The Hot Beverage Society

Tea, like coffee, is stimulating because of its caffeine content. Tea remained unknown to the Western world until the sixteenth century, when European explorers who traveled to China and other Far Eastern countries returned with a host of new foods, spices, and beverages. Very soon a thriving commerce in China teas was established between Europe and the Far East. In 1826 the Dutch established plantations on Java, followed some ten years later by the British, who set up tea estates in India. The production of tea has since spread rapidly to regions in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iran, Japan, and parts of Africa and South America.

Tea is made from the leaves of an evergreen tropical and subtropical plant, Camellia Sinensis. There are three major kinds of finished tea. Black tea, which makes up more than 90 percent of the tea trade, is produced by first allowing tea leaves to wither. The leaves are fed through rolling machines to release the juices. The rolled leaves are then placed in extremely humid rooms and left to ferment. Fermentation is stopped by drying the leaves over fires in pans, trays, or baskets, a process that also seals in their final flavor.

A second variety is oolong or semi-fermented tea which is prepared from a special kind of China tea plant. The leaves are heated before fermentation progresses very far, then they are rolled and dried. Lastly, there are green or unfermented teas made by steaming or heating the leaves to sterilize them and kill the enzymes responsible for fermentation. The leaves are then rolled and roasted until they acquire a blue-green tint. Teas are graded for size, age, and quality, and classified according to leaf size such as orange pekoe, pekoe, and souchong.

Paraguay tea, or mate, which is widely drunk in South America, is made from the leaves of a species of holly.

The benefits of green tea have been touted loudly and aggressively for the past few years. One benefit, however, you might not be familiar with is that green tea might be able to increase the amount of brown fat in people who drink it regularly. This is important, as brown adipose tissue is the healthy kind of fat that works a lot like muscle tissue in burning bad fat, the white kind.

A study conducted in Switzerland showed that adults who drank green tea every day had an increased fat burning rate of 5% over those who didn’t drink green tea. Some researchers and doctors believe that the antioxidants in the tea enabled the brown fat to use more glucose for fuel. 5% might not sound like whole lot, but burning 5% more calories by doing nothing more than enjoying green tea every day is actually pretty impressive.

Of course, there are other benefits to drinking green tea. Green tea contains beneficial antioxidants known as “catechins.” The catechins in green tea are concentrated epigallocatechin-3-gallate, commonly known as EGCG. The EGCG is able to neutralize harmful free radicals that might lead to blood clots, heart disease, atherosclerosis, and certain types of cancer. Although the studies on green tea and cancer have been limited, so far the results look promising. One major Japanese study revealed that women with breast cancer fared better after surgery if they drank green tea before and after their surgical procedures. Also, a study on lung cancer showed that imbibing just two cups of green tea on a daily basis can decrease your chance of developing lung cancer by as much as 18%. Furthermore, a Chinese study on green tea seems the most promising of all. The study suggests that drinking large amounts of green tea can lessen your chance of developing prostate cancer, colon cancer, esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, rectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

When it comes to beverages it’s important to remember that you are what you eat. Or more specifically in this case, you are what you drink. Just as important as the solid food you consume on a daily basis, you should think about drinks and beverages as well. There are far too many people who enjoy on healthy options these days such as soft drinks or juices loaded in sugar. This is definitely going to have an impact on a wide variety of factors, and your skin is one of them. How long do you think you’ll be able to get away with drinking highly caffeinated beverages that are loaded with natural ingredients? Just as drinking water can benefit your skin by hydrating it naturally, soft drinks, coffee, and beer can have the opposite effect. It’s time to get back on track with better looking skin by utilizing beverages in a smart way.

Obviously water is the best thing you can drink, and any alternative close to it is a good second choice. But the farther you get away from natural water, you increase your chances of drinking something unhealthy for your skin. So stay away from energy drinks or things that contain artificial ingredients. In most cases, a natural fruit juice with no added sugar is a great way to go. These types of drinks can replenish your skin while giving your body essential nutrients and minerals for a natural repair. Best of all, fresh fruit juice tastes great and it’s something you can put together quite easily on your own.

Another great alternative is something like green tea that comes with antioxidant properties that are perfect for helping you with how to get rid of acne. Green tea that is naturally steeped at the perfect temperature can really reduce stress in your skin and promote proper healing. It can also balance your inner chemistry to keep hormones in check and limit oil production on your face. By incorporating these healthier elements and getting rid of high calorie drinks, your skin will start to look better and feel rejuvenated.

Your goal when storing tea is to keep it away from influences that can negatively affect its delicate aroma and flavor. In particular this means keeping it away from air, heat, light, strong smelling foods and humidity.

Most tea, if well stored, will keep for at least one year. But if you store it poorly it will lose its flavor in a matter of months. Of course there is one category of tea, called pu-ehr tea, that is an aged tea. This is the only tea type that is fermented and, like wine, has vintages. Some green pu-ehr teas are over 50 years old!

But most of us don’t have been a fermented cake of tea in our cupboards but want to keep our green tea, whites, black and oolong teas as fresh as possible. Here’s what you need to do (courtesy of The Tea Lounge).

Air is not good for tea. If tea is left unwrapped and exposed to air all its residual moisture will be lost. The tea leaves will become brittle and produce a flat, unbalanced infusion. Although glass jars are commonly used to store tea, it’s important that these do not sit under bright lights or in sunlight.  Its better to use an opaque container.

Keep your stored tea away from sunny windows, radiators or counter-tops that have close lighting. And, as tea also absorbs odors, keep it away from strong spices or any foods with strong smells such as garlic or cheese (see amusing video on this, complete with other tea facts). It’s probably also best to keep tea out of plastic storage containers as these have a tendency to impart unwanted odors onto the tea.

In order to ensure that you are drinking a fresh tea, it’s important to find out when your tea was plucked. Tea is seasonal with the same harvesting cycle repeated annually. For example premium green teas from China and Japan are only picked in the springtime. So if you’re purchasing a green tea in January it’s probably from the previous year. Darjeeling teas from India are also very seasonal with the first flush teas being the most highly prized.

When you buy tea, don’t store it away for months before drinking. Many people make the mistake of drinking their old tea while saving their new premium tea only for special occasions. It’s probably not going to get any better the longer it sits around in your cupboard.  Do use it while it’s fresh.