Three main chemical substances in the fresh tea leaf are:

caffeine

aromatic/essential oils

poly phenols (tannins) compounds with two or more phenolic hydroxyl groups
            - flavanols isolated to either aroma or astringency
            - catechizes distinct into six variety now

Caffeine was found in many plants in nature
             in moderate quantities, stimulates the central nervous system and promotes blood circulation. It stimulates the process of elimination and acts as a diuretic promoting better kidney function. There is some evidence that regular tea drinkers have a lower incidence of kidney ailments and gallstones. Some researchers have even claimed that it also helps the body excrete radioactive strontium 90 , the element which entered the food chain from atmospheric fallout from nuclear bomb testing.

The essential oils are important constituents of the aroma of the beverage .
             sometimes called aromatic oils, sometimes volatile because they totally evaporate , are formed in the tea leaves as they grow. These substances also aid digestion and help emulsify fat. Green tea has more essential oils than the more highly processed black tea. That is why black tea has less aroma. Jasmine tea is said to have the greatest amount, ranging from 0.06 percent to 0.4 percent. Some of this may come from the jasmine blossoms.

Poly phenols are the most interesting elements and the ones which do the greatest good for human health.
             may act as an anticancer agent in that they have an anti-mutant factor which helps cell DNA to reproduce itself accurately rather that in mutated forms which might lead to cancer. Medicines made from tea poly phenols have become part of the treatment for nephritis, chronic hepatitis, and leukemia in China.

These substances are often known as volatile, which means that they will totally evaporate in strong heat. When tea is kept a long time , these disappear, reducing aroma. Both tannins and oils aid digestion by that tea counteracts the effect of fats by emulsifying them in the digestive tract.

During the manufacture, black and oolong tea undergo their fermentation process . Spread out in a cool place , the leaves absorb oxygen, which creates chemical changes. This process should correctly be called oxidation, for the leaves are worked on by oxygen rather than fermented by microorganisms.

The poly phenols, about thirty altogether, account for nearly a third of the soluble matter in the fresh tea leaf. During the fermentation process about a third (some say half) of the total amount is oxidized into more complicated oxidized products such as theaflavin. Therefore, after this process the tea contains two kinds of poly phenols, oxidized and unoxidized (natural poly phenols). The latter, released in the beverage , create stimulates the salivary glands, which is why tea is a thirst quencher.

The unoxidized poly phenols provide the pungency, while the oxidized ones give the tea its color and flavor. The higher the degree of oxidation, the more color and less pungency a tea has. Green tea, which does not undergo oxidation, has more natural unoxidized poly phenols, and also more astringency. Black tea has more color but less astringency. Both oxidized and unoxidized poly phenols may be beneficial.

Now let's see what happens in the polyphony oxidation process. At the tea factory, the freshly picked leaves sit until they have become soft and limp as a result of water evaporation. Then they are rolled to break down the membranes and bring the juices containing poly phenols in contact with the enzyme polyphenolase (phlyphenol oxides) which catalyzes the oxidation of the poly phenols by oxygen in the atmosphere. The product resulting from this process, together with other constituents, accounts for the unique flavor and rich , deeper color of black and oolong teas.

The action of the enzyme, and therefore the oxidation process, is eventually stopped through heating, but these compounds remain in the dried prepared leaves waiting for the boiling water to dissolve them.
 

MILK , SUGAR, LEMON
Milk , sugar, or lemon are frequently added by black tea drinkers of the Western world. For those accustomed to it, milk seems to add to the comfort of a cup of tea.

However, the poly phenols in tea also bind with milk protein. Therefore, does putting milk into black tea cut down the effects of its poly phenols ? Not substantially, even in black tea, which has been fermented, about 30 percent of the poly phenols remain unoxydized, and the milk combines first with the 70 percent of oxidized poly phenols, and the chief effect is to ease their harshness to your stomach. So if you prefer the taste of black tea, milk is probably a good thing . However, if you put in too much milk, when it has finished with the oxidized poly phenols, it will go on to the unoxydized ones.

Neither sugar not lemon juice had until recently been thought to have any effect on the chemistry of tea. However, researchers at the University of Wisconsin (Ruters University )found that adding the enzyme tannase, or lemon juice, to black tea increased iron and calcium solubility, and therefore absorption by the body: The poly phenols can bind with iron and calcium, preventing these minerals from being absorbed, but lemon juice inhibits this binding, keeping the minerals available.

In the 1950s it was learned that when lemon tea was served in Styrofoam containers the polystyrene dissolved into the beverage. It should never be served in these containers.

Artificial sweeteners, or sugar substitutes, are safe with tea. They do not create any chemical reaction.
 

VITAMIN C AND OTHER NUTRIENTS
In China it is widely stated that tea ( green ) is a source of vitamin C. Since this vitamin is destroyed by heat and tea is made no hot water, this statement seems contradictory. Recent tests in China found that heat destruction does occur, but not in tea. Something in tea, as yet undetermined, apparently helps stabilize vitamin C.

The amount of vitamin C varies greatly depending on growing conditions, the age of the leaves at picking, and how long they have been stored. Japanese tests found that tea stored three years had lost all its vitamin C. According to Chinese calculations, typical green tea made with three grams (one teaspoonful) of dry leaves to a cup should yield about six milligrams of the total content of vitamin C in three infusions in water at 158 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit (70 to 100 degrees centigrade ) Eighty-five percent of the vitamin C is released in one five minute infusion at 176 degrees Fahrenheit (80 degrees centigrade). As for black tea, authorities have long believed that almost all its vitamin C is destroyed during fermentation.

Tea also contains vitamins B1, B2, K, and P, and niacin, folic acid, and manganese, but in such small amounts as to be negligible. A cup of black tea has 58 milligrams of potassium.
 

TEA AND HEALTH
 
 

a stimulant and the flap about caffeine overcome the superfluous Sleep, and prevents Sleepiness in general .
CAFFEINE CONTENT OF BEVERAGES (5 OZ. CUP)

COFFEE (mg.) Drip 60 ~ 180
 Percolator 40 ~ 70
 Instant 30 ~ 120
 Decaffeinated (brewed) 2 ~ 5
 Decaffeinated (instant) 1 ~ 5
TEA (black tea assumed mg.) Brewed , major U.S. brands 20 ~ 80
 Brewed, imported brands 5 ~ 110
 Iced (12 oz.) 67 ~ 76
 Instant 25 ~ 50
 Black  25 ~ 110
 Oolong 12 ~ 55
 Green 8 ~ 36
OTHER (mg.) Hot Cocoa 2 ~ 20
 Coca Cola (12 oz., reg. or diet)
(About medium of cola drinks) 46
 
 

Against Cancer
Stomach cancer, the number one cause of death in Japan, is at its lowest rate in Shizuoka prefecture along the coast southwest of Tokyo. One explanation is that shizuoka is a tea growing district and its inhabitants drink large amounts of green tea. This is the conclusion of Professor I. Oguni of zShizuoka University, who did a twelve years study using government demographic figures.

The study polled people in cities with high and low mortality rates form gastric cancer. In the low mortality areas, it found that people drank tea often and drank it strong. In the high mortality spots they favored weak tea and drank it infrequently, according to research presented by Oguni and others from Hamamatsu College of Shizouka University and Terumo Corporation, at the HangZhou Symposium.

Similar findings were reported from a survey in China's Sichuan province in 1986 and another in 1986 - 1989 in Jiangsu province. The incidence of stomach cancer was found to be remarkably lower in Sichuan areas of heavy tea drinking. Jucha county in Jiangsu, where much tea is drunk, was found to have a lower incidence of liver cancer than Qidong county, where not so much tea is used. (Beijing Meeting, Nov. 1989).

Tea has some effect against cancer because it inhibits the formation or action of cancer causing substances. Tea may block the action of nitrosamines which can cause cancer, said Dr. Han Chi, an associated professor at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene under the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine. In a test of 145 types of tea, she and her colleagues rated green tea highest, with a blocking rate of 90 percent . Green > Brick > Jasmine > Oolong > Black tea .They found that one gram of tea had some effect, and that three to five grams (three grams is one teaspoon ) completely blocked the synthesis of nitrosamines in the human body. But it is too early to draw any conclusions, Dr. Han told the Beijing meeting.

Other research at Hamamatsu college found that green tea inhibits the action of MNNG (N-methyl-N1-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine), a synthetic carcinogen. This substance decreased by 84 percent in the blood of mine drinking green tea and 82 percent with black tea. On mice fed Japanese green tea, induced malignant tumors did not develop as rapidly as in those not on tea, according to Oguni and other researchers at Shizuoka University's School of Pharmaceutical Science and the Hamamatsu College Department of Food Nutrition. Green tea also inhabits the action of aflatoxin, a powerful carcinogen produced by mold in stored crops such as grains and peanuts. This ability of tea to counteract this chemical has been demonstrated in several Chinese studies.

    ** May prevent Cell Mutation
Another way tea may help fight cancer is through preventing cell mutation. The anti-oxidation action of the poly phenols in green tea inhibit mutation of the DNA in healthy cells , which can cause them to become cancer cells. In rats injected with a cancer causing substance and fed green tea, cancer did not develop, but it did in the control group without tea. This has been suggested by the findings of Cheng Shujin, Wang Zhiyuan, and Luo Huanzao, Cancer Research Institute, Academy of Chinese Traditional medicine, Beijing; Professor Chi-tang Ho, Department of Food Sciences, Rutgers University Graduate School, and Huang Maoduan, Biological Research Institute, Roche Pharmaceutical Co., at the Symposium.

An antioxidant made from green tea applied to the skin significantly inhibited growth of induced skin cancer in mice. It is the EGCG catechize that improves fidelity of DNA replication, say Japanese researchers Tsuneo Koda and Colleges at Japan's National Institute of Genetics in "Detection and Chemical Identification of Natural BioAntimutagens, A case of the green tea factor," in mutation research (Amsterdam, February 15 , 1985).

In similar tests in Fujian province, green tea markedly decreased the incidence of lung cancer in rats (1.51 percent of the green tea drinkers developed it, and 3.38 of the non-tea control group). Jasmine and oolong tea were also tested, the former cutting cancer somewhat , but not as much as green tea. Oolong had no effect.

These researchers made the startling discovery that day old green tea may help produce cancer. Rats drinking it had a higher rate of incidence than the control group which did not have tea. (Wu suirong and others, Biochemistry Group, Fujian Traditional Medicine Research Institute, Fuzhou,at Symposium.)
 

Boosting Immunity ?
Those great poly phenols have also been found to increase white blood cells, the "soldiers" which fight infection in the human body. Tea extract is one of the main ingredients in a medicine now widely used with a high rate of success in China to counteract the reduction in white blood cells which accompanies radiation therapy. The medicine was developed by the Tea Research Institute in Hangzhou and other Chinese institutions.

In India too, researchers found that mice fed tea were less likely to develop leukemia when exposed to radiation.

A study of Jasmine tea by the Fujian Institute of traditional Medicine and Pharmacology (Fujian is a big producer of Jasmine tea) found that tea heightened certain functions of the white blood cells in mice. In a related area, soviet researchers say that tea helps the body excrete harmful radioactive strontium 90 before it settles in the bones. Chinese sources say tea can help absorb strontium 90 even after it has lodged in the bones. A mixture of black tea and the plant viola inconspicua achieved a 90 percent survival rate of animals subjected to intense radiation.
 

Cordial Disease
Recent research indicates that tea may work against heart attacks, stoke, and thrombosis. tea contributes to this in several ways. It does so in a general way through its role as gentle stimulant to the heart and circulatory system. Then second, it strengthens and keeps the blood vessel walls soft. Third, there is evidence that the phenols in tea inhibit the absorption of cholesterol in the digestive tract, which could help decrease the cholesterol in the bloodstream. Fourth, it may decrease the blood's tendency to form thrombi, or unwanted clots. Often several of these functions operate together against stroke or heart attack. Strokes and thrombosis often occur because the blood vessels have lost their elasticity. Rutin has long been prescribed to keep these walls soft. One study found that feeding rabbits three percent oolong tea had nearly the same effect on the blood vessels as taking routing . (Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology, Fuzhou, Fujian province.) In both China and other countries it was at one time believed that green tea contained a substance known as vitamin P which worked with vitamin C to strengthen the walls of the capillaries, the smallest blood vessels, preventing leakage of blood nutrients. A supplement called bioflavonoids, made from citrus rinds and with characteristics similar to flavonols or catechizes, was popular among nutrition buffs. Later research concluded that it was not vitamin P performing this function, but something else, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibited the sale of bioflavonoids, saying they were worthless.

Something in tea, however, may still be the answer. Tea catechizes were used with success in cases of hypertension to inhibit the action of an enzyme that constricts blood vessels. (Y. Hara, T. Matsuzaki, Food Research Laboratories, Mitsui Norin Co., Shizouka, and T. Suzuki, tokoku University, sendai, Japan, at Symposium.)

Other tests by the Fuzhou researchers found that in patients with hypertension , coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, or a high lipid level, drinking oolong tea (while taking no medicines) helped decrease blood viscosity, improve micro circulation, and prevent aggregation of blood platelets, which leads to unwanted clotting. Where thrombosis, or a clot, did occur, it took longer to form, and was of shorter duration.
 

Against Cholesterol
studies in several countries have found all three kinds of tea to have some effect in reducing cholesterol blood fats, though oolong seems to get the best results. Triglycerides and cholesterol are the two important fat substances in the bloodstream. These are essential for many things , but cholesterol also builds up on the walls of the arteries, causing them to narrow and restrict blood flow, a condition known as atherosclerosis.

As far back as 1967 British researchers noted that black tea reduced cholesterol. Around 1980 , tests in Japan indicated that regular drinking of oolong tea reduces cholesterol and neutral fats, and gives some help in cases of hypertension and coronary heart disease. (Haruo Nakamura, Jikei Research Laboratory, Japan.)

A University of California survey found less atherosclerosis among tea drinkers than coffee drinkers. This is borne out by findings at the Fujian institute mentioned above. Rabbits that drank oolong tea while on a high cholesterol diet had smaller , more scattered, and less severe sclerosis spots on the aorta wall than the control group, which drank water.

Japanese researchers, testing with green tea, concluded that it is the catechizes that act to cut cholesterol, and increase the excretion of total lipids and cholesterol in the feces. (K. Murramatsu, Food and Nutrition Laboratory, Department of Agricultural chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University , and M. Fukuyo and Y. Hara, Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd., at the Hangzhou symposium.)

Fibrinogen is a globulin in the blood which turns into fibrin to help in normal clotting. But in patients with abnormally high fibrinogen levels , fibrin joins with arterial wall cholesterol to form plaque. One catechize isolated from green tea helps dissolve fibrin. (Bao Jun an dothers at Zhejiang Medical College second Affiliate Hospital, Hangzhou, at symposium.) Six years of treatment with a medicine made from oxidized tea poly phenols on 214 cardiovascular patients with a high fibrinogen level brought it back to normal for 81 percent of them. (Xia Wuying , same hospital , at the Symposium.)

An even better rate of 85 percent was reported on 120 high fibrinogen patients given tea pigment (TP) as a medicine at another zhejiang hospital . It can influence the anticoagulation enzyme, help dissolve fibrin, and also decrease the rate of aggregation of platelets and the adherence of platelets and cholesterol to the artery walls. (Luo Fuqing, Zhejiang Medical School Cardiovascular Research Institute, at the symposium. ) Professor Luo says that tea pigments are , with their anti-coagulant properties, abundant in both green and black tea.

Drinking of oolong tea itself for a month was reported to yield an 81 percent return to normal of high lipids in 424 patients at six big hospitals in the city of Guangzhou (Canton). (He Moli and others at the Tea Research Institute, Guangdong Institute of Agricultural sciences and the Guangdong People's Hospital, at the Symposium.) But it should be pointed out that when results are so spectacular from one experiment, much more research much be done to confirm the validity of the investigation. It is still far too early to say with certainty that oolong has this lipid reducing effect.

The above information indicates that regular drinking of tea (although on which kind of tea the verdict is not yet in) may play a role of controlling blood fat sand preventing accumulation of cholesterol in the arteries. Initial studies and tests also indicate greater possibilities for utilizing medicines made from tea in treating related conditions. "Keep drinking tea and you may avoid some of the worst heart diseases," professor Luo fuqing is quoted as saying. ("What's in a Name, " by Vijay Dudeja, tea and Coffee Journal, January 1989.)
 

A slimming Effect ?
After these reports on the effect tea has on fats in the bloodstream, Chinese claims that it actually helps reduce the amount of fat in the tissues may seem less extravagant. Oolong tea seems to get the most publicity here, although any tea can do some good. Chinese material cites numerous cases of persons who lost weight while regularly drinking two or three cups of oolong a day. Similar claims for Pu-erh are corroborated by Japanese research . (I . Tomila, M. Sano, Laboratory of Health science, School of Pharmaceutical sciences, Shizuoka University , Japan, at the Symposium.) Oolong mixed with other herbal ingredients is the basis for a number of teas marketed especially for slimming. One is The Well Known Tea, which contains oolong and 15 other ingredients. A Chinese ad for Slimming Tea claims that drinking it for three months can drop up to 15 pounds off your weight.
 

Longevity and Aging
Long time ago in China, tea was an ingredient in immortality potions favored by the Taoists, who were keen on that subject. Still today, perhaps as an echo of those beliefs, claims are made that tea drinking helps one to live to a ripe old age. While it is no magic fountain of youth, some of its benefits can be said to contribute to longevity (stimulation of bodily functions, strengthening the immune system, reducing the chance of heart disease and improving stomach functions). The fluoride in tea can strengthen bones and help ward off osteoporosis in the same way that it strengthens dental enamel. Investigation into whether tea has any further effect on longevity and, if so, why is only just beginning.

Chinese researchers found that 1 percent jasmine tea extended the life of fruit files to 40.5 days, more than double that of the control group, which drank plain water and had a life span of 16.5 days. On a 5 percent solution they lived 28.6 days. Oolong tea, in other tests, doubled the life span. (Monographs by the Fujian Institute of Traditional Medicine, Fuzhou, Circulated by the Tea Branch of the Fujian provincial import / export corporation.)

Thus far, it is not understood what compounds in tea could have this effect on insects, and it would obviously require much additional research to determine whether such reported effects of tea on the span of insects' lives could be duplicated in an entirely different species.
 
 

Fight Tooth Decay
Tea has turned out to be a double-barreled threat to tooth decay for both the poly phenols (tannin) and the fluoride it contains. Poly phenols tend to reduce the formation of plaque, while fluoride strengthens tooth enamel so that it can resist decay. some Chinese and American researchers have concluded independently that two or three cups a day, or , some say, only one of black tea, can decrease tooth decay.

The poly phenols bind themselves to mouth bacteria before the latter can form plaque, according to Dr. Laurence E. Wolinsky, associate professor of oral biology at the School of Dentistry of the University of California at Los Angeles. He found an exceptionally low rate of dental problems among people who drank a lot of tea.

A joint test in two other U.S. universities found that tea drinking "significantly inhibited" the growth of mouth bacteria. People who were tested with four different kinds of tea developed notably fewer cavities than those in a control group drinking plain water. The study , conducted at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry, Columbus, Ohio, and the Washington University School of Dental Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, Listed four teas sold under the names Young Hyson, Pan-fried, Lung ching, and Chinese Green . Young Hyson, Pan-fried, Lung Ching, and Chinese Green. Young Hyson and Pan-fried produced the best results. This was due, the report said, both to tannin and fluoride, probably more to the latter.

Chinese researchers say that the human body consumes from one to three milligrams of fluoride a day , enough for two cups of strong tea, will replace this, according to their calculations. Green tea contains twice as much fluoride as black , Dr. Sheldon Margen, professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of California, wrote in the U.C. Berkeley Wellness Newsletter. Since the mid-1940s, fluoride has been added to drinking water in many communities in the United States and elsewhere. An analysis of the fluoride content of teas sold in the United States ranges from 0.7 ppm in warm areas, where more water is drunk, to 1.2 ppm. Therefore anyone who drank two cups a day of the highest ranking tea would get 8.36 ppm per day, just a little less than someone who drinks 8 glasses of fluoridated water, taking in 9.6 ppm. Three cups of tea with less than the highest fluoride content ought to do the trick. Chinese researchers found that loose Gunpowder tea (a green tea) contains 100 - 150 ppm, 60 -80 percent of which can be extracted.

While fluoridation of water is obviously desirable because it also reaches children, who are not generally tea drinkers, the information above should be good news for people who live in areas without fluoridation, for by drinking tea they can derive the same benefit. For sensitive teeth, a twice - daily rinsing of the mouth with tea before swallowing it, if done over a long period of time, is said to be effective.
 

Germicidal Potential ?
Some researchers claim tea acts as a mild germicide in the digestive tract to help prevent food poisoning and diseases like cholera, typhoid, and dysentery. "The antibacterial effects of tea have been well documented in Chinese scientific literature, " writes Dr. Albert Y. Leung in Chinese Herbal Remedies. "Green teas have stronger effects than black teas. They are effective against many types of bacteria, including those that cause dysentery, diphtheria, and cholera.... Tea in the form of a decoction was particularly effective.... in treating bacillary dysentery, amebic dysentery, acute gastroenteritis (inflammation of stomach and intestine), and enteritis (inflammation of the intestine). " There are reports of its use against plague bacillus in Japan.

Research on this point was sparked by an incident in a Taiwan restaurant in 1980 . An entire table of diners, except for one man, got sick from eating contaminated shrimp. Curious as to why that person was missed, Professor E. Ryu of National Taiwan University investigated an d concluded that it was because he was a heavy tea drinker. Then , in laboratory tests, Professor Ryu found that powdered tea added to agar plates of eight kinds of bacterial cultures (including those for dysentery, salmonella, cholera , staphylococcus) kept all but one from developing colonies of bacteria. Only the E. coli developed some, but fewer than usual. Another test produced similar results, this time also on streptococcus bacteria. Black , green and oolong tea had the same effect.

Tea drinking , particularly after a meal , is "a great contribution to the prevention of a variety of contagious diseases, " Professor Ryu concluded. (International Journal of Zoo noses, no. 7, 1980 , and , with Donald C. Blenden and David Wendell, no. 9, 1982.)

Cuts can benefit from washing in tea if there is nothing more medicinal around. washing with tea is thought to prevent breaking out on the face. It is a treatment for athlete's foot, and dried used tea leaves in the socks prevent a recurrence. A home remedy for sunburn in the West is cold tea. Chewed tea leaves placed on insect bites are said to relieve the discomfort
 
 

Bad about Tea
We have mentioned above that because of the caffeine factor, over two cups a day is not recommended for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Persons with irregular heartbeats are advised to be cautious, as should those with stomach ulcers, for fear of stimulating too much stomach acid.

But does tea have any bad effects on healthy people ? One thing that everyone should know is : never swallow medicines with tea. Some of the four hundred chemical compounds identified in it might cause an adverse reaction when combined with certain drugs.

British researchers have been concerned that tea growing in soil with high aluminum content will transmit levels of it harmful to people with aluminum related problems. But this is a specific question related only to certain soils. Tea has some effect on solubility of iron and calcium , therefore on ease of absorption, a study at the University of Wisconsin found. While iron as a nutrient proved to be totally soluble in instant tea, solubility was only 85 percent in green and oolong tea and 69 percent in black. Research is being done on how to overcome this drawback. The Wisconsin study discovered that addition of the enzyme tannase, or lemon juice, increased iron solubility by 27 percent and that of calcium by 24 percent. There seems to be some point in putting lemon in black tea.

Medical Function Summary of Tea

Digestion  All kinds
Anti-bacterial All kinds, but not fully confirmed
Cancer prevention  Green
Heart  Oolong and Pu-erh for cholesterol, green and oolong for blood vessels
Slimming  Oolong and Pu-erh
Tooth care Green
Longevity/Anti aging All of the above; special emphasis on green for fluoride to combat osteoporosis
 
 

How to Make a "Nice Cup of Tea"

Rules combining the best of East and West , are in general applicable to all kinds of tea -- green , black , or oolong.
 

Use fresh cold water.
While the water is heating, get the tea things ready.
Just before the water in the kettle boils, empty the teapot and add tea.
Some people prefer water at a rolling boil.
Pour boiling water into the pot to the desired level and cover.
Let the tea stand.
Rinse cups with hot water.
Before pouring, stir the tea or shake the pot and then let the leaves settle.
Strain off any tea left in the pot into another warmed pot, and cover with the tea cozy.
The second infusion.
Never use tea that has stood overnight.
 

Judging, Storing , Other Uses

How do you know whether you are getting good tea ? It's hard if you buy it ready packaged. Then you will have to learn by trial and error. It's easier when you can see your tea and buy it loose, as it is sold in some shops. The four criteria for good tea are appearance, color , aroma, and flavor. Here are a few guidelines, but individual teas provide many exceptions.

Appearance :Quality green tea should be clean and taut with leaf and bud in one piece. Such leaf sets also indicate that the leaves are young and tender therefore more flavorful. Quality runs in a descending order from bud/one leaf, bud/two leaves, and so on. Teas with incomplete leaves and bits are inferior quality. exceptions are blends, which are composed of more than one kind of tea, broken black , and of course compressed teas.

Color :Quality tea leaves are glossy rather than dull. A properly made infusion should be clear , bright color as a rule, reddish for black tea, yellowish green for green tea, a lively orange brown to dark brown for oolong. Pu-erh is darker. Quality tea never produces a dull or muddy liquid.

Aroma :Oolong and black tea, because they are fermented, have more aroma than ordinary green unscented tea. There are many variations and exceptions.

Flavor :Fine tea should have a smooth, fresh taste. For green tea it should be fresh and light, and for black , stronger. Any hint of sharpness indicates that there is an imbalance of the tea's components. Bitterness is from excessive caffeine, over sweetness from rich amino acids, harshness from tannins. Exceptions to the fresh taste rule are Pu-erh and other compressed teas, and Liubao.

Plucking season:
The best tea comes from the early spring picking. The Chinese names frequently let you know this. Nams denoting picking times are :
Spring tea: Chunfen, Qingming, and Guyu;
Summer tea: Lixia and Mangzhoung;
Autumn tea: Liqiu and Bailu.

Cost
It is often wiser to buy a somewhat more expensive grade than the cheapest grade, for with the latter you may have to use a lot of tea and still may not get good flavor. Since a pound of tea makes at least 200 cups, even the most expensive tea is a low price beverage.

Shop
Lisa's Tea Treasures
1203 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, California 95125

Ten Ren
949 Grant Ave., San Francisco, California 94108

mail order and retail source
Native Produce Co., 622 Broadway, San Francisco, California 94133

Daruma Foods
1290 Sixth street , Berkeley, California 94710

Storage
Tea must be kept dry. The best container is a metal box with a double lib, or a glass bottle with a tight cover, Better yet, one that is light proof. In a store, loose tea keeps better than that packed in tins or boxes because it has a larger bulk. Some tea comes wrapped in tinfoil and boxed. If you expect to use it all in a month or two, it is all right to leave it in the original bag. Oolong tea (with 2 ~ 3 percent moisture compared to 5 ~7 percent in others) keeps longer. If tea gets damp you can spread it out in a pan and dry it in the oven.

Store tea in a cool, dry place, preferably well ventilated. Tea absorbs other odors easily, so never keep it in a closet with mothballs or other strong - smelling substances. Once tea is tainted by an outside odor, it cannot be salvaged. One Guangdong tea shop owner is so particular about odors that he will not allow his employees to eat scallions or wear perfume in his establishment.

Other Uses
Tea has many uses beyond that of a beverage. A popular way of eating eggs in China is to crack them slightly after boiling very briefly and boil them in a pot of leftover or fresh tea. This is well known as "tea egg." Tea leaves are also used in some styles of Chinese cooking, particularly that from Hangzhou in the tea country. They add a new and delicate flavor to familiar meat and fish dishes.

Tea is used as gargle for fresh breath. Used or dry leaves are chewed to remove the odor of onions or garlic.

The tea Research Institute in Hangzhou has found a way to extract a natural antioxidant from tea leaves. It is particularly welcomed in the moo cake business. Moon cakes with rich fillings of ham, black bean paste, coconut, sugar, or nuts are in great demand for the Mid Autumn Festival (the Moon festival ) which usually falls in September. China's entire one billion people want their moon cakes at the same time, but when these delicacies are made too far in advance there is a risk of spoilage. the antioxidant seems to do the the trick. Furthermore, it can be made from the low quality leaves which are usually discarded.

From tea seeds, previously thrown away, the Institute has extracted an oil said to be superior to rapeseed oil, which is commonly used in stir frying. Also extracted is a surface activator which improves the quality of foam construction bricks, and is an ingredient in a new type of shampoo.

Reference
I have been shown the Reference and the ISDN from the book authors here on web. Found today they are gone? Date: Nov. 19 2008 before 16:54xp Hong Kong. The rebuilding need as soon as the it allow me. "Chinese Tea" as practice when this web was established, the book Public by California ***** Print., if not wrong remember?
 


REFERENCE:
Chinese Tea (走進中國茶的世界) [Hong Kong Library TW CNLAF 427.4109] _ Dec. 26 2008
 
 
  Update: 9:23AM .hk Mar 18 2015 w7pw8.1pro