By Jason Tsaddiq
Everyone does it - drink tea, that is. From the Asian wedding tea ceremony to the Moroccan shopkeepers greeting their guests to the Oriental apology ceremony to the southern US sweet iced tea with lemon to the northern US unsweet tea, this drink holds a mysterious grip on its cosmopolitan participants. "A Chinese classical pharmaceutical book called the Bencao Shiyi (The Compendium of Materia Medica) mentions clearly about the benefits of tea, 'Drinking tea for a long time soothes the mind, uplifts the spirit, and prevents obesity and aging.' "[1] Proponents claim that this tea will "increase metabolism . . . decrease appetite . . . [and] help stabilize blood sugar."[2]Opponents declare that the added sugar and naturally occurring caffeine may actually negate the effects of the tea. Searching for the answers to the questions concerning tea can be enlightening and delicious.
A diligent tea connoisseur revels in discovering the variances between the diverse teas - their preparation, their flavor and their benefits. True tea leaves must come from the plant Camellia sinensiswhich can grow up to thirty feet or more, usually in a mountainous region. "An experienced tea leaf plucker - usually a woman - can pick enough shoots in one day to produce nine pounds of finished tea, equal to 1800 cups of tea, or the annual consumption of a thirsty Englishman."[3]
The leaves are harvested then processed according to the desired end result which then classifies the tea as to the type. Black tea,[4]the most common and therefore the cheapest, gives the participant a delicious drink with only 20% of the caffeine normally in coffee.[5] Most American tea drinkers (87%) usually choose this type which accounts for 75% of the world's tea production. When picked, the leaves are a blue-green hue and must be fermented[6]until black. A hot wok is used as a stop to the fermentation and as a flavor enhancer.[7]
With very little caffeine, white tea brews to a light color since it is the least processed[8]- the harvested leaves are cleaned and dried without any fermentation. Named for the hao(the little white hair on the bud or baby leaf), this "tea of royals" is the most delicate, though its antioxidant level is high and its heart strengthening powers are well-documented.[9]The amount of the little white or silver hairs or fuzz in the tea dictates the taste and thus the cost. Silver Needles, a white tea made almost completely from the fuzzy buds, is picked during a two-day picking season in the spring. The quality flavor does come at a cost – usually twenty-five dollars for forty to fifty cups (fifty cents per cup)[10]whereas other white teas can cost as little as fourteen cents per cup.[11]Bursting with polyphenols (antioxidants that purportedly fight cancer cells), this delicate tea also carries fluoride as well as other nutrients that boost the body's immunity.[12]
Green tea, the most popular tea in Asia, helps maintain cholesterol levels and can help in a weight loss program. [13]One doctor is so convinced of green tea's benefits that he avers it "can block absorption of bad fats by 30%."[14]The leaves of the Camellia sinensisplant are "picked and quickly steamed to preserve their color and fresh character" then dried.[15]Applying the steam shortly after the tea is picked gives a slight grassy flavor and aroma. The dried leaves being ground into a powder produces matcha, the basis for the Japanese tea ceremony. "AJapanese study found that people who drank at least five cups of green tea per day had stress levels that were 20 percent lower than those who drank less than one cup daily."[16]
[1]http://www.oolongtea.org/e/welcome/index.html (accessed February 1, 2013).
[2]Mark Ukra, The Ultimate Tea Diet, NY:HarperCollins, 2008, xi.
[3]Sara Perry The Tea Book, Chronicle Books: San Francisco, 1993, 13.
[4]What is normally called black teain the western hemisphere is usually referred to as red teain China since the black tea leaves brew into a red color. Ibid., 19.
[5]http://www.teavana.com. (accessed February 1, 2013).
[6]Fermentation in the discipline of tea processing refers to oxidation - exposure to air not the fermentation by yeast or bacteria as in alcoholic beverages. Tea fermentation occurs by rolling the leaves and adding heat and or steam. Alissa White, http://matchasource.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/what-is-fermentation-in-tea/ (accessed February 1, 2013).
[7]Ukra, 19
[8]teavana.com (accessed February 1, 2013).
[9]Ukra, 16.
[10]Rhonda Parkinson, http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chineseteaandliquor/a/whitetea.htm (accessed February 1, 2013).
[11]http://www.amazon.com/Numi-Spring-White-Full-oose/dp/B000FFIL6K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8
&qid=1359765027&sr=8-4&keywords=loose+white+tea (accessed February 1, 2013).
[12]Parkinson.
[13]http://teavana.com (accessed February 1, 2013).
[14]Ukra, 176.
[15]Ukra, 27.
[16]Cynthia Sass, http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/01/30/secret-reason-youre-pigging-out/ (accessed February 1, 2013).