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Understanding the endless variety of teas is sometimes difficult: each has its own taste, method of preparation and dignity. And each of them certainly deserves our attention.
Fewer and fewer of us remain convinced that tea is only black and green and grows necessarily in India. The exceptional properties of this drink are worth devoting to it a little more time and attention than we give it, dipping a tea bag into a cup of boiling water.
The number of tea clubs and their visitors is constantly growing. More and more business meetings are held at cha-ban (Chinese tea table). The choice of tea, water, teapot and tea time turns the usual tea drinking into a beautiful, meaningful ritual.
“When you just start drinking it, you just like the taste,” says Maxim Vasiliev, a tea master. — Over time, the understanding comes that tea is more than just a drink. From your own experience, you feel that the senses are refined, and not only the sensations of taste and smell. The very attitude towards life is being refined.”
Noble by birth
China is the only country that produces all varieties of tea. Quality teas are also made in Japan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Teas are divided into six types, which differ in the degree of fermentation of the tea leaf. But what makes them exceptional is their aromas and flavors, which differ depending on the origin of the plant, the properties of the soil, the moment of harvest. As in winemaking, there are teas of a specific year, exceptional harvests, early teas harvested in the spring.
All this diversity comes from one plant – Camellia sinensis (Chinese camellia). This is one of the revered plants in Eastern medicine, contributing to the health of both the body and the spirit.
The “Ten Virtues of Tea”, described in Buddhist treatises, in particular, say that tea disperses the stagnation of qi energy and drowsiness, helps to cultivate taste, express respect and achieve refinement of will. And modern medicine continues to discover new beneficial properties of tea infusion and tea leaves.
tea rules
Water should be low in mineral salts (slightly alkaline) or filtered if it is tap water.
Temperature regime: you need to pour boiling water over the teapot, put tea leaves in it and leave for a few minutes to warm the leaves. Then pour water at the optimum temperature (boiling or slightly cooled, but not boiling water) and leave to infuse for 5-10 minutes.
The teapot should ideally be separate for each type of tea. The most practical is a porcelain teapot with a built-in filter (if it is removable, it should be large enough for the leaves to “float” in it). Steeping spoons compress the tea leaves and spoil the taste of the tea. You can use a bamboo tea strainer.
Detergents are not used to wash the kettle. Amount of tea leaves: a teaspoon per cup and one more “per teapot”. For white tea, they often take a larger amount of tea leaves – up to a third of the volume of the teapot.
Storage: better in tin boxes, porcelain caddies or special vessels made of unbaked clay. Transparent glass caddies with tea are best stored in a place protected from light. Green and white teas are bought little by little, as these varieties lose quality over time, and red and black teas can be stored for a long time.
Slows aging
These properties of tea are due to the high content of antioxidants – flavonoids. Green tea is especially rich in catechins, which protect cells from aggressive free radicals better than vitamins C and E.
The anti-carcinogenic properties of tea are also associated with these substances: clinical studies by scientists at Harvard University (USA) have shown that there is a direct link between regular consumption of green tea and a reduced risk of cancer, especially breast, skin and intestinal cancer.
Antioxidant properties allow the use of tea extract in cosmetics – to protect against cellular aging.
Reguliret weight
It would be wrong to think that tea literally promotes weight loss, but this natural calorie-free drink can be a great helper for those who want to normalize weight. If only because it has a slight diuretic effect and facilitates digestion. However, the ability of tea extract to influence lipogenesis (fat synthesis) has already been proven and is used, for example, in anti-cellulite products.
Research from the Taiwan University College of Medicine showed that pu-erh tea can reduce fat stores: in rats that were allowed to chew tea leaves, the level of fatty acid synthase in the liver dropped significantly. (Fatty acid synthase is the main enzyme in lipogenesis responsible for fat storage.) Perhaps this property of tea will be used in the production of products for those who want to reduce weight.
Gives energy
Tea contains theine, “tea caffeine”, its tonic effect is twice as mild as that of coffee. While caffeine penetrates the bloodstream instantly and gives a quick stimulating effect, theine acts gradually over six to eight hours.
The stimulating effect of theine is not replaced by a sharp decline in activity, as happens after coffee, theine does not accumulate in the body and does not lead to addiction. In lightly fermented teas, the invigorating effect is softer, but also lasts longer than in heavily fermented ones.
Relieves stress
Buddhist monks drink tea to avoid drowsiness during meditation: tea stimulates, but does not cause nervous excitement, like, for example, coffee. This action is associated with the fact that theine acts in combination with tannins (tannins) contained in tea.
There is also a hypothesis that the amino acid theanine, which is especially abundant in Japanese green tea, has a special effect on brain activity, stimulating the production of alpha waves that accompany a state of deep relaxation. This is probably why tea is considered a meditative drink.
“The point is not in taste, but in a special state that occurs during the tea ceremony,” comments Ritta Darina, tea master. “Interaction with tea gives rise to a special form of consciousness.”
Good for blood vessels
Regular consumption of green, black and oolong tea reduces the risk of heart disease and improves blood composition. Flavonoids contained in it lower the level of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and increase the level of “good” (HDL).
This was confirmed by the studies of the American scientist Joseph Jud, professor of chemistry at the Bestville Research Center: “After a week of regular tea consumption, a group of volunteers normalized their cholesterol levels. The beneficial effect of tea on the functioning of the arteries is associated with the complex action of catechins, theine, caffeine with polyphenols – in its effect, this is equivalent to vitamin P. It strengthens blood vessels and capillaries, reduces blood pressure and improves the absorption of vitamin C.
Taste Palette
The “color” of tea depends on the way it is fermented. Weakly fermented teas (white, yellow, green) are stored for about six months, from harvest to harvest. For example, they are harvested in spring and drunk until autumn. Heavily fermented teas (red tea as well as pu-erh) have become the most common, commercial teas. Storage time only increases their value. Each type of tea also has many varieties, the names of which often come from the geographical name of the place where the tea bush grows.
Black tea Pu-erh is only produced in the Chinese province of Yunnan. The strong fermentation of this tea is achieved due to the fact that the tea leaves are first dried, then moistened again, collected in heaps of even thickness and dried again. The leaves are stirred several times in the sun. And either they press it, or they prepare loose pu-erh. Pressed pu-erh can be stored for many years: the fermentation process continues, and the quality of tea only improves. It has a special bright taste and aroma. The temperature of the water for brewing is approximately 95 ° C.
Green tea. The tea leaf is subjected to drying and curling, as a result, green tea retains the beneficial substances of the fresh tea leaf. It has a transparent light or bright green color and a fresh aroma. Teas picked in the spring are especially valued. Green tea is good to drink in the summer – Eastern medicine believes that it “cools” the body. In addition, a large number of amino acids helps to endure heat more easily. The water for brewing it should not be too hot (about 65 ° C).
Red tea. This highly fermented tea is called black tea in Europe. It is distinguished by a reddish, sometimes ruby color, a sweetish taste and a bright aroma. Like all fermented teas, it warms the body but has minimal stimulating effects. It is especially good to brew it in the English manner – with tea rose petals. It tolerates high water temperatures – close to 100 ° C.
White tea. For the production of white tea, the most tender leaves of the tea bush are chosen – a kidney and two leaves with villi following it. The leaves are lightly dried in the sun and then dried in their natural form. White tea is very whimsical, and all operations for the production of tea are done exclusively by hand. Thanks to its refreshing properties, it is ideal for the hot season. The water for brewing should not be too hot (about 70 ° C).
yellow teas belong to the elite, selective varieties. The collection process is very time-consuming and takes place manually: for the preparation of yellow tea, not leaves are collected, but unopened buds. In its properties, it is close to green, but differs in that after light drying, the tea leaf undergoes a languishing process – it is steamed. When brewing (not too hot water), it is supposed to infuse a little longer than green – a transparent drink with a yellowish tint is obtained.
Oolong tea. This semi-fermented tea from the Chinese province of Wulong is considered the emperor of tea, as it has incorporated all the best of other varieties: the freshness of green tea, the sweetness and bright aroma of red tea. It is good to drink it both in winter and summer, and also at any time of the day, since oolong contains relatively little tonic theine. The temperature of the water for brewing is about 90 ° C.
iconic drink
The interest of people of Western culture in the tea ceremony is not accidental: the Chinese monks filled it with meditativeness, allowing them to turn their feelings inward. At first, tea was drunk exclusively in Buddhist monasteries. Knowledge about him was carefully kept within their walls and passed from teacher to student. Tea became a secular drink in the first centuries of our millennium, when Lu Yu, the famous tea master, compiled the “Tea Canon” and made this knowledge publicly available.
When tea “came out”, tea meditation turned into a tea ceremony. The process of brewing a drink has become more refined and aesthetic: beautiful teapots, cups, tea boards and other tea utensils have appeared. But the tea action has not lost its esoteric essence: each item has its own meaning, correlates with one of the five elements in the Tao system.
In China, tea has always been not just a drink of longevity, but an object of reverence, an instrument for instilling inner discipline and developing certain qualities of character. Today, Cha Dao – the Way of tea – is actively conquering the West, where connoisseurs appreciate this drink more and more not only for its healing effect. After all, its taste and effect depend not only on the quality of water and tea leaves, but also on the mood of the one who prepares the tea, and on the intentions of the one who drinks it.