Blooming Tea Video
September 19th, 2009
Tea Wikipedia?
September 16th, 2009
Well yes it does indeed look like a tea wiki has been created. A wiki is simply a way for people to edit the content themselves a bit like wikipedia. There’s loads out there all dedicated to specialist subjects. Now it looks like a tea wiki has been set up too!
You can visit it and fill in the gaps as you see fit. 
Yorkshire Tea: A Review
July 28th, 2009
Yorkshire Tea is one of the finest blended teas you’ll find in the British Isles. You will find it in most good tea shops, supermarkets and merchants.
Betty & Taylors of Harrogate tea merchants has a long history of quality dating all the way back to 1886 when it was first established by Charles Taylor. Its is one of very few independent and family owned tea merchants left in Great Britain.
The Taste & Brewing
Yorkshire tea has a strong malty flavour that goes well with just a dash of milk. Too much and you overpower the lighter notes in the blend. There are no brewing guidelines on the box they provide though I’ve contacted the makers to request a guide [awaiting response].
I’ve personally found a brewing time of 2 1/2 minutes to be about right. You can guage the level of milk to use because if you use just the right amount the tea takes on a deep red colour. If you lose that and it slips to all brown then you’ve gone to far or not steeped long enough! A travesty that can only be healed by binning it and starting again.
When it comes to sugar its all dependent on the circumstance. If you’re after a very refreshign cup then I’d go without the sugar but if you’re ater that relaxed, just-got-in-from-a-busy-day feel then you can’t beat half to one teaspoon of sugar to sweeten a little.
Discovering Yorkshire Tea
I remember when I first tried Yorkshire Tea very well as it was the first black tea I’d tried that properly converted me to the path of tea. A friend who was a huge fan brewed me a cup in order to convince me of the virtues of this incredible bush and I have to say it was like a personal visit from god/gods/aliens/some other worldly transportation to paradise.
How could a drink be so refreshing, so tantilising, mourish and delightful. What magic had been counjured in my cup! Since then I’ve been hooked and its now my staple drink.
Betty and Taylors also offer a range of gifts for the true Yorkshire Tea fanatic at their site.
As my number one tea it’s obvious that I’m going to give this a 5/5. But don’t let my bias put you off. This is by far one of the best tasting tea’s this country has to offer and I’d recommend it to anyone.
5/5
Some Time Away
July 8th, 2009
I recently moved house and due to my terrible organisation I’ve not managed to time the internet and phone service move quite right. Therefore I’m without the internet until late July. As such I won’t be able to make my usual posting but rest assured I will take this time away to dream up stunning new ideas and hit the blog with a bang soon!
I will keep you posted and be back soon!
Being Treated for Leukemia? Avoid Green Tea
June 15th, 2009
In a previous post I mentioned how green tea has been shown to fight leukemia but a University of Southern Calafornia team have found that if you’re being treated for leukemia with Velcade it can render the drug completely inneffective.
That doesn’t mean tea is dangerous or cancer causing but it is something you should avoid if you happen to be getting treatment using Velcade.
Just thought I’d give people a quick ‘heads up’ on that one.
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tea and health, tea
Rooibos Tea Health Benefits
June 13th, 2009
Rooibos has been a popular drink in South Africa since the early 1900’s and started to gain popularity in the US and UK for its health benefits. Whether its deserving of the reputation for being an ‘elixir of life’ is what I’m going to find out!
Rooibos is Afrikaans for “red bush” which is the name it often goes by in the US and UK such as…. It bears no relation to the Camellia Sinensis plant responsible for our beloved green and black teas.
Rooibos does contain high levels of antioxidants such as aspalathin and nothofagin which aren’t found in traditional Camellia Sinensis and with lower caffeine content and tanins it has fewer side effects common in very high levels of tea intake. Although its worth noting tea has quite low level of caffeine anyway and few people suffer caffeine related side effects from tea unless sensitive.
I did note in a previous post on which tea is healthiest that Rooibos contains just 60-80mg of antioxidants per cup compared to the whopping 300-450mg available in green tea. Even black tea that has gone through a heavy oxidation process has more than rooibos with 130-200mg per cup.
Although it has to be said that amount of antioxidants isn’t the only indicator of the health benefits of rooibos. With its lower caffeine and tannin content it can be a useful alternative to those suffering from caffeine sensitivity.
Rooibos tea also happens to be a nice tea to drink for its own sake! I won’t switch to it as my ‘tea’ of choice any time soon but its certainly one I now keep in my cupboards whenever wanting the occassional nutty and sweat red bush.
My Top 3 Rooibos Teas
Jasmine Tea Caffeine Content
June 9th, 2009
Its a common question among caffeine addicts and general caffeine drinkers:
How much caffeine is in X
Well – Jasmine tea is no exception and you’ll be happy (maybe sad – I dunno!) to know that ots similar to that of green tea. Jasmine tea contains very little caffeine of note and averages:
5-20mg per cup
5 Recent Tea Health Claims
June 7th, 2009
I was going to do a post for two of these until I kept coming across more and more and realised it’d be easier to compile a list of teas recent health claims.
- Tea Reduces Risk of Stroke – More specifically ischemic stroke and just 1-2 cups per day of green or oolong tea can have a beneit. Read more.
- Tea Fights AIDS – The antioxidant EGCG has been found to hinder the ability for the AIDS virus to infect individuals. Read more.
- Green Tea Fights Incurable Leukemia – Another win for the EGCG compound found in tea and this time shown to shrink lymph nodes and reduce white cell counts in leukemia patients. Read more.
- Green Tea Weakens Lung Cancer Cells – Studies are starting into the potential use of green tea to weaken cancer cells in the lungs making them more susceptible to treatment. Read more.
- 3 Cups of Tea Cut Heart Attack Risk – This is old news but a new story so it makes the list. Read more.
Tetley Tea Hit By Advertising Standards Authority
June 6th, 2009
The UK ASA that regulate all television advertising across the country have banned a commercial by the majr tea merchant Tetley because it portrays green tea as being more healthy than it actually is.
In the advert a woman is seen drinking tea instead of going for a run and its implied that tyhe tea is just as good as going for a run – or so say the ASA.
Its all a bit silly and far over the top. I think any advertising for green tea ia a good thing because it doesn’t get the promotion it deserves in the UK.
You can read the full adjudication here.
Cornish Tea: £180 for 125g of Tea
June 4th, 2009
I posted about the Tregothnan tea plantation a few months ago and how this Cornish tea plantation in the UK is making a success of growing tea in these wet and windy isles.
Then I stumbled across a Guardian article in which the reporter went to get some single estate tea as a sample to try and was told that his minimum order of 125g was…£180!
Edward Eisler of Jing Tea said fo the tea after a blind taste test:
“Looking at it, from the colour and shape of the leaf and the flecks of green, it resembles darjeeling. It has good body and richness, but it doesn’t have clarity of presentation of flavour, which is the key thing I look for in whatever tea I’m buying. It’s also slightly burnt. I’d guess someone would use it for blending.”
Probably not worth the £180 then!
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