PDA

View Full Version : Healthy Tea



little chain monkey
01-22-2001, 11:14 PM
I would like to quit drinking coffee and replace it with a tea that would be good for overall health, vitality and taste good too. I have tried straight green tea, which I have heard is good for you but didn't care for the taste(maybe it was the brand) any herbal tea experts out there with a suggestion?

Eight Diagram Boxer
01-22-2001, 11:24 PM
When I first tried tea I didn't like it either, I think it's an acquired taste. I found that I liked oolong tea better at first though, then I started liking green tea after that. Try some oolong, that's the tea they serve in Chinese restaurants, and it's a little less bitter than some greens can be.

Knowing others is wisdom, Knowing the self is enlightenment- Lao Tzu

Godzilla
01-23-2001, 05:20 AM
Try drinking green tea with stevia. Stevia is a natural sugar substitute. You can have as much as you want without side effects. It can also replace sugar in any recipe. Try it, it's healthy and you might like the taste!
Godzilla

Chris McKinley
01-23-2001, 06:10 AM
Green teas by themselves can have a bitter astringent quality depending on the variant. However, if green tea is your goal, there are numerous brands which also include other flavorings to mask this.

If you are looking for a replacement for coffee, you might wish to also look into the black teas, especially those flavored with yerba mate, a S. American root with a coffee-ish flavor. Some of the black teas themselves can have a stronger kick, such as English breakfast blends, Assam estate, or S. African Kwazulu estate. Orange Pekoe doesn't liquor well beyond 3 minutes, so you either have to double brew or settle for harshness if you want it strong.

Is there anything specific you are wanting to get from the tea? If so, let us know and we can make recommendations.

Chri

brucelee2
01-23-2001, 08:11 PM
Chinese green tea is one of my passions. There is a world of difference between the stuff you buy in a tea bag and buying the leaves straight from a bin. If you don't have a china town in your area, Imperial Tea Court (do a search), a well known tea store in San Francisco, has a website where you can order tea. The good stuff is not cheap but it tastes amazing, doesn't require any sweetening, and is very healthy. I recommend a green oolong- very addictive! When you get the tea either get a clay teapot (you can order those from Imperial Tea court too) or get an infuser.

origenx
01-23-2001, 08:31 PM
But does regular tea drinking stain your teeth?

rubber legs
01-23-2001, 11:01 PM
Not if you brush them!

Kung Lek
01-24-2001, 12:46 AM
Hi-

Green tea is very good as an antioxidant to clean the blood.
Some naturally occuring caffiene in most types but not as much as orange pekoe tea or black teas like oolong and puh er.

There are a huge variety of teas in chinese medicine. Some are the preferred method of ingestion of the medicinal qualities of the plants that make up the tea.

some "teas" are not actually "tea" at all but rather can be called a "draught" or concoction.
This would apply to teas such as american ginseng and other root teas where the root has been pressed, the essences extracted and then reformed into powder.

One of my very favourite chinese teas is called "Gao Shan Cha" or High Mountain tea. It is very hard to find and when you do it is extremely expensive to buy (500.S per Lb).

If you have an apotehacary near you, go and ask what sort of teas they would recommend for the course of action you are taking.
It is likely that they will let you know to start with something a little stronger to ease the transition from hard drinks like strong coffee.

Know that it is not a good idea to drop all your bad habits all at once as it will cause your body to rebel a bit.

slowly and over time change your habits so that your body has less difficulty adjusting.

peae

Kung Lek

Hep Hwa
02-03-2001, 01:08 AM
I'm thinking of doing the same, that is switching from Coffee to Tea for the reason of lowering the amount of caffeine I consume. I drink some of the Lipton Green teas b/c they are available everywhere, taste good, and are inexpensive. I like the Orange, Passionfruit & Jasmine blend the best. Also, Good earth has a really good Jasmine green Tea which you can find in shop right. If you want the straight, non-flavored, Tea leaves you can order on-line from
Ten Ren USA. (http://www.tenrenusa.com)
Drinking this tea is an acquired taste, I like to use honey which can hide some of the astringency of the tea. Be careful using Stevia though, it has a distinct, licorice like, flavor that can overpower the taste of the tea.

wisdom mind
02-06-2001, 08:21 PM
i too am about to venture down to chinatown for tea.......

are any teas specific to charging meridians?
cleaning out toxins? relaxation?

thanks and a cup for you from me of tea!

Fish of Fury
02-08-2001, 07:08 AM
dandelion root (taraxicum officinale radix) is often used as a coffee substitute, as it is a little bitter like coffee.
it's also good for the liver

dunbarj01
03-13-2001, 01:22 AM
If green tea is prepared properly there really shouldn't be much in the way of bitterness. The factors influencing the flavour are: freshness, water temperature, brewing time, amount of tea, the pot you are using and water quality. To miaximise the flavour and sweetness of green teas try:

1. Purchasing high quality leaves that are still fresh and have a good aroma. The best teas (green, semi fermented and black) are always hand picked and are therefore expensive. Price is a good indicator.
2. Water temperature is important. Boil the water and let it cool to the desired temperature. I nicked a thermometer from my lab. For delicate flavoured teas use ~70 Degrees Celsius, for white teas and stronger green teas (Japanese Sencha) try ~85 Degrees celsuis. Dont ever use boiling water for green teas as it'll just destoy the flavour.

3. Brewing time: Green teas require about 3 minutes at higher temperatures and about 5-7 minutes at lower temperatures. Brewing a tea for too long will produce very bitter tea. Water that is at boiling point or close to will also produce bitter teas.

3. The correct amount of tea is important. For black teas, approx 1 teaspoon per cup. For green teas such as Chun Mei, Lung Ching, etc 2 scant spoons and for oolongs, 1 spoon per 2 cups of water, depending on the freshness of the tea. For Sencha I like 2 spoons per cup which produces an astrigent brew. My Japanese wife uses half the amount which I find is too sweet.

4.For green teas, dont use a metal pot especially one that has a lot of tannin scale. This can influence the flavour if the scale is from black tea tannin.

I think you'd also enjoy tea more if you drink it with particular foods. Yum Cha is good as someone suggested and Chinese sweets are good too. FOr Thai food green tea is good if you cant put a hand on a beer. Japanese have mochi rice cakes that are delicious.

Hope you come around to the flavour of tea.

Leimeng
03-13-2001, 07:56 AM
Thank GOD a person does not have to give up coffee to enjoy tea! :)
I like coffee for breakfast, and with desserts, an tea the rest of the time. :)
Turkish coffee is about the best, and a nice triple expresso to... :)
Just because coffee is not Chinese, does not mean that it is without merit or value... :D

Peace

yi beng, kan xue

dunbarj01
03-14-2001, 02:29 AM
True, coffee is **** nice. Unfortunately, after giving up smoking I found that about 75% of coffee tasted like ****. Hunting around for good expresso just began to be too much trouble.

Qiman
03-19-2001, 06:37 AM
If you guys would grind your own beans at home and make your coffee with filtered water then it would not taste like bong water :cool:

I read somewhere that Green Tea contains Theopholine not Caffine. I started drinking the Good Earth brand about 2 years ago. I love it now and no other brand comes close. Maybe I will try the leaf tea and get a nice tea set for home.

joedoe
03-19-2001, 06:59 AM
Great thread. Love it. I love green tea too :)

One thing you might want to try, and some Chinese restaurants do this, is to add some dried chrysanthemum flowers (comes like a tea as well)to your tea to take the edge off the tea. It also gives it a faintly sweet taste.

Guns don't kill people, I kill people

Retired Taoist
03-20-2001, 05:00 AM
For Oolongs, I would recommand Dahongpao and Yelaixiang, really nice teas with enough flavor to satisfy a coffee drinker.

For green teas, I guess it takes a while to get used to their light taste. Xihu Longjing, Gaoshan Yunlu, Zhenzhu Shouyuan and Piluochun are quite nice.

You can also try sone white teas (they are suposed to be among the best) like Yinzhen or teas made of different herbs like Babaocha (Eight treasures tea)...

Enjoy ;)

Dim Dam Doum

Panther
07-04-2001, 08:04 PM
I have seen this drink in the chinese markets "chrysanthemum drinks" what are their health benefits?
Are they a good replacement for coffee or sodapop?

dunbarj01
07-09-2001, 07:42 AM
These drinks are usually contain the extract of the flower and a lot of cane sugar as well as colourings and flavour. The flowers, I have read, have a supposed benefit for vision. Someone else might have heard something similar.

Cheers

fiercest tiger
07-13-2001, 07:34 AM
Lo Han Gou used for healing lungs, good for smokers after they quite!

its a fruit that looks like a passion friut, but dark green/black colour. you can make soups with it as well, but the lo han gou tea is in a cube form. very sweet and sugary too!

come & visit us!
http://home.iprimus.com.au/ykm
yaukungmun@hotmail.com

dunbarj01
07-15-2001, 12:48 AM
Hey FT,

I usually have it when I have a dry, sore throat although to me it tastes like 80% sugar/20% beef stock cube :p I find it works well for about 30 minutes. I didn't know it was recommended for ex-smokers - I'll have to drink it more often (if I can). :D

Cheers,

SLC
07-23-2001, 06:00 PM
I found this tea merchent on the net and have been happy with their service:

http://www.specialteas.com/

Can eat with either hand. (But becomes moody when not fed regularly.)