Tea has a rich and important history that goes back nearly 5000 years and is second only to water as a world beverage. According to Chinese legend, it was Emperor Shen Nung who discovered tea by accident in 2737 B.C. when a few leaves of tea fell into water he was boiling to drink. He drank the mixture enjoying the new found taste and thus the long history of tea began.
Tea consumption spread from China to Japan and eventually to the rest of the world, leading to the Opium Wars in China as well as signifying America's journey to independence with the historical Boston Tea Party.
3000+ variations and an unbeatable array of flavors combined with emerging evidence of tea's many health benefits make it the perfect beverage for the next century.
SIT BACK AND RELAX, AND ENJOY A BREW OF FRESH FULL LEAF TEA!
CATEGORIES OF TEA
White Tea - least processed - unopened young bud sets and first two leaves that are plucked by hand. These are steamed to stop any enzyme breakdown of the leaf and then are gently dried. The best ones are picked in the spring.
Green Tea - Green teas are not oxidized -- fresh picked leaves are either steamed or pan-fired to halt active enzymes that cause oxidation. While the leaves are still pliable they are sometimes rolled into thin long leaves or small balls before additional drying is accomplished through continued pan firing or steaming until the moisture content is around 4%.
Oolong - Semi-oxidized teas that are a category of tea that falls somewhere between a black and green. It takes a high level of skill to produce exceptional oolongs. The leaves are bruised to allow the juices to be exposed to the air, then heated, rolled and allowed to oxidize further. This process is repeated until the tea master decides that the tea is finished, and it is then dried. They are the smoothest drinking of all tea categories and can be steeped multiple times until you are tired of drinking them. They are probably the most under-appreciated of all tea categories, and it's hard not to fall in love with a good oolong.
Black/Red - Black teas are produced by fully oxidizing the leaf. After the leaves are picked they are withered (evaporation of the natural moisture from the leaf) and rolled to release the juices from the leaf. Full oxidation takes 3.5-5 hours and the color of the leaf turns from green to coppery red. The tea is then fired to stop decomposition and turns brown-black in color.
Orthodox - using leaves picked from the plant to make tea CTC - (Cut-Tear-Curl) granulated tea pellets made by putting tea leaves in a machine that tears and breaks the leaves into small particles that are processed mostly for using in tea bags.
Pu-erh - A tea prized for its medicinal qualities, it has been scientifically proven to lower cholesterol and is excellent for upset stomachs and the whole digestive system in general. Grown in the Yunnan region in China, the leaves are pile oxidized (like composting) which can last up to three months. It is during this time that the tea develops bacterial and enzymatic properties that are different to all other teas. It can be purchased in loose leaf form, bricks or tuo chas (bowl shaped).
Herbals - Technically not tea, but these infusions are made from dried flowers, herbs, spices and fruits. Tisanes, the French term given to them, contain no caffeine, may contain various health benefits and come in a wide range of flavors and tastes varying from tart and fruity to full-bodied and smooth.
NEWEST TEA RELATED HEALTH NEWS
Tea May Help Keep Liver Failure at Bay
-- Robert Preidt FORBES MAGAZINE
TUESDAY, Dec. 6 2006(Health Day News) -- Drinking more than two cups of tea a day may help reduce the risk of chronic liver disease in people at high risk for liver injury, a new study suggests.This protective effect was observed in people at higher risk for liver injury due to heavy drinking, being overweight, diabetes, or iron overload.
"While it is too soon to encourage patients to increase their tea intake, the findings of our study potentially offer
people at high-risk for developing chronic liver disease a practical way to decrease that risk," researcher Dr.
Constance E. Ruhl said in a prepared statement. "In addition, we hope the findings will offer guidance to
researchers who are studying liver disease progression."
The study was conducted by researchers from the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases and from Social & Scientific Systems, Inc. They analyzed 19 years of data on nearly 10,000 people whose tea intake had been evaluated over time.
Reporting in the December issue of the journal Gastroenterology, the researchers found that people who drank more than two cups of coffee or tea a day developed chronic liver disease half as often as people who consumed less than a cup of tea a day.
"In the analysis, we determined that caffeine was partly responsible for the protective effect found. We believe that investigations into the mechanism of action of caffeine for protecting the liver and its clinical application are
needed," Ruhl said.
Tea Reduces Ovarian Cancer Risk
By Steven Reinberg
Health Day Reporter FORBES MAGAZINE
MONDAY, Dec. 12 2006(Health Day News) -- Women who drink at least two cups of tea a day can reduce their risk of developing ovarian cancer by almost 50 percent, Swedish researchers report.
There has been some experimental evidence that green and black tea might lower the risk of some cancers, but
this is one of the few studies that has looked at the ability of tea to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, the researchers noted.
The report appears in the Dec. 12/26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.In their study, Susanna C. Larsson and Alicja Wolk, of the National Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, looked at 61,057 women who were 40 to 76 years old.
The women all participated in a population-based study called the Swedish Mammography Cohort. At the beginning of the study, 68 percent of the participants said they drank tea (mainly black tea) at least once a month. During 15 years of follow-up, 301 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
"We found a lower risk of ovarian cancer associated with greater tea consumption," Larsson said .Larsson and Wolk found that women who drank at least two cups of tea a day reduced their risk of developing ovarian cancer by 46 percent.
"Each additional cup of tea per day was associated with an 18 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer," the authors reported.
In addition, women who drank one cup a day cut their risk by 24 percent, and those who even drank less than one cup of tea a day reduced their risk by 18 percent compared with non-tea drinkers.
"The advice to women is to increase the consumption of tea," Larsson said. "There are no harmful effects of tea."One expert sees this study as reason to look for the components in tea that may be protecting women from ovarian cancer.
"This manuscript continues to increase our optimism that lifestyle interventions can be successful in cancer
prevention," said Dr. Robert Morgan Jr., section head of medical gynecologic oncology at City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif.
"These interventions are particularly important in ovarian cancer because, while ovarian cancer diagnosed in early stage disease is very curable, screening interventions have been only minimally effective in this disease due to the non-specificity of symptoms of early ovarian cancer, as well as the location of the ovaries deep in the pelvis,
making them difficult to examine directly," Morgan said. Because of this, prevention strategies are very important, Morgan added.
"Much data has recently been published suggesting that lifestyle changes, including exercise and statins, may lead to decreased incidences of new diagnoses of cancer or cancer recurrences. This manuscript suggests that there
are other natural products which may be capable of the same phenomenon," he said.
Since the reasons tea may be protective are not known, Morgan thinks this study could lead researchers back to the lab to uncover the mechanisms at work.
Chemical in green tea may fight Alzheimer’s
Compound appears to decrease production of brain-clogging plaques
An ingredient in green tea that researchers think might fight cancer may also protect the brain from the memory-destroying Alzheimer’s disease, a study released Tuesday said.
Scientists injected mice with an antioxidant from green tea called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and said it decreased production of beta-amyloid, a protein that forms the plaques that clog the brains of Alzheimer’s victims.
Several months of injections reduced plaque formation by as much as 54 percent, researchers from the University of South Florida wrote in the Journal of Neuroscience. The mice had been genetically programmed to develop an Alzheimer’s-like disease.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disorder that causes memory loss and afflicts an estimated 4.5 million people in the United States and millions more globally.
Researchers have tested the safety of those doses in people and found no major side effects, he said.
The next step for researchers is to test an oral form of EGCG in mice and see if it protects the animals’ memory, he said. "If those studies show clear cognitive benefits, we believe (human) trials of EGCG to treat Alzheimer’s disease would be warranted," Tan said.
The study was funded by the University of South Florida College of Medicine Faculty Start-Up Funds, the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer’s Center & Research Institute, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
EGCG is a potent antioxidant
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant found in green tea, is at least 100 more times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times more effective than vitamin E at protecting cells and DNA from damage believed to be linked to cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses. This antioxidant has twice the benefits of resveratrol, found in red wine.
Reduces high blood pressure. Drinking green tea represses angiotensin II which leads to high blood pressure.
Lowers blood sugar. Green tea polyphenols and polysaccharides are effective in lowering blood sugar.
Fights cancer. There have been many studies that have shown that green tea catechins are effective at preventing cancer.
Lower cholesterol
Increase Thermogenesis (the body's rate of burning calories)
Enhance fat oxidation
Tea contains antioxidants, polyphenols, theanine, as well as a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. The followings are some of the components with a closer look to its benefits:
Polyphenols - Polyphenols are a class of phytochemicals found in high concentrations in green tea, and have been associated with heart disease and cancer prevention. The slight astringent, bitter taste of green tea is attributed to polyphenols.
Catechins - Catechins are a category of polyphenols. In green tea, catechins are present in significant quantities, more specifically; epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG makes up about 10-50% of the total catechin content and appears to be the most powerful of the catechins - with antioxidant activity about 25-100 times more potent than vitamins C and E. A cup of green tea may provide 10-40mg of polyphenols and has antioxidant activity greater than a serving of broccoli, spinach, carrots or strawberries.
Tannins - A group of simple and complex phenol, polyphenol, and flavonoid compounds, bound with starches, and often so amorphous that they are classified as tannins simply because at some point in degradation they are astringent and contain variations on gallic acid. Produced by plants, tannins are generally protective substances found in the outer and inner tissues. All of the tannins are relatively resistant to digestion or fermentation, and either decrease the ability of animals to easily consume the living plant, or, as in deciduous trees, cause shed parts of the plant to decay so slowly that there is little likelihood of infection to the living tree from rotting dead material around its base. All tannins act as astringents, shrinking tissues and contracting structural proteins in the skin and mucosa.
Flavonoids - Flavonoids are plant pigments, and are the brightly colored chemical constituents found in most fresh fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids are part of a large class of chemicals that occur naturally in plants. A simple definition describes flavonoids as "any group of substances found in fruits and vegetables essential for processing vitamin C and needed to maintain capillary walls. They may aid in protecting against infection. Deficiency can result in a tendency to bruise easily.
Theanine - An amino acid that produces tranquilizing effects in the brain, theanine is a unique amino acid found in the leaves of green tea. Theanine is quite different from the polyphenol and catechin antioxidants for which green tea is typically consumed. Through the natural production of polyphenols, the tea plant converts theanine into catechins. This means that tea leaves harvested during one part of the growing season may be high in catechins (good for antioxidant benefits), while leaves harvested during another time of year may be higher in theanine (good for anti-stress and cortisol-controlling effects). Three to four cups of green tea are expected to contain 100-200 mg of theanine.
Study: Tea helps keep blood pressure down
Compounds may help protect cardiovascular system
Drinkers of green and oolong tea are less likely to develop high blood pressure than nondrinkers, a Taiwanese study said Monday.
The risk of hypertension, a condition that can lead to heart disease and stroke, declined the more green or oolong tea was consumed regularly, the study by researchers from National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, said.
Some varieties of tea contain 4,000 chemical compounds, including flavonoids that help protect against heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure, study author Yi-Ching Yang wrote in the report published in The Archives of Internal Medicine.
None of the 1,500 participants suffered from hypertension at the start of the study, and those who drank between 120 and 599 milliliters (4 to 20 fluid ounces) of tea per day for at least a year prior had a 46 percent lower risk of developing high blood pressure than nondrinkers.
Drinking 600 milliliters of tea or more a day lowered the risk of hypertension by 65 percent, the study showed.
Few of the participants drank black tea.
About 40 percent of the study subjects were regular tea drinkers, and they were more likely to be younger men who smoked more, drank more alcohol and ate fewer vegetables.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
ROOIBOS TEA- DRINK TO YOUR HEALTH!
ROOIBOS/RED BUSH TEA
Rooibos, pronounced roy-i-boss, (roo-i-bush by some South Africans) and also known as Red Bush tea, is starting to get quite a bit of attention in the press lately. It started out as a traditional drink of the indigenous inhabitants of South Africa. It has a lot of body and a similar color to a black tea, and in its natural state tastes a lot like a smooth drinking black tea with a hint of vanilla. It’s naturally caffeine-free and holds up well to milk, honey, sugar or lemon. It contains calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, magnesium, sodium and fluoride. Research conducted at the University of Kumanota in Japan shows that rooibos tea provides even more antioxidant action than green tea. That means it’s great for boosting the immune system plus it contains a high level of SOD (super oxide dismatase), an agent that fights free radicals that lead to aging. It has a soothing effect on the skin when applied directly and can relieve diaper rash and sunburn when added to a bath. Clinically, it is recommended for nervous tension, insomnia, allergies, stomach and other digestive problems and has been found to be helpful to babies with colic. Some customers report it has an effect that’s almost energizing as well as soothing. We’ve been carrying Rooibos tea since we opened plus it’s the base for our herbal chai as well. Currently, we have four wonderful blends and we enjoy them iced as well as hot. If you haven’t already, then try some next time you’re at The TeaZone and in the mood for a healthy tasty caffeine-free cuppa.
At the 2002 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, researchers suggested that if arthritis runs in your family, you may want to work a few cups of tea into your schedule. In a study that spanned 11 years, researchers concluded that subjects who drank more than three cups of tea per day displayed a 60% decreased risk of rheumatoid arthritis compared to subjects who never drank tea.
A FEW TEA TERMS!
Aroma - the smell of the tea.
Astringent- describes a liquor which is pungent but not bitter.
Body - a tea liquor's fullness and strength
Fannings & Dust - tiny pieces of leaves usually found in tea bags
Fermentation/Oxidation - rupturing of the cells in the leaves which cause an enzyme action that is responsible for the color, body, aroma, and taste of the tea.
F.O.P. - flowery orange pekoe which is the 1st leaf of each shoot containing an abundance of tip.
O.P. - orange pekoe which is the whole leaf of the tea plant used in many teas
S.F.T.G.F.O.P. - special finest tippy golden flowery orange pekoe which is the highest quality leaf that is used to make tea.
Tannin - a major contributor to the taste and pungency of tea, that is also responsible for the health benefits of tea.
Tip - the very end of the delicate buds that are considered the most prized part of the tea plant.
