Tea has been enjoyed for nearly 5,000 years and from the very start it was found to be a delicious beverage that was both medicinal and pleasing to the senses. The Chinese Emperor, Shen Nung, known as the “Divine Healer” is credited with discovering tea. Legend has it that some tea leaves blew into a pot of water that the Emperor was boiling, and lo and behold, a new beverage was born. Shen Nung also produced the first written account of tea in his medical book, “The Pen Ts’ao” in 2737 B.C.. In it the Chinese ruler noted that tea “quenches the thirst, lessens the desire for sleep and gladdens and cheers the heart.”
By the fifth century A.D., the practice of drinking tea was common in many parts of China. Tea leaves were first carried west by Turkish traders who bartered with the Chinese at the Mongolian border. Tea arrived in Japan in 729 A.D. and by 780 tea trading had become so popular that the Chinese government levied a tax on it. Western countries, already interested in silks, spices and other products from the Far East began importing tea in earnest in the sixteenth century, making the long, difficult and dangerous journey around the southern tip of Africa. Before the seventeenth century, tea could be found in Europe only in court or in the homes of the aristocracy. That changed in 1657 when, for the first time, tea was served to the English public at Garraway’s Coffee House in London.
Although coffee eventually became the beverage of choice in the United States, tea was also very popular in the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries; that is, until Britain levied a stringent tea tax, triggering the Boston Tea Party. Today, 80% of the tea that Americans consume is iced black tea, more than 40 billion servings a year. India and China produce more than 50%of the world’s tea, although China alone produces almost 75%of the world’s green tea.
Back in the 1970’s, medical researchers noted that people who drank green tea seemed to have an extra measure of protection against cancer, heart disease, strokes, infections and a host of other common ailments. It seemed almost too good to be true— but today, after decades of research by scientists around the world, it has been proven that green tea can:
- Enhance immune system function by increasing production of interleukin and B and T cells as well as guarding against the oxidants and free radicals that weaken the body’s natural defenses
- Prevent normal cells from turning cancerous and suppress the formation and growth of tumors
- Lower the bad LDL cholesterol, while keeping the helpful HDL up
- Lower the risk of stroke by making blood platelets less sticky and damaging arteries without the risks associated with aspirin and other blood thinners
- Help lower blood pressure
- Reduce blood glucose and insulin levels to aid in the prevention of Diabetes
- Assist in weight loss by blocking the production of starch and markedly reducing excess body fat
- Encourage bowel regularity and reduce constipation
- Ward off viruses, fungi and food-born bacteria
- Slow the aging process with abundant catechins and anti-oxidants
- Provide the body with vitamins A, B Complex, C and E
All teas, whether green, black or oolong comes from the Carnellia Sinensis shrub. In the wild, a tea bush will become a15-30 foot tree, surrounded by it’s offspring of little tea plants, but the cultivated plant is usually kept to a height of 3-5feet for ease in plucking. The part of the plant used for making tea is found in the upper most section of the shoots, where the young tender new leaves and buds, called “the flush” are found. It is interesting to note, that in our super-industrialized age, most of the world’s tea is still plucked by hand as tea harvesting machinery tends to be indiscriminate and harsh, ripping off and crushing the leaves. This rough handling encourages the onset of fermentation, something to be avoided at all costs in green tea production.
Once the leaves have been plucked, they are whisked off for processing. Green, black and oolong are made by processing the leaves quite differently. To make black tea, the fresh leaf is withered by exposure to the air, and is broken and left to ferment. Oolong is treated similarly, but the withering process is much shorter, resulting in a partially fermented leaf. For green tea, the leaf is not fermented at all. Instead it is steamed or roasted immediately after harvesting to stop the fermentation process, then rolled and dried.
The processing methods used in making black, oolong and green tea not only alter the taste, aroma and quality of the finished brew, but also change the way tea can effect your health. That’s because unfermented green tea leaves contain much larger amounts of a group of potent health promoters called polyphenols, which are chemically changed during the fermentation of black and oolong teas. Polyphenols are naturally occurring chemical compounds found in certain fruits and vegetables. A subgroup of polyphenols, the catechins are particularly powerful disease fighters and potent anti-oxidants that have been proven to halt or even reverse the progression of cancer by interfering with both the initiation and promotion stages of cancers.
The catechin content of green tea is an impressive 15-30% of the teas dry weight, while oolong contains just 8-20% and black tea only 3-10%. The younger leaves and buds of higher quality green tea have the highest polyphenol content and that content is preserved by very quick processing.
Green Tea Preparation
No matter how high or low the quality of the tea leaves, a cup of tea can be greatly enhanced or absolutely ruined in the brewing process. But by just following a couple of simple rules, you can be assured that you’ll have a delicious cup of tea every time.
- Choose the proper water. The main ingredient in a cup of tea, water is a vital factor in determining its taste and aroma. Spring water is generally considered the preferred choice, but any good quality bottled or filtered water will do.
- Boil the water. Although the true taste of tea cannot be fully expressed in water that is only warmed, over boiling causes the flavor-releasing oxygen to escape, and the resulting tea tastes flat. The best flavorresults from water that is just brought to the boiling point and then poured immediately.
- Warm the teapot or cup. Before adding the tea, warm the pot or cup with a small amount of hot water, and then pour it out. Never clean your teapot and cups with scouring powders or harsh cleansers, which can leave a residue that destroys the delicate taste of tea. Simply rinsing the pot well after each use is sufficient.
- Measure the tea. One level teaspoon of loose tea per cup of water.
- Steep. For the best aroma and flavor, green tea should be steeped for just two or three minutes. Over-steeping will produce a bitter brew. Tea leaves and bags may be reused several times. Some prefer the more delicate flavors of the second or third steeping.
- If you are using tea bags, use flow-through bags rather than flat bags whenever possible.
- Store your tea in an airtight container. The number one enemy of tea freshness is moisture and the number two enemy is air. Any dampness or exposure to air can degrade both the flavor and polyphenol content of the tea. After opening the vacuum-packed foil packaging with loose teas (or even with tea bags), store the tea in an opaque plastic container right away. Drink to your health!
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