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Dr. Tea: The Basic Facts
Mark Ukra
By
Published: May 20, 2009
Category:
Food and Wine
My grandfather brought his extra large tea cup with him in 1909, when he left Lyvov, a small town in what is now the Ukraine, for the United States. He drank tea all day, and lived to a strong 96.
My father would get up early and make his pot of black tea each and every day, summer or winter, just like his dad and his grandfather before him.
But I paid no real attention to tea until I was 38, when I was presented with a choice. Did I want to be healthy? Then I had to rid myself of my caffeine habit. I had to take control of my life. I had to drink tea.
In the process, I discovered that I should be an evangelist for tea.
I had tried many other vocations; nothing made any sense. Everything I tried to do, even with tenacity, even with success, always seemed like I was forcing it to happen. But tea just…fit.
Two reasons. The first: Tea is not at all different from the foods we eat. (The Japanese consider green tea a vegetable.) It’s grown in the ground, it requires expertise to grow and another expert to do quality control on the finished product. The second: I have Tea in my genes. I didn’t know until 2005, when my wife Julie and I decided to buy the Tea Garden & Herbal Emporium in West Hollywood. Only then did my father tell me our family had been in this business in the Middle East for 250 years — and that one of my grandfathers was one of the largest importers of tea into Baghdad.
When we bought the Tea Garden, I had been studying tea for 11 years. By then, I knew that tea could help people to a healthier, happier life. In the words of the Tea Garden mantra: “teach and guide individuals towards the integration of their body, mind and soul.” That is why we offer each visitor a free cup of hot tea in winter, an iced tea in summer — we’re enthusiasts, we want to serve. Our visitors, in turn, want to know more. In this way, we are validated each and every day. I cannot help but think we are doing the right thing, the right way.
But enough about me. Let’s talk about tea, starting with ….
10 FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TEA
1. All Tea comes from a single tea plant, Camellia Sinensis. There is not a separate White Tea plant. There is not a separate Green Tea plant. There is not a separate Oolong Tea plant. There is not a separate Black Tea plant.
2. The only difference between these 4 types of teas is how they are produced.
3. Each one of the 4 types of teas, loose leaf or bagged, provides the same medicinal benefit.
4. Caffeine in tea compared to a caffeine in a cup of coffee:
White Tea: 90% less
Green Tea: 80% less
Oolong Tea: 70% less
Black Tea: 50% less
5. The caffeine’s effect in tea is entirely thwarted by L-Theanine, an amino acid only found in tea leaves. L-Theanine stimulates the production of alpha brain waves, creating a state of relaxed, focused, energized thought canceling out the ill effects of caffeine. Coffee does not contain any L-Theanine.
6. You can remove 90% of the caffeine by rinsing (brewing and throwing away) the first steep.
7. Tea is meant to be steeped (brewed) many times.
8. Never use boiling water to make your tea.
9. Making Your Tea: Always pre-heat your pot, screen or spoon with some hot water before steeping, then discard the water and place your loose leaf tea or bag into the vessel. Let the leaves sit for thirty seconds. Add the less than boiling water for the appropriate amount of steep time.
10. In your cup, add your milk first and then the tea. If using lemon or sweetener, pour your tea first. These additions will not affect any of your tea’s health benefits.
Tea of the Month: Green Tea Pineapple
I have blended our premier Sencha tea from Japan with bits of real dried Hawaiian pineapple and blue flowers from corn. The blue flowers coat your palate with a thin line of corn oil. The oil acts as a mixer so you will be able to enjoy the intense flavors of the tea and pineapple.
Brewing
1. Pre-heat your vessel as in #9 above.
2. The proper measure of your tea is to coat the bottom of your vessel with a thin line of tea and an extra pinch for the vessel.
3. If you are using a spoon or screen, fill them to only one-half. This will assure the leaves having enough room to expand during steeping to ensure the best tasting tea.
4. Each steep is for 2-3 minutes.
5. Remove lid between steeps.
Health Benefits
Oxidants to clean your blood and reduce the risk of cancer, heart attack and stroke. Weight loss. Anti-Aging. Digestion. Increased energy and focus
Caffeine Content: 80% less than a cup of coffee
Steeps: You can figure on 3 quality steeps with the second steep being the best. I have steeped this tea as many as 8 times and it was still producing an excellent nose and palate.
Serving: Hot, over ice, or iced.
To order from Tea Garden, click here.
To contact Mark Ukra, write drtea@teagarden.com
