| KobyBoy |
02-28-2004 06:56 PM |
I love green tea and I've been drinking it for quite a while. I have lots of freinds who are insane about the way they drink green tea. They measure the exact amounts of tea, let the water cool to the right temperature after boiling it, pre-warm their cups, etc... I'm not that fanatical about it but I do have a couple of ideas to pass on. First, don't use too much tea (that is if you use the loose tea leaves). Also the tea leaves were meant to be re-used, so it's ok to make two pots of tea with only one batch of tea leaves. Second, it's very important that you don't use boiling hot water. Boiling hot water kills the tea leaves which will either leave your tea tasting bitter and the tea leaves loose their antioxidant properties. I boil the water for the tea and then leave it for 10 minutes to cool off a bit. It's also good to note that green tea is LOADED with caffeine. If you want to make green tea that is decaf then let your tea leaves soak and open up in the hot water you've boiled for tea for about 2 minutes, drain the water and add fresh water to your tea leaves. I rarely drink coffee anymore, I prefer to drink green tea all day long. I've talked to my doctor about it and he told me it's ok to drink as much as I want from that stuff because there are no real harmful stuff in that tea. The only thing green tea (or any herbal tea for that matter) will do is discolor your teeth so make sure you brush properly :) Since I live in New York City we have a pretty big China Town here (although not as big as in Toronto). There is a store here called Ten Ren ( http://www.tenren.com) and that's where I get my tea all the time. You can also buy tea from then over the 'net and have it shipped to you. They also have some books on how to prepare green tea properly and about the specific health benefits of drinking this tea. If you are in New York City and are in or around China Town I would recommend poping into Ten Ren to take a look. They have some tea samplers that you can try on the spot and the staff can recommend you teas if you need help with their huge selection.
On a final note I would say drinking green tea is a great thing one can do to improve the immune system and general well being. I've read some studies showing that in some Chinese provinces there are virtually no cancer related deaths (even where everyone smokes at least a pack a day) and they are attributing this to green tea. |
