Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Tuesday Tip: Going Green....Tea




It has been a week since I started drinking green tea. I am a tea drinker and my brand of choice is Turkey Hill Ice Tea. In February, when I went to Florida on vacation, I made sure to bring along a few gallons of Turkey Hill Ice Tea. I would compare my love of ice tea to others love of coffee.

A few weeks ago, the owner of the company I work for came to PA for a meeting. The owner lives in NY and does not like the coffee made in the office. He walked by my desk and mentioned that he needed a good cup of coffee. He asked the location of the nearest Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Eventually, I offered to go and buy him a good cup of coffee. In a flash, he handed me ten dollars and told me I could drive his Lexus to the cofffee shop. I guess the coffee in the office is that bad!

There have been days at work that I needed to make an iced tea run. I am not a coffee drinker and I do not like orange juice. It is all about the tea...now it is all about the green tea.

From eMedexpert:

Currently, tea in the form of green or black tea, next to water, is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. According to Chinese legends, tea was discovered by the Emperor Shen Nong in about 2700 BC, when a gust of wind blew tea leaves into a kettle of boiling water.

Teas contain polyphenols which act as antioxidants and exhibit numerous biochemical activities. Tea polyphenols consist mostly of catechins, the most powerful of which is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which is found only in green tea. Since ancient times green tea has been considered a health-promoting beverage and currently researchers find more convincing proof of healing qualities of green tea.


If you would like, you can read the article: 20 Benefits of Green Tea.

I am now drinking the Turkey Hill Green Tea. I am not crazy about the added honey. I just may have to break out the Ice Tea Pot and brew my own. Or maybe...I'll have to try loose-leaf tea.

Disclaimer: There are many articles/posts on the Internet regarding the health benefits of green tea. There are also articles that claim there is no health benefit. You may want to check with your doctor to see if green tea would be right for you.

5 comments:

FredInChina said...

Of course, there is an obvious benefit in drinking water that has been boiled (remember, I live in China...). Chinese also drink hot boiled water in the middle of the summer, for its "refreshing" properties...
The question is about the benefice brought about by the small quantity of leaves added to make it a tea?
Choosing to believe the Chinese, different green teas would prevent and cure any illness known and unknown; but of course, they also have a proverb for every situation and its contrary...
Most Chinese drink green tea for its taste, and sometimes for its alleged properties - Iced green tea on the other hand is a product of the marketing of beverage companies, not a traditional Chinese one.

Michele said...

I know...it is about the taste! :) I drink too much ice tea and my end goal is to make the switch to drinking more water.

Thanks for your insight!

Sis said...

I am not a coffee drinker either. I LOVE CHAI tea! People at work know when I don't have it - it doesn't even have caffeine.

It's the feeling I get when I drink it. Nirvana in a cup!

Sue C said...

I love green tea as well. I think the secret to making good green tea is to just dip the tea bag into the water once or twice. Leave it too long and it tastes too bitter! Then let it cool a little before drinking - delicious. I particularly like green tea with ginseng.

FredInChina said...

The most common way for Chinese to drink green tea is to put leaves in a glass and pour hot water in it.
Then, each times they have drank 2/3rds, they add more water...
They can keep this going on all day long.

When they are not using a glass, they use a glass or plastic container with a lid (they would recycle glass jars that contained any food, pickled veggies or instant coffee...), make their tea in it, carry it around to drink; the refill process is the same as described above for a drinking glass.

Osu!