resolves few medical issues like reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease, also it lowers the cholesterol level by means of improving the ratio of good cholesterol over the bad cholesterol, boost body immunity system to fight against infection and it helps prevent tooth decay thus, there are some reported slight negative side effects like insomnia an outcome that was link from the caffeine components found in green tea despite this negative feedback displayed in some of the drinkers we can’t just simply disregard and underestimate the numerous health benefits that were attributed from drinking green tea. Hence, make drinking Green tea a daily habit. What is in your cup? Did you have your cup of green tea lately?
From allvoices.com by Pielmorena
Buy best green tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月16日星期四
Health Benefits of Different Kinds of Tea
Tea is one of the most common beverages, but many of us are not aware of the different kinds of tea and their many health benefits. Green tea is becoming popular, while white and black teas are lesser-known varieties. They are all high in antioxidants and have preventive and curative properties. Moreover, each one has a unique aroma and flavor.
Green tea is made from fresh, unfermented dried leaves, and thus retains medicinal properties that are lost in the process of fermentation used for black tea. Green tea is one of the world’s richest sources of antioxidants: a hundred times more effective than vitamin C, and 25 times more than vitamin E. Antioxidants are chemical substances that interact with free radicals, which are cell damaging molecules. Therefore, antioxidants prevent cellular damage and degenerative conditions like mental decline.
Among its many benefits, green tea prevents cancer, improves the cardiovascular system, reduces blood sugar, prevents arthritis, and even helps in weight loss. It contains natural fluoride, which strengthens bones. Moreover, it is low in caffeine, yet energizing, so one can have three or four cups a day without any adverse effects. Half a spoon of green tea can be used per one cup of water. It can be taken with sugar or some sweetener like honey, but without milk.
White tea is actually very pale green, and not white. It is not fermented, but left to dry in the shade. The buds and young tea leaves are present in the dry leaves. This gives it a delicate flavor and exceptional aroma, which is best enjoyed if taken without anything added to it. White tea is supposed to have health benefits like lowering blood pressure, raising “good” cholesterol and fighting infections. This is due to its anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. The antioxidants present in white tea neutralize the free radicals which damage the skin and hasten aging, so it contributes to a healthy skin.
Black tea is also known as Rooibos tea. It is brewed from the leaves of a natural herb unique to the South African Cedarberg mountains. Black tea is extremely rich in antioxidants. This is because Aspalathin, which is found only in black tea, reduces damage from free radicals by almost 90%, and the risk of skin cancer by 60%. It can also be used to cure problems as diverse as headaches, insomnia, and anxiety attacks. Rooibos tea has very little tannin and no caffeine. Moreover, it does not contain oxalic acid, which is found in some other varieties of tea. It has a natural sweetness and a refreshing flavor.
It might be difficult choosing other kinds of tea over the regular black tea, but the effort is worth it in view of the greater health benefits associated with them. Green, white, and black teas are rich in antioxidants, prevent cancer and degenerative conditions, and contribute to general good health. The effects of these healthy varieties of tea have to be felt to be believed.
From karlonia.com
Buy best loose leaf tea in Chinese tea shop
Pu-erh Tea and Your Health
Like wine, cheese, and possibly you (if you drink enough antioxidant-rich pu-erh), some teas get better with age. Nearly 2,000 years ago, horses and mules would transport large quantities of Camellia sinensis plant down the "Tea Horse Roads" and stop in China' s Pu-erh village. Chinese emperors favored this tea' s strong, musky flavor. Today studies show pu-erh' s health benefits also may be richer than those provided by black, white, green, and oolong varieties of tea. While all true tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, pu-erh' s process is unique in that it involves fermentation rather than oxidation (the process that creates regular black tea). After the plant' s leaves are picked, dampened, and put in a dark, dry space, they' re left to age for months, sometimes years. Finally, the tea is dried and classified by year and region like wine. The result? A rich, antioxidant-rich beverage that may be more effective in fighting cancer and heart disease than other tea types, according to research from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. When picking your tea, remember that age truly is an asset: Statins (which help lower cholesterol), total polyphenol content, and free-radical fighting ability increase the longer the tea is fermented.
From deliciouslivingmag.com By Jessica Rubino
Buy best pu-erh tea in Chinese tea shop
Tea-Drinking in Different Seasons
According to traditional Chinese medicine, people should drink tea according to their physical fitness as well as choose the right tea in different seasons of a year.
Generally speaking, scented tea is recommended in spring, green tea in summer, oolong tea in autumn and black tea in winter.
Spring
Drinking scented tea in spring can help emit the pathogenic cold stored up in human body through winter, with its full aroma activating the generation of Yangqi. 
Summer
Green tea is highly recommended in summer for its properties of bitterness and cold, which can help remove heat and toxic substances, quench thirst and strengthen heart. 
Autumn
Winter
From cultural-china.com
Buy finest tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月15日星期三
Black Tea a Potent Remedy against Bad Breath
An average cup of black tea has the suprising ability to stop the growth of bacteria that cause bad breath and suppress odours, according to new research.
Scientists at the University of Illinois in Chicago told the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology on Tuesday that compounds in tea, known as polyphenols, can halt the bacterial growth that causes halitosis.
Speaking at the Washington D.C. meeting, Professor Christine Wu, associate dean for research at the university's College of Dentistry, told delegates that the polyphenols prevent both the growth of microbes responsible for bad breath as well the bacteria's production of malodorous, or smelly, gases. The work was conducted with university colleague, Dr Min Zhu.
Bad breath is caused by sulphur-producing bacteria that normally live within the surface of the tongue and in the throat. At times, these bacteria break down proteins at a very high rates, and odorous volatile sulphur compounds are released from the back of the tongue and throat.
The most common is the 'rotten egg' smell of hydrogen sulphide. One of the other sulphur-containing gases is methanethiol, which smells like rotting cabbage.
In the laboratory study, Wu and Zhu incubated tea polyphenols with three species of bacteria associated with bad breath for 48 hours. They found that the polyphenols inhibited growth of the oral bacteria at high concentrations - between 16 and 250 micrograms per millilitre.
At even lower concentrations ?from 2.5 to 25 micrograms per millilitre ?the polyphenols hindered the enzyme that catalyses the formation of hydrogen sulphide, cutting its production by 30%.
Wu said the present study complements earlier research in her laboratory showing that black tea suppresses the growth of bacteria in dental plaque, and that rinsing the mouth with black tea reduces plaque formation and the production of acids that cause tooth decay.
The major causes of halitosis are: dry mouth; foods high in protein, sugar or acid; smoking; dental factors or nasal and sinus infections.
The polyphenols found in tea include chemicals called catechins and theaflavins. Catechins are found in both green and black teas, while theaflavins are found predominantly in black tea. Black tea, an infusion of dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, is the most popular beverage worldwide, second only to water.
"Besides inhibiting the growth of pathogens in the mouth, black tea and its polyphenols may benefit human oral health by suppressing the bad-smelling compounds that these pathogens produce," Wu told delegates.
From ABC.net.au
The best black tea in Chinese tea shop
Green Tea Boosts Metabolism, Protects Against Diseases
Nov. 28, 1999 (Atlanta) -- Unlike the American hot beverage of choice, green tea isn't available on every street corner in every city. But it's difficult to dispute the nutritional benefits of this centuries-favored Asian brew, with its powerful flavonoids and antioxidants considered capable of battling chronic diseases. Now, one group of researchers claims green tea could also boost metabolism -- and help with weight loss.
In a small study, green tea appeared to raise metabolic rates and speed up fat oxidation. "Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se," says Abdul G. Dulloo, a researcher at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and lead author of the study published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Thermogenesis is the calories the body burns while digesting and absorbing food as it's being eaten.
The study involved 10 healthy young males, none of whom was obese but who ranged from lean to mildly overweight. Each was randomly assigned to each of three meals containing one of three treatments: green tea extract (50 mg of caffeine); 50 mg capsule of caffeine; or a placebo capsule. On three separate occasions, each spent 24 hours in a specially designed respiratory chamber in which researchers could measure energy expenditure and thermogenesis.
Those who consumed green tea extract had a 4% increase in thermogenesis, with an overall energy expenditure increase of 4.5%.
Kathleen Zelman, RD, an Atlanta-based nutritional consultant and spokesperson for the American Dietetics Association, tells WebMD that she was "not very impressed" because of the study's small number of patients and because the calorie losses were "not enough to make a difference in the life of an obese person." However, "anything we can do to boost metabolism [without using drugs] is wonderful."
The thermogenic benefits that the study cites are relatively small, Zelman says. "If you're consuming 1,500 calories, you'll be burning 60 calories, less than [what's in] a cookie. Of course, every little bit counts, but that's really a drop in the bucket."
"Green tea is emerging as a healthful drink ... more because of its role as an antioxidant," Zelman tells WebMD. Antioxidants help to prevent the formation of free radicals that cause many diseases, such as cancer. "Tea flavonoids appear to be very potent antioxidants. A significant body of research has shown that diets rich in flavonoids found in tea, fruits, and vegetables are associated with decreased risk of chronic disease and cancer, heart disease, and stroke."
From WebMD Health News
The best green tea in Chinese tea shop
Green Tea: The Fitness Power Drink
Green tea contains a family of powerful antioxidant compounds known as polyphenols. There are four primary polyphenols in green tea. While all four appear to possess protective value, Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) occurs in the greatest concentration, and appears to offer the strongest antioxidant benefits. In fact, EGCg is several times more potent an antioxidant than vitamin E.
According to extensive research conducted worldwide, green tea
• Protects against several types of cancer.
• Lowers cholesterol by inhibiting cholesterol absorption and reducing the body’s cholesterol production.
• Reduces blood pressure by the exact same mechanism by which several expensive, prescription blood pressure medicines work.
• Reduces blood platelet stickiness, thus inhibiting atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries.
• Demonstrates anti-bacterial action against the bacteria that cause dental plaque.
• Promotes the growth of beneficial Bifidobacteria in the intestines.
• Protects against certain toxins, including harmful bacteria in foods.
• Protects against adverse effects of radiation.
The easiest way to derive the health benefits of green tea is to drink it. Three eight-ounce cups of green tea daily will give you a significant amount of protective polyphenols, including approximately 375 milligrams of EGCg. That amount is sufficient to provide the benefits described above. Whenever you have a choice, use green tea that is organically grown, without pesticides. This is the purest green tea available.
Drinking green tea is not the only way to derive its benefits, though it is the simplest and least expensive way. You can also find green tea supplements in many natural food stores. Choose products which state on the label that they are standardized to guarantee a potency of at least 40% green tea polyphenols Two 500 milligram capsules daily will give you approximately 375 milligrams of EGCg, the same as three cups of green tea.
From health.blogs.foxnews.com by The Medicine Hunter
The best green tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月14日星期二
Oolong Tea Shown to Promote Weight Loss
The Chinese believe that drinking tea promotes good health and longevity. This belief is gaining some scientific merit in recent years. Oolong tea is one of three types of tea manufactured from tealeaves. The other types are black and green teas. Oolong tea is less fermented than black tea and is served commonly in Chinese restaurants and sold commercially in the United States. Oolong tea has been researched for its antioxidant properties, it's effects on cardiovascular disease, cancer and obesity. There is some data to suggest that oolong tea may promote weight loss through increasing energy expenditure (EE). Caffeine itself is known to increase EE for several hours following ingestion, depending on the level of intake. Oolong tea contains significant amounts of caffeine. It is unclear whether the increase in EE that accompanies the consumption of oolong tea is solely due to caffeine or to other constituents such as polyphenolic compounds.
In order tofurther investigate this relationship, researchers recruited twelve men between the ages of 25 and 60 years to participate in a randomized, cross-over design study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three cohorts of four subjects. A treatment consisted of a beverage consumed five times daily containing one of four test beverages; water. water plus caffeine (270 mg caffeine per day), half-strength tea (brewed from 7.5 grams of tea) and full strength tea (brewed from 15 grams of tea). The water plus caffeine beverage was formulated to contain the same amount of caffeine as the full-strength tea treatment. Subjects received each treatment for three days. On the third day, EE was measured by indirect calorimetry, in a room calorimeter. For the three-day test periods, the subjects consumed a typical American diet. Energy content of the diet was specified for each subject's needs as determined from a preliminary, measure of 24-hour EE by calorimetry.
It was found that EE significantly increased by 2.9 percent for the full-strength tea and 3.4 percent for the caffeinated water treatments. This increase resulted in an additional expenditure of 281 kJ/day for the tea and 331 kJ/day for the caffeinated water. Additionally, fat oxidation was significantly higher (12%) when subjects consumed the full-strength tea rather than the water. Fat oxidation was higher with the full-strength tea than with the caffeinated water.
From findarticles.com
The best oolong tea in Chinese tea shop
Green Tea could Naturally Prevent and Treat Osteoporosis, Scientists Say
According to the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the bone thinning condition known as osteoporosis is a major public health threat for 44 million Americans, 68 percent of whom are women. Approximately 10 million Americans already have osteoporosis and another 34 million more have low bone mass, placing them at high risk for this disease. Of course, Big Pharma claims it has the solution -- lots of prescription drugs (including the highly hyped Boniva, Fosamax and Reclast) that supposedly strengthen bones and treat osteoporosis. Unfortunately, these medications are loaded with potentially severe and even fatal side effects, including cancer and disintegration of bone in the jaw.
But now scientists have found a natural substance that could prevent and treat bone robbing osteoporosis without any side effects at all. A Hong Kong research team just published new evidence in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that green tea may help improve bone health. In fact, they've discovered green tea contains a group of chemicals that can stimulate bone formation and help slow its breakdown. The result, the researchers said in a statement to the media, is that green tea has the potential to help in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and other bone diseases that affect millions throughout the world.
For their study, over the course of several days the scientists exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells called osteoblasts to three types of natural chemicals found in green tea: epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GG). They found that one in particular, EGC, sent the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth soaring by about 79 percent. EGC also significantly raised levels of bone mineralization in the cells, showing that the green tea component could strengthen bones. What's more, the researchers also found that that high concentrations of EGC blocked the activity of osteoclasts, a type of cell which weakens and can break down bones.
Ping Chung Leung and colleagues point out in their study that a host of previous research has linked green tea to beneficial effects in preventing cancer, heart disease, and other conditions. For example, NaturalNews has previously covered research showing green tea may prevent prostate cancer, leukemia and even Alzheimer's disease And there's even more good news about green tea from Japanese scientists,too. In a study just published in the journal Annals of Epidemiology, scientists from Okayama University report that long-term consumption of about seven cups of green tea daily caused a reduction in the risk of death from heart disease by 75 percent and lowered the risk of colorectal cancer 31 percent.
From naturalnews.com by Sherry Baker, Health Sciences Editor
A high quality green tea can give you a better flavor and benefits
The best green tea in Chinese tea shop
Swap Your Coffee for Green Tea
Perhaps one thing that gives the Japanese their relative good health and longevity is green tea. Research has linked an increased consumption of this infusion with a reduced risk of conditions such as cancer and heart disease. This lovely cup of tea will not only keep you cosy this winter, but may increase your health as well.
A Strong Antioxidant
Researchers seeking an explanation for green tea's apparent health-giving qualities believe they have found it in the form of substances known as polyphenols, which are strong antioxidants that have the potential to quell disease-promoting molecules known as free radicals.
Furthermore, research suggests that the most potent weapon against disease that green tea contains is a compound known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG has been found to have a number of cancer-protective actions in the body, including an ability to help in the deactivation of cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens).
Many Benefits for Health
Green tea has been linked with a reduced risk of cancer in both men and women. In one study published in 2004, women consuming green tea every day were found to have a 47 per cent reduced risk of breast cancer compared to those consuming none at all. In another study published the same year, researchers found that men taking green tea each day had about a quarter of the risk of prostate cancer compared to those who took no green tea. Other research has found that increased green tea consumption appears to protect against other forms of cancer too, including those of the stomach, colon, lung and skin.
The benefits of green tea seem to extend the circulatory system too. Research has found that individuals who consume green tea tend to have lower blood levels of cholesterol. Studies have also shown a decrease in blood pressure. These benefits go at least some way to explaining research which links green tea consumption with a reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.
Green tea has also been linked with weight loss. Some studies have shown that people can shed a few pounds by simply swapping coffee for green tea. A healthy diet and plenty of exercise is of course the best way to lose weight, but a little green tea may add to an overall lifestyle change.
Why Green?
All tea, including green, black and oolong come from the same plant. However, green tea, unlike the others is unfermented so the active health giving ingredients remain unaltered. The other teas, which go through a fermentation process, still contain some of the healthy properties, but appear to be more muted.
It should be noted that one can drink too much green tea. The majority of our liquid should be water, but a cup or two of green tea a day can offer some amazing healing benefits.
From naturalnews.com by Sheryl Walters, citizen journalist
The best green tea in Chinese tea shop
A Strong Antioxidant
Researchers seeking an explanation for green tea's apparent health-giving qualities believe they have found it in the form of substances known as polyphenols, which are strong antioxidants that have the potential to quell disease-promoting molecules known as free radicals.
Furthermore, research suggests that the most potent weapon against disease that green tea contains is a compound known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG has been found to have a number of cancer-protective actions in the body, including an ability to help in the deactivation of cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens).
Many Benefits for Health
Green tea has been linked with a reduced risk of cancer in both men and women. In one study published in 2004, women consuming green tea every day were found to have a 47 per cent reduced risk of breast cancer compared to those consuming none at all. In another study published the same year, researchers found that men taking green tea each day had about a quarter of the risk of prostate cancer compared to those who took no green tea. Other research has found that increased green tea consumption appears to protect against other forms of cancer too, including those of the stomach, colon, lung and skin.
The benefits of green tea seem to extend the circulatory system too. Research has found that individuals who consume green tea tend to have lower blood levels of cholesterol. Studies have also shown a decrease in blood pressure. These benefits go at least some way to explaining research which links green tea consumption with a reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.
Green tea has also been linked with weight loss. Some studies have shown that people can shed a few pounds by simply swapping coffee for green tea. A healthy diet and plenty of exercise is of course the best way to lose weight, but a little green tea may add to an overall lifestyle change.
Why Green?
All tea, including green, black and oolong come from the same plant. However, green tea, unlike the others is unfermented so the active health giving ingredients remain unaltered. The other teas, which go through a fermentation process, still contain some of the healthy properties, but appear to be more muted.
It should be noted that one can drink too much green tea. The majority of our liquid should be water, but a cup or two of green tea a day can offer some amazing healing benefits.
From naturalnews.com by Sheryl Walters, citizen journalist
The best green tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月13日星期一
Black Tea Soothes Away Stress
Daily cups of tea can help you recover more quickly from the stresses of everyday life, according to a new study by UCL (University College London) researchers. New scientific evidence shows that black tea has an effect on stress hormone levels in the body.
The study, published in the journal Psychopharmacology, found that people who drank tea were able to de-stress more quickly than those who drank a fake tea substitute. Furthermore, the study participants – who drank a black tea concoction four times a day for six weeks – were found to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood after a stressful event, compared with a control group who drank the fake or placebo tea for the same period of time.
In the study, 75 young male regular tea drinkers were split into two groups and monitored for six weeks. They all gave up their normal tea, coffee and caffeinated beverages, then one group was given a fruit-flavoured caffeinated tea mixture made up of the constituents of an average cup of black tea. The other group – the control group – was given a caffeinated placebo identical in taste, but devoid of the active tea ingredients. All drinks were tea-coloured, but were designed to mask some of the normal sensory cues associated with tea drinking (such as smell, taste and familiarity of the brew), to eliminate confounding factors such as the ‘comforting’ effect of drinking a cup of tea.
Both groups were subjected to challenging tasks, while their cortisol, blood pressure, blood platelet and self-rated levels of stress were measured. In one task, volunteers were exposed to one of three stressful situations (threat of unemployment, a shop lifting accusation or an incident in a nursing home), where they had to prepare a verbal response and argue their case in front of a camera.
The tasks triggered substantial increases in blood pressure, heart rate and subjective stress ratings in both of the groups. In other words, similar stress levels were induced in both groups. However, 50 minutes after the task, cortisol levels had dropped by an average of 47 per cent in the tea drinking group compared with 27 per cent in the fake tea group.
UCL researchers also found that blood platelet activation – linked to blood clotting and the risk of heart attacks – was lower in the tea drinkers, and that this group reported a greater degree of relaxation in the recovery period after the task.
Professor Andrew Steptoe, UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, says: “Drinking tea has traditionally been associated with stress relief, and many people believe that drinking tea helps them relax after facing the stresses of everyday life. However, scientific evidence for the relaxing properties of tea is quite limited. This is one of the first studies to assess tea in a double-blind placebo controlled design – that is, neither we nor the participants knew whether they were drinking real or fake tea. This means that any differences were due to the biological ingredients of tea, and not to the relaxing situations in which people might drink tea, whether they were familiar with the taste and liked it, and so on.
“We do not know what ingredients of tea were responsible for these effects on stress recovery and relaxation. Tea is chemically very complex, with many different ingredients. Ingredients such as catechins, polyphenols, flavonoids and amino acids have been found to have effects on neurotransmitters in the brain, but we cannot tell from this research which ones produced the differences.
“Nevertheless, our study suggests that drinking black tea may speed up our recovery from the daily stresses in life. Although it does not appear to reduce the actual levels of stress we experience, tea does seem to have a greater effect in bringing stress hormone levels back to normal. This has important health implications, because slow recovery following acute stress has been associated with a greater risk of chronic illnesses such as coronary heart disease.”
From NaturalNews.com by citizen journalist
Fineset black tea in Chinese tea shop
The study, published in the journal Psychopharmacology, found that people who drank tea were able to de-stress more quickly than those who drank a fake tea substitute. Furthermore, the study participants – who drank a black tea concoction four times a day for six weeks – were found to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood after a stressful event, compared with a control group who drank the fake or placebo tea for the same period of time.
In the study, 75 young male regular tea drinkers were split into two groups and monitored for six weeks. They all gave up their normal tea, coffee and caffeinated beverages, then one group was given a fruit-flavoured caffeinated tea mixture made up of the constituents of an average cup of black tea. The other group – the control group – was given a caffeinated placebo identical in taste, but devoid of the active tea ingredients. All drinks were tea-coloured, but were designed to mask some of the normal sensory cues associated with tea drinking (such as smell, taste and familiarity of the brew), to eliminate confounding factors such as the ‘comforting’ effect of drinking a cup of tea.
Both groups were subjected to challenging tasks, while their cortisol, blood pressure, blood platelet and self-rated levels of stress were measured. In one task, volunteers were exposed to one of three stressful situations (threat of unemployment, a shop lifting accusation or an incident in a nursing home), where they had to prepare a verbal response and argue their case in front of a camera.
The tasks triggered substantial increases in blood pressure, heart rate and subjective stress ratings in both of the groups. In other words, similar stress levels were induced in both groups. However, 50 minutes after the task, cortisol levels had dropped by an average of 47 per cent in the tea drinking group compared with 27 per cent in the fake tea group.
UCL researchers also found that blood platelet activation – linked to blood clotting and the risk of heart attacks – was lower in the tea drinkers, and that this group reported a greater degree of relaxation in the recovery period after the task.
Professor Andrew Steptoe, UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, says: “Drinking tea has traditionally been associated with stress relief, and many people believe that drinking tea helps them relax after facing the stresses of everyday life. However, scientific evidence for the relaxing properties of tea is quite limited. This is one of the first studies to assess tea in a double-blind placebo controlled design – that is, neither we nor the participants knew whether they were drinking real or fake tea. This means that any differences were due to the biological ingredients of tea, and not to the relaxing situations in which people might drink tea, whether they were familiar with the taste and liked it, and so on.
“We do not know what ingredients of tea were responsible for these effects on stress recovery and relaxation. Tea is chemically very complex, with many different ingredients. Ingredients such as catechins, polyphenols, flavonoids and amino acids have been found to have effects on neurotransmitters in the brain, but we cannot tell from this research which ones produced the differences.
“Nevertheless, our study suggests that drinking black tea may speed up our recovery from the daily stresses in life. Although it does not appear to reduce the actual levels of stress we experience, tea does seem to have a greater effect in bringing stress hormone levels back to normal. This has important health implications, because slow recovery following acute stress has been associated with a greater risk of chronic illnesses such as coronary heart disease.”
From NaturalNews.com by citizen journalist
Fineset black tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月12日星期日
Study Finds that Adding Milk Reduces Healthy Benefits of Black Tea
Previous studies have suggested that black tea's antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and vasodilating effects can help protect against cardiovascular diseases, but researchers from the Charité-Universitätsmediz in Berlin report that adding milk -- even skimmed milk -- may diminish those effects.
The study looked at 16 healthy postmenopausal women with an average age of 59. Each participant's flow-mediated vasodilation from baseline in the forearm brachial artery was measured before and two hours after they were given roughly two cups of freshly brewed black tea without milk, freshly brewed black tea with 10 percent milk, and boiled water as a control.
While drinking the black tea without milk, the subjects' flow-mediated dilation increased more than 400 percent, said lead researcher Veran Stangl and colleagues in the online issue of European Heart Journal. Women who drank 90 percent black tea and 10 percent skimmed milk had the same insignificant vasodilation increase they would get from drinking two cups of hot water.
"The most striking finding of our study is that addition of milk to black tea completely prevents the biological activity of tea in terms of improvement of endothelial function," said the authors.
The next step in the study was to see which milk compounds could be inhibiting the tea's vasodilatory properties. The researchers took six major single milk proteins and conducted a series of cell culture experiments with them on isolated rat aortic rings and endothelial cell cultures. To determine flow-mediated dilation, the researchers measured the amount of nitric oxide produced when the cell cultures were stimulated with each milk protein and black tea, just black tea, and black tea with skim milk.
The milk proteins alpha-casein, beta casein and kappa-casein all stunted the production of nitric oxide to the same degree as skim milk. The alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin and serum albumin did not seem to have an effect on nitric oxide production. The researchers theorized that the three proteins that slowed nitric oxide production might have formed complexes with catechins -- flavonoids in the tea -- and blocked the vasodilatory effects.
"Our results thus provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on the risk of heart disease in the United Kingdom, where milk is usually added to tea," the authors noted. "The finding that the tea-induced improvement of vascular function in humans is completely attenuated after addition of milk may have broad implications on the mode of tea preparation and consumption."
From naturalnews.com by Ben Kage, citizen journalist
Buy black tea in Chinese tea shop
The study looked at 16 healthy postmenopausal women with an average age of 59. Each participant's flow-mediated vasodilation from baseline in the forearm brachial artery was measured before and two hours after they were given roughly two cups of freshly brewed black tea without milk, freshly brewed black tea with 10 percent milk, and boiled water as a control.
While drinking the black tea without milk, the subjects' flow-mediated dilation increased more than 400 percent, said lead researcher Veran Stangl and colleagues in the online issue of European Heart Journal. Women who drank 90 percent black tea and 10 percent skimmed milk had the same insignificant vasodilation increase they would get from drinking two cups of hot water.
"The most striking finding of our study is that addition of milk to black tea completely prevents the biological activity of tea in terms of improvement of endothelial function," said the authors.
The next step in the study was to see which milk compounds could be inhibiting the tea's vasodilatory properties. The researchers took six major single milk proteins and conducted a series of cell culture experiments with them on isolated rat aortic rings and endothelial cell cultures. To determine flow-mediated dilation, the researchers measured the amount of nitric oxide produced when the cell cultures were stimulated with each milk protein and black tea, just black tea, and black tea with skim milk.
The milk proteins alpha-casein, beta casein and kappa-casein all stunted the production of nitric oxide to the same degree as skim milk. The alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin and serum albumin did not seem to have an effect on nitric oxide production. The researchers theorized that the three proteins that slowed nitric oxide production might have formed complexes with catechins -- flavonoids in the tea -- and blocked the vasodilatory effects.
"Our results thus provide a possible explanation for the lack of beneficial effects of tea on the risk of heart disease in the United Kingdom, where milk is usually added to tea," the authors noted. "The finding that the tea-induced improvement of vascular function in humans is completely attenuated after addition of milk may have broad implications on the mode of tea preparation and consumption."
From naturalnews.com by Ben Kage, citizen journalist
Buy black tea in Chinese tea shop
Buyer's guide
When buying loose-leaf tea, it should smell fresh and vibrant. Check the packet labels to check whether you’re buying a blend or single variety. If buying flavoured tea, check whether the flavouring is natural or a ‘nature-identical’ synthetic. For example, Earl Grey tea flavoured with bergamot oil is far superior to Earl Grey tea with bergamot flavouring.
Black teas are graded by their leaf size, from whole leaf, to ‘broken’ and ‘fannings’, down to ‘dust’. The leaf grade will determine the tea’s brewing time: the smallest leaves are used in teabags because they brew very quickly. All grades can produce fine tea, albeit in different styles ranging from light and delicate to full-bodied.
Black tea varieties include:
Broken Pekoe and Broken Orange Pekoe - broken-leaf Indian and Sri Lankan teas that make dark, strong brews.
Flowery Orange Pekoes - large-leaf Indian and Sri Lankan tea containing a proportion of slightly golden tips. If there are a high proportion of tips, the leaves may be called golden flowery orange pekoe.
Orange Pekoe - these Indian and Sri Lankan teas take longer to brew than broken or small-leaf ones. The leaves are long, thin and tightly rolled.
Souchong - a general term for large-leaf black teas from China.
Assam – a black tea from India, valued for its rich golden colour and strong, malty flavour that stands up well to the addition of milk.
Darjeeling – a fragrant, light Indian tea that’s one of the finest black teas in the world, and is sometimes described as ‘The Champagne of Teas’. First flush (early-season) pickings are the most delicate and prized. Second flush pickings have a denser, fuller flavour. At the very top end, the tea is sold by the name of specific estates. Drink it with lemon so as not to mask the fine taste.
Nilgiri - a fine black tea from a region in southern India of the same name. It has a good colour and well-rounded flavour and can be served with or without milk.
Lapsang Souchong - a large-leaf black Chinese tea that has been smoke-dried to produce a tarry taste. It is best drunk without milk, sugar or lemon.
Earl Grey – a black Chinese tea flavoured and scented with oil of bergamot. It’s best drunk alone or with a slice of lemon.
Keemun – a black China tea with a nutty, fragrant flavour that can be served either with or without milk.
buy tea in the Chinese tea shop
Recycle those tea bags and make room for loose leaf tea
Are you ready to transition from tea bags to loose leaf tea, but feel guilty just tossing the tea bags you have on hand? Thankfully, there are green and creative alternatives to disposing of your unwanted tea bags that will also assuage any guilt.
Going the charitable route
One of the most remarkable charities I stumbled across recently is Original T-Bag Designs, a collective of artists residing in South Africa. These artists transform recycled tea bags into a variety of beautiful items, including works of art, household objects, jewelry, stationery, and clothes. For many of the artists, their tea-bag creations have freed them from a life of poverty.
Under a section called “Saving T-Bags” on their web site, Original T-Bag Designs provides detailed instructions for how to prepare your unwanted tea bags for donation. It is a tedious process for sure, but could make for a wonderful project for a youth group. Ask a bunch of enthusiastic teens to collect tea bags from families in their neighborhoods while extolling the virtues of loose leaf tea, show them the process for preparing the tea bags for donation, provide them with something to eat while doing the preparation work, and before you know it, you will have collected several pounds of tea bags and can ship them off to the Original T-Bag Designs folks. Definitely a win-win proposition.
If you are also interested in supporting the organization by purchasing some of their items, you can do so from their web site.
Going the creative route
Are you the creative type? Perhaps a Project Runway devotee or wannabe? Check out Ashleigh Evans’ creation! I’d actually like to see this as a future Project Runway challenge, assuming the show ever emerges from its legal tangles - create an outfit using tea bags.
Ashleigh, a second-year fashion design student, made a Victorian-inspired gown that is all the more amazing because it doesn’t look like it started life as 2,000 tea bags.
So why not exercise some of that creativity you have bottled up and put those tea bags to use in a more delicious manner? And, in the process, make room for more of that loose leaf tea!
From examiner.com by Erika Cilengir
buy loose leaf tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月9日星期四
How Do You Decaffeinate Tea?
There are some traditions I have around writing. First off, in my apartment I have my write or do nothing chair. The only two things I am allowed to do in it are write or do nothing. It is where I am sitting right now as I am type this. The second tradition is classical musical in the background; this is especially helpful for long bouts of writing requiring more focus. The third is a pot of tea. The third tradition is problematic late at night, as then I don’t sleep due to the caffeine. Which made me ponder an alternative and how it is derived – how is tea decaffeinated?
Real tea comes from the leaves from the Camellia sinesis or Camellia assamica plant . These leaves naturally contain caffeine in varying amounts. Black teas are the most strongly caffeinated while white teas contain the least amount of caffeine. At night, one could drink herbal tea but these are not actually genuine teas. They are just herbal tinctures derived from other plants.
One could enjoy an actual cup of decaffeinated tea by pouring out the first cup and re-steeping. This works best with loose-leaf tea; about 80% of the caffeine in tea is released in the first thirty seconds of steeping. Pouring out the first batch steeped and then adding more hot water will get rid of the majority of caffeine while maintaining the flavor of the tea.
This is the water method of decaffeination. There are three other methods used for decaffeination:
Methylene chloride processing – in this process Methylene chloride is used as a solvent. Molecules of caffeine bond to the molecules of Methylene chloride. This processing can be done directly in a bath of Methylene chloride or indirectly by extracting the caffeine in a water bath.
Ethyl acetate processing – Ethyl acetate is a naturally occurring chemical in most fruits. Caffeine molecules bond to Ethyl acetate and caffeine can be removed either directly or indirectly using Ethyl acetate as the solvent. Products coined as “Naturally decaffeinated” are usually decaffeinated using this method.
Carbon dioxide processing – In this process, water softened materials are “pressure cooked” with the gas. At high pressures, CO2 sublimates and acts as both a gas and a liquid. As a solvent, the non-polar molecules will attract the smaller caffeine molecules. Since the flavor molecules are larger they remain intact. This process retains the flavor of the tea better than the other two solvent methods.
In all these methods some caffeine will remain but it drastically reduced. Federal regulations in the US mandate that labeled decaffeinated products must not contain more the 2.5% caffeine. So what happens to all the caffeine that is taken out in processing? It is put into other products. Soft drinks are primarily caffeinated from the caffeine taken out from decaffeination. So that soft drink might include the caffeine from tea leaves or coffee beans. So by choosing decaffeinated tea tonight, that caffeine was repurposed in another caffeine beverage!
From kqed.org
Buy tea in Chinese tea shop
Real tea comes from the leaves from the Camellia sinesis or Camellia assamica plant . These leaves naturally contain caffeine in varying amounts. Black teas are the most strongly caffeinated while white teas contain the least amount of caffeine. At night, one could drink herbal tea but these are not actually genuine teas. They are just herbal tinctures derived from other plants.
One could enjoy an actual cup of decaffeinated tea by pouring out the first cup and re-steeping. This works best with loose-leaf tea; about 80% of the caffeine in tea is released in the first thirty seconds of steeping. Pouring out the first batch steeped and then adding more hot water will get rid of the majority of caffeine while maintaining the flavor of the tea.
This is the water method of decaffeination. There are three other methods used for decaffeination:
Methylene chloride processing – in this process Methylene chloride is used as a solvent. Molecules of caffeine bond to the molecules of Methylene chloride. This processing can be done directly in a bath of Methylene chloride or indirectly by extracting the caffeine in a water bath.
Ethyl acetate processing – Ethyl acetate is a naturally occurring chemical in most fruits. Caffeine molecules bond to Ethyl acetate and caffeine can be removed either directly or indirectly using Ethyl acetate as the solvent. Products coined as “Naturally decaffeinated” are usually decaffeinated using this method.
Carbon dioxide processing – In this process, water softened materials are “pressure cooked” with the gas. At high pressures, CO2 sublimates and acts as both a gas and a liquid. As a solvent, the non-polar molecules will attract the smaller caffeine molecules. Since the flavor molecules are larger they remain intact. This process retains the flavor of the tea better than the other two solvent methods.
In all these methods some caffeine will remain but it drastically reduced. Federal regulations in the US mandate that labeled decaffeinated products must not contain more the 2.5% caffeine. So what happens to all the caffeine that is taken out in processing? It is put into other products. Soft drinks are primarily caffeinated from the caffeine taken out from decaffeination. So that soft drink might include the caffeine from tea leaves or coffee beans. So by choosing decaffeinated tea tonight, that caffeine was repurposed in another caffeine beverage!
From kqed.org
Buy tea in Chinese tea shop
Black Tea Polyphenols May Reduce Cancer Risk
Polyphenol-B from black tea could reduce the risk of cancer by inhibiting several causing mechanisms, according to new research.
The study, published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, suggests the polyphenols in black tea influences several cancer controlling proteins, and may block a crucial signaling pathway in cancer formation.
“The results of the present study demonstrate that Polyphenon-B inhibits tumour cell growth both in vitro and in vivo,” wrote the researchers, led by Dr. S. Nagini, at Annamalai University in India.
Tea polyphenols
Uncontrolled cell growth and survival play a “critical role” in the development of cancers, stated the authors.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 662,000 deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) signaling pathway in cancer cells is known to aid cell survival by blocking natural cell death mechanisms. Inhibiting the activation of NF-kB is considered to a strong potential target for cancer reduction.
Since several studies have suggested evidence for the protective effect of tea polyphenols on cancer risk, the Indian researchers sought to test the potential anti-cancer activity of compounds from black tea – polyphenol-B – in HCC cancer cells and in rats with HCC cells
Previous studies have report the potential anti-cancer effects of tea are linked to the polyphenol content of the tea. Green tea contains between 30 and 40 percent of polyphenols, while black tea contains between 3 and 10 percent.
A study last year linked green tea to a 22 percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer, however the same study found no such protective for black tea.
Cancer inhibition
The researchers found a dose-dependent relationship between polyphenon-B and cancer development in cancer induced cells, and also witnessed reduced tumor incidence in rats.
Polyphenon-B was observed to up-regulate the expression of cell death inducing proteins and down regulate expression of the anti cell death proteins.
The black tea polyphenol also stopped certain cellular processes associated with cancer, noted the researchers.
The authors stated their results provide evidence that polyphenon-B effectively inhibits uncontrolled cell growth associated with cancer, and induces cell death mechanisms by inhibiting NF-kB signaling.
They added that by influencing the expression of a network of molecules that control cell death mechanisms, the effects of polyphenon-B can eventually result in cancer reduction.
“These studies underscore the potential anti-cancer properties of black tea polyphenols,” wrote the researchers.
From nutraingredients-usa.com
Buy black tea in Chinese tea shop
Oolong tea fights fat and cholesterol
While most people are already aware that oolong tea is good for the health, a month-long experiment by a Japanese doctor showed the tea reduces body fat and rejuvenates internal organs, because it contains a large amount of polyphenol, the Daily Yomiuri Shimbun reports.
"I never expected to get the result I wanted from this experiment in such a short period of time," said Masatoshi Nakano, a lecturer at an Aichi Medical University institute.
In April, Nakano asked 12 men and women aged between 18 and 39 to participate in an experiment to examine the effect of oolong tea on their health. All the participants had a clean bill of health and a body mass index of between 20 and 30.
The participants were effectively asked to soak their lives in oolong tea for a month. They were required to drink at least one litre of oolong tea each day and refrain from drinking water. Participants were also asked to eat a balanced diet during the period. Blood samples were taken from the participants for analysis both before and afterward.
Nakano took the blood samples to Yasuharu Mitomo, a professor at Nagoya City University for tests. Dr. Mitomo is specialised in the study of "internal-organ aging." Using various indicators, such as cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and hepatic activity, he has been researching the impact of different lifestyles on the aging process of internal organs.
In testing the blood samples, Mitomo used a calculation method he devised for evaluating the age of organs. He used the results of medical checkups as the basis for the calculations.
According to his findings, the internal organs of the participants were rejuvenated by an average of 1.9 years and a maximum of nine years. The average age of the 12 participants was 26.9. Before the oolong tea experiment, their average internal organ age was 30.3, and dropped to 28.4 after the experiment.
The one whose internal-organ age was rejuvenated by nine years was a woman aged 29. Her cholesterol level fell from 206 before the experiment to 157 afterward, while her LDL (bad) cholesterol level dropped from 137 to 98. Along with the decrease in cholesterol levels, her overall internal-organ age dropped from 38 to her actual age of 29.
"The higher the combined level of cholesterol, the harder your arteries become," Mitomo said. Hardening of the arteries is believed to be a common cause of fatal heart attacks and strokes.
The combined cholesterol levels of most of the participants fell, as did their g-GTP, an indicator of hepatic activity. Meanwhile, HDL (good) cholesterol rose in many cases.
From nutraingredients-usa.com
Buy oolong tea in Chinese tea shop
2010年12月8日星期三
Oolong tea can really help you lose weight!
Thought it was just another fad? Well apparently not. It is refreshing to find that there have been quite a few scientific studies done that support claims that oolong tea can really assist people with weight loss and is in general very good for your health. The polyphenols it contains not only helps you lose weight, it also remove free radicals and improve your health in general. Oolong tea is also marketed as Wu-long tea.
In China, tea has historically been used as a medicine. Tea can be categorized into three types, depending on the level of fermentation: i.e. green (unfermented), oolong (partially fermented) and black (fermented) tea. White tea falls in the same category as green tea, just in case you wondered. It has been known for some time that tea helps to control obesity and this is common knowledge in China. The western world is now fast realizing the wisdom of this ancient belief. A classical Chinese pharmaceutical book called the “Bencao Shiyi” (A supplement to the Materia Medica) states, “Drinking tea for a long time will make one live long and stay in good shape without becoming too fat and too heavy.”
Oolong tea falls somewhere between green tea and black tea in the duration of time the tea leaves are allowed to oxidize (ferment). The different brands of oolong tea are often slightly more or slightly less fermented, resulting in subtle differences in taste. Tea connoisseurs classify the tea by its aroma (often floral or fruity), and they describe the taste and aftertaste as melon like. Many people absolutely love it, but we have come across people that actually do not like the taste at all. Fortunately for those people all the goodness of oolong tea can also be taken in the form of a tablet! Considerably more expensive, but for those that don’t like the tea, it is a much more pleasant way to get all the benefits of oolong tea.
You will be forgiven for a bit of healthy skepticism when considering the slimming properties of oolong tea. Maybe you were around in the late eighties and early nineties when everybody jumped on the Bai Lin bandwagon, a slimming tea marketed by Peter Forster and his then girlfriend, Samatha Fox. At that stage Samantha Fox was the nation’s favorite Page Three pin-up, so she was a very effective cover girl for Bai Lin tea. They were finally fined 21,000 pounds in 1994 for making fraudulent claims about the pro-slimming properties of Bai Lin tea. Peter Forster’s company Slimweight (UK) Ltd., said slimmers could gorge themselves and still lose weight – as long as they sipped the tea three times a day. It was clearly a preposterous idea, but thousands rushed to buy …
The difference with oolong tea is that it is supported by scientific studies. While it is generally agreed that drinking the tea is good for your health, there is a very good understanding at the same time that nothing will really help unless you also take charge of what you are eating. Oolong tea will help you lose weight faster if you are on a balanced nutritional plan, but it can not perform miracles. Do not expect to gorge yourself on all your favorite food, drink oolong tea, and then still magically lose the weight. To enjoy all of the health benefits of oolong tea, two cups per day is recommended.
How does oolong tea work? The polyphenols in Oolong tea have proven to be effective in activating an enzyme that is responsible for reducing triglycerides (manufactured by your body from the excess sugar and fat that you take in when you overeat). Excess triglycerides are deposited within the fat cells, which encourages the production of more fat cells. By reducing these triglycerides oolong tea helps you to lose weight and stay slim.
Drinking oolong tea also boosts your metabolism. In a 2003 study (Komatsu T, Nakamori M, Komatsu K, et al. “Oolong tea increases energy metabolism in Japanese females.” J Med Invest 2003;50:170 –5) the effects of oolong tea and green tea consumption on fasting energy expenditure (EE) were examined. Eleven healthy normal-weight women were tested after drinking water and again after drinking oolong and green tea in random order. The cumulative increase in EE over resting EE after the consumption of oolong tea, green tea, and water was 110.7 (26.5 kcal), 49.5 (11.8 kcal), and 11.2 kJ (2.7 kcal), respectively, over the 2-h measuring period. The authors concluded that, because oolong tea had less caffeine and EGCG than did green tea, the rise in EE must be due to the presence in oolong tea of more polymerized polyphenols than are found in green tea.
During another study (TF H-Su et al, “ Polyphenol-enriched oolong tea increases fecal lipid excretion”, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2006) 60, 1330–1336. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602464 ) coordinated by the University of Tokushima, Japan it was proven that consuming polyphenol-enriched oolong tea may help increase lipid (fat) excretion while following a high fat diet. Researchers selected 12 healthy young adults on a random basis to follow a high fat diet (38 g/d of lipids from potato chips) with 750 ml of beverages—either a placebo or polyphenol-enriched oolong tea—at three meals; treatment periods lasted 10 days with a seven-day washout. During the oolong tea intervention, lipid excretion into feces was significantly higher than during placebo; cholesterol excretion was also increased during the tea phase. The results of this study indicated that polyphenol-enriched oolong tea could increase lipid excretion into feces when subjects took high-lipid diet.
Free radicals are linked to many signs and symptoms of aging, and certain diseases, including cardiovascular disease and even cancers. Free radicals are paradoxically, also caused by the very thing we need to survive, namely oxygen. Tea polyphenols have been found to be powerful antioxidants that get rid of many of these free radicals. Drinking tea may lower risks of cardio-vascular disease and even cancer. It can also delay some of those nasty, but inescapable signs of ageing processes. A 2003 study conducted by Kenichi Yanagimoto compares green tea, oolong tea and black tea for their antioxidant activities. Green tea was found to be the most potent antioxidant (blocked oxidation by almost 100% over 40 days), followed by oolong tea (blocked oxidation by 50% over 15 days), and then black tea, which showed only a slight anti-oxidant capability.
Our opinion on oolong tea? Go for it! It really does not matter if you ingest it in beverage or capsule form…it will not only help you lose weight, but it has been proven to be very good for you!
From optimalbodyweight.com
High quality oolong tea bring you a better flavor and benefits
Buy oolong tea in Chinese tea shop
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