Green Tea – Healthy And Tasty
The Chinese have been drinking green tea for thousands of years now. It’s said that consumption began around 2400 BC. Since that time, green tea has spread throughout Asia and it is now used both as a refreshing hot drink and for medicinal purposes. Recently, it has become more popular in Western nations – quite possibly as a result of the potential health benefits of green tea.
Claimed health benefits include, reduced risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol levels, reduced risk of certain types of cancer and lower blood pressure levels. Weight loss management is another claim made for green tea – based upon an increased metabolic rate. Not all of these claims have been clinically proven. Quite a few of the claims are based upon animal test results – which can’t always be expected to carry over into humans. Others are more observational and experiential – but there does seem to be a fairly large body of opinion which feels that green tea does offer some health benefits.
However, if you wish to try drinking green tea there are a couple of points that you should to be aware of as the preparation technique is just a little different to the traditional black tea that you may be more used to.
The first difference – and this is critical – is the water temperature to use. With traditional black tea you would want to use boiling water. With green tea the water used needs to be somewhat cooler. It depends upon the variety of green tea you’re using – so check the instructions from the supplier – but typically green tea should be prepared using water between 61 and 87 degrees Celsius. In general, better quality teas should be prepared with water at lower temperatures.
You may need to experiment a little before you find what suits your taste buds best. Try boiling the kettle and then wait two or three minutes before pouring the water in. That’s a reasonable first guess.
Secondly, do not allow the tea to brew for too long after you’ve added the water. Green tea is not supposed to be too strong – let it brew for a maximum of three minutes, possibly less according to your own personal taste.
Using water that’s too hot and letting the tea brew too long are the two most common mistakes when making green tea. The end result will be a tea that is bitter and astringent. Of course, if you find that green tea just isn’t for you, you can still gain all the potential health benefits by taking it in tablet form.