A scorching cup of tea could make you’re feeling heat and comfy on a chilly day. Even higher, tea is a wholesome, low-calorie drink that has a variety of necessary advantages to your well-being. Consuming tea might even assist you drop pounds.

Tea is the world’s second most consumed drink (after water), in keeping with the Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Nations. In lots of locations, tea is extra than simply refreshment. In nations akin to Japan and the UK, getting ready and ingesting tea are an important a part of ceremonies and day by day rituals.

Tea looks like the best of drinks, however not all tea is alike. There are various various kinds of tea, every with a novel origin, taste and dietary profile. Determining which is finest for you will be complicated, so we put collectively this deep dive into the vast world of tea.

What’s Tea?

True tea, derived from the Camellia sinensis shrub native to Asia, has a wealthy historical past of cultivation in China, India and neighboring nations. In response to the tea specialists at ArtfulTea, there are two main varieties: Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, recognized for its mellow style and standard in East Asia, and Camellia sinensis var. assamica, with a extra strong taste, generally present in India.

It’s necessary to notice that natural teas, whereas sometimes called tea, are literally infusions. Mint, chamomile and hibiscus are among the many crops used to create natural teas, infusing their leaves and flowers with flavorful important oils. All through historical past, natural teas have been utilized in folks drugs for his or her therapeutic advantages in treating numerous illnesses.

Totally different Forms of Tea

Tea producers make use of completely different processes to organize camellia leaves and flowers after harvesting, which in the end results in the distinct flavors and colours of every tea variant. Right here’s a information that will help you choose the proper tea that fits your preferences. Uncover the artwork of tea preparation and discover a wide range of flavors and sorts of tea!

Black

Black tea is essentially the most generally discovered selection, usually related to well-known tea manufacturers. It undergoes a course of the place harvested leaves are allowed to wilt and oxidize within the presence of air for a day or extra, leading to a metamorphosis from inexperienced to a wealthy brownish-black colour and a hearty style.

Notably, black tea boasts the best caffeine content material amongst all teas, roughly half the quantity present in a cup of espresso. Its infusion yields a charming darkish, coppery hue, accompanied by a sturdy and full-bodied taste.

Oolong

Oolong tea is crafted by partially oxidizing the leaves, giving them a brown hue, although not as deep as black tea. Via rolling, the tea leaves are gently bruised, unlocking the enzymes and important oils that create pleasant flavors. When brewed, oolong tea reveals a charming orange to amber colour, presenting a milder style in comparison with black tea.

White

White tea, beloved by tea connoisseurs, delights with its delicately nice taste. Crafted from the recent ideas and buds of the camellia plant, it undergoes minimal oxidation earlier than being fastidiously dried, able to be brewed. Notably, white tea yields solely hint quantities of caffeine and imparts a pale yellow hue when steeped.

Inexperienced

Inexperienced tea leaves are fastidiously processed proper after harvest to protect their vibrant inexperienced colour and forestall oxidation. In Japan, the leaves are steamed, whereas in China, they’re pan-fired. The result’s a light-weight inexperienced or yellowish tea with a fragile floral taste. Some pan-fried inexperienced teas even provide a refined smoky be aware. Moreover, inexperienced tea accommodates roughly half the caffeine content material of black tea.

Matcha

Matcha, a preferred kind of inexperienced tea in Japan, is derived from crops which can be shaded for no less than three weeks earlier than harvesting. This shading course of enriches the crops with chlorophyll, leading to a vibrant inexperienced hue. Furthermore, it imparts a pleasant umami taste to the tea, setting it other than different inexperienced tea varieties, whereas additionally offering a mild caffeine enhance.

To create matcha, the tea leaves endure a meticulous grinding course of, remodeling them right into a effective powder. Aside from being brewed as a standard tea, this versatile powder will be included into smoothies and utilized in numerous baked items. Indulge within the delectable flavors of our Matcha Cookies recipe and savor the refreshing mixture of this Orange Ginger and Matcha Protein Shake.

Pu-erh

Pu-erh tea, pronounced “poo-air,” is gaining reputation amongst tea fans in america. Much like black tea, it undergoes oxidation after which fermentation, very like sauerkraut or wine, adopted by ageing for a number of months and even as much as 20 years.

Through the fermentation course of, the tea develops a easy and subtly candy taste. Simply as with wine, ageing enriches and deepens the flavors. The ensuing tea is a darkish brown or black hue, with some noting hints of plum in its style.

Purple

Purple tea has been making headlines and showing on retailer cabinets currently. Whereas it comes from the identical plant species, its leaves have a definite purple hue. This lovely colour is attributed to anthocyanin, a strong antioxidant present in different meals like blueberries, pink onions and wine.

Much like oolong tea, purple tea leaves endure partial oxidation. In relation to taste, purple tea has been described as a pleasant mix of inexperienced and black tea. Its distinctive style is actually a deal with for the senses.

Different Tea Choices

Many individuals world wide brew drinks from different crops apart from camellia. These are a couple of of the alternatives.

Natural Tea

Ginger and lemon balm are beautiful examples of fragrant herbs that yield pleasant teas. These herbs are sometimes unoxidized, minimally processed, and may even be cultivated at residence. Whenever you’re able to take pleasure in a cup of tea, merely pluck a couple of leaves. It’s value noting that natural teas are typically low in caffeine or utterly caffeine-free, making them an ideal alternative for a soothing beverage.

Rooibos Tea

Rooibos (pronounced “roy boss”) is an more and more standard kind of tea derived from a shrub indigenous to South Africa. The plant’s inexperienced leaves and yellow flowers endure oxidation and fermentation, leading to a definite reddish hue and a gently candy taste paying homage to vanilla. Notably, rooibos tea is of course caffeine-free, making it a pleasant alternative for these looking for a soothing and refreshing beverage.

Chai

Ever come throughout “chai” on a espresso store menu and questioned what it really is? Opposite to standard perception, it’s not simply one other kind of tea. Chai is a pleasant mix of sturdy Indian black tea, wealthy milk, and a medley of fragrant spices like cardamom, ginger and cloves. Give it a try to let your style buds embark on a flavorful journey!

Well being Advantages of Tea

You may say that tea is simply flavored water. And that’s a superb factor. Plain tea has no energy, sugar or fats. It retains you hydrated whereas additionally perking up your style buds.

Consuming tea, nonetheless, presents you useful well being advantages which you can’t get from water. As an illustration, customary and natural teas might offer you small however useful quantities of potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, copper and zinc. Past diet, ingesting tea can provide your well being a lift in a wide range of methods.

Most cancers

Teas constituted of the camellia plant include compounds known as catechins and theaflavins that “might scale back the chance of varied sorts of cancers in people,” in keeping with a report from the journal Present Pharmaceutical Designs.

Strokes

In the identical report, the researchers be aware that people who drink three or extra cups of tea a day have a 21 p.c decrease threat of stroke than those that drink lower than one cup per day on common.

Ldl cholesterol and Blood Stress

Consuming the catechins in inexperienced tea led to a discount in physique fats, systolic blood stress and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) ldl cholesterol in a examine, revealed within the journal Weight problems.

Irritation

Black tea accommodates flavonoids that may assist scale back irritation, in keeping with a examine revealed in Important Care Drugs.

Tooth

White tea is wealthy in fluoride, catechins and tannins that may strengthen your tooth, safeguard towards plaque, and improve resistance to acid and sugar-induced put on, says a report from the College of Pennsylvania Well being System.

Stress

An amino acid considerable in inexperienced tea often known as L-theanine, together with the low dose of caffeine, was related to enhancements in “temper, cognition and a discount of stress and anxiety-like signs,” in keeping with a examine revealed within the journal Phytomedicine.

Mind

A College of Pennsylvania Well being System report highlights that l-theanine might assist forestall the onset and progress of cognitive ailments akin to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s ailments.

Physique Fats

Individuals who consumed purple tea for 4 weeks had a big discount of their “weight, physique fats mass, belly fats, physique fats ratio, waist measurement, hip measurement, and belly and proper higher arm fats thickness,” in keeping with a examine within the Worldwide Journal of Biomedical Science. The researchers theorize that the dietary compounds within the tea inhibited the absorption of fats from meals.

Selecting and Brewing

Unfastened Tea vs. Tea Baggage

Tea luggage are handy to retailer and to make use of. When you purchase luggage, examine the expiration date. Stale tea has a flat style. For the most effective taste from a tea bag, search for manufacturers that use muslin material or silk slightly than paper, which may seep into the flavour of the tea. Premium manufacturers use complete tea leaves, slightly than crushed leaves.

With complete leaves, you get the complete flavors and aromas. For that cause, tea lovers usually want brewing with unfastened leaf tea. All you want is an infuser to your pot or cup to make use of unfastened leaves. When looking for unfastened leaf tea, give it a sniff earlier than shopping for. It ought to odor brilliant and recent, not pale or funky.

Heating and Steeping

Similar to there are various kinds of tea, there are other ways to organize them. Whenever you’re prepared to organize your tea, you need the new water to launch the tea’s flavorful and fragrant oils, however not scald the leaves. For black, Pu-ehr, rooibos and most natural teas, the water needs to be simply in need of boiling. Oolong tastes finest brewed at 195 levels F. Warmth the water to about 180 levels F for inexperienced, white or purple tea.

The method of soaking within the scorching water, or steeping, extracts the flavors, aromas and vitamins from tea leaves. Black tea and herbals teas typically attain their peak of taste after steeping for about 4 minutes. Inexperienced and white tea are finest after three minutes.

When you like a stronger style, you’ll be able to let each go for one more minute or so, however any longer dangers the tea growing a bitter taste. A superbly brewed cup of tea is an easy pleasure that may make any day slightly cozier.