All about the tea today. Last week, I talked about books, remember? And I gave you WAY more than you actually NEEDED suggesting to read. Still, it was an impressive list.
Deemed the drink of the year (in my mind), tea seems to be on the rise all over and everywhere lately. Here in my hometown, we even got ourselves a Teavana.
Pardon the tone when I say this .... ChocolaTea is better. No question there. the tea is richer and there's more variety. Not that Teavana doesn't have it's merit. Generally, I go in there for the Youth Berry tea and for the Yixing clay tea pots.
Winter Dragon tea pot! (shown above) The Yixing clay is found in the Jiangsu province of China. It's a red clay and teapots made from this help to "season" tea. This means that it takes on the FLAVOR of your tea and enhances it with each cup.
They are not what I would recommend for a sporadic tea drinker, because it should only be used for ONE type of tea. Black, White, Green, Oolong, Herbals, or Reds. I personally use the Glitter and Gold tea in mine because it's my absolute favorite tea and I love how much more the flavor has been enhanced with every steep. The clay it's made from absorbs and soaks in the tea's natural flavors and it really can't get any better.
Now I do want to talk about one of the most popular teas to date.
Green Tea.
Many people choose it because of the good antioxidants naturally derived from it. But what else is good about it? How do you get green tea? Does it come from another plant than the Black teas?
When you hear the words 'green tea' what do you think of? I'm GUESSING that the majority usually see these images come to mind.
The classic box of green tea bags found at your local grocery store
<------------ Looks pretty, doesn't it? You read the box and you see the words 'HEALTHY ANTIOXIDANTS'
Then above, you have the beautiful glass teacup with the full leaf green tea steeping. It's an iconic image. You get blasted by the information that says 'DRINK GREEN TEA. LOSE WEIGHT.'
Now of course I'm not denying the medicinal properties of green tea. It IS quite good for you, but there's MORE to green tea that antioxidants which ... let's face it ... no one has any idea what that really means. So let's explore that shall we? What are antioxidants? Why are they important to our bodies?
In laymen's terms, an antioxidant is simply a molecule. It's found in ... not only green tea, but in many fruits and vegetables that we regularly eat.
The body needs these molecules because they help us fight off infections and disease, even keeping away serious heart disease and other forms of cancer.
The most famous antioxidant is Vitamin C which is water soluble. The second most famous is Vitamin E, which is fat soluble.
Why are they important? It's simple. All living things need oxygen to survive, right? Basically, oxygen creates the necessary functions for us to breathe, metabolize, and use energy. Antioxidants found in the green tea (since that's where I'm going with this) keep what are called 'Free Radicals' or molecules ALSO formed by oxygen from attacking our otherwise healthy cells. Therefore .... we love green tea. :D
Green tea is made from the Camellia sinensis tea plant and unlike the Black tea, it undergoes a very minimal oxidation process which I covered in a previous post.
Then there's the different TYPES of green tea.
Chinese Green tea!
The most popular is the Silver Needle tea. This tea has a robust flavor other than its more subtle brother, the White Silver Needle tea.
See how it has pointed edges on its leave and an almost silvery hue to it? Originally found in the Hunan Province where it is cultivated today.
Then there's the Japanese Green Tea. In Japan it's called simply 'tea' or 'Japanese tea' though it WAS brought to japan from China during the Song Dynasty.
Sencha Green tea is the most popular and famous blends of Japanese Green tea. These leaves are exposed directly to sunlight. It has a very full flavor in the first and second flushes.
See how green it is? It's from its exposure to sunlight. It also has a very grassy look to it because the leaf bunches up and holds in that flavor before steeping.
Next ... another common form of green tea is Matcha Green Tea.
It's a ground down tea and in Japan, it is very expensive and usually only used in tea ceremonies because they have the purest form of it. It seems to be getting more popular in the United States. And because it can be sweetened easily, you'll find it in a lot of ice cream flavors AND it's the reason that your green tea latte at Starbucks is so sweet and delicious
Again, see how powdery and fine, this tea is. It can NOT be steeped in a normal infuser because of it being ground so fine. All you do is mix it directly with steamed milk or hot water to create your perfect matcha tea blend.
So there is your tea education for the day. I hope it was informative and not too lengthy. I try to make it as interesting as possible when I go on my tea rants. :D
I love my teas!
I LOVE MY TEAS!!!
But of course ... I can understand that people do NOT want to read only about teas so I try to mix it up and have a variety of topics to discuss. Next segment, you might be AFRAID to read as it's going to be my Overactive Imagination bit. Prepare for randomness galore on that day.
Well perhaps I should leave you all to your day. I do have to close the cafe at Barnes & Noble tonight. So if you're in my area of Michigan, come on in and say hello! I love visitors and am happy to get to know my treasured readers.
Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn
(I am going to finish reading another chapter in the Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper)
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