A magical elixir ..............

….and definitely one of my favourite teas that I drink every day.

Jasmine is a flowering plant that grows in many tropical countries and when infused with green tea leaves becomes a delicious and refreshing beverage that is also extremely good for you.

Jasmine tea has been produced in China for nearly 700 years and is one of the most popular Chinese scented teas. Jasmine tea first appears in records during the Song Dynasty which ended  in the 13th Century AD, but at that time it was reserved exclusively for royalty. Not so today, as it has become a common export to the Western World.

Jasmine Pearl tea, is just one form of the tea, and is usually made up of two tea buds and one tea leaf rolled into the characteristic pearl ball shape. 

One reason it is so popular is that it has many health benefits ranging from reducing stress to preventing cancer. It is particularly healthy because it is high in a powerful group of antioxidants known as catechins which are found in the organic tea buds themselves.

Throughout history, the soothing effect of green tea combined with jasmine has been used for stress relief and as an anti-depressant as it helps to relieve anxiety and tension. It can also alleviate the symptoms of headaches and muscle aches, and the scent of jasmine can lower heart rates and provide a calming effect on the senses.

Jasmine tea is high in antioxidants which means that it can lower the chances of developing cancer. This is because the antioxidants attack the harmful free radicals formed in the body that have been shown to have a relationship with the development of cancer. Antioxidants also slow down the ageing process.

Drinking jasmine tea regularly can result in a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke. This is because it has been shown to reduce the accumulation of cholesterol and unhealthy fats in the body and prevent the formation of bad cholesterol. Additionally it is beneficial in improving blood circulation, which helps to prevent high blood pressure, blocked arteries, thrombosis and strokes.

Catechins contained in the tea have fat burning properties and boost the metabolism which can help with weight loss.

Jasmine tea has some antiviral and antibacterial properties that help to prevent colds and flu. As well as fighting bacteria, it is helpful to the formation of good bacteria that aid digestion and improve the health of the intestines thus helping to prevent diarrhoea, gastric problems and ulcers and studies have shown that green tea can also alleviate the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease as well as Crohn’s disease.

For me, I just love drinking jasmine pearl tea. With its delicate but exotic, heady, aromatic fragrance, it soothes my spirits as soon as I smell it being brewed.

So, try brewing a pot of jasmine pearl tea next time you're feeling a bit off colour, or even if you’re not! Drinking this wonderful tea can help to speed up your recovery and, if you really must, gargle with it, as some people even believe that it can prevent illness!

On offer as “Tea of the Month” – Jasmine Pearl Tea – at abbeytea.com Buy some today!

Like your cuppa ..............?

If, like me, you enjoy a cup of loose leaf tea, then preparing it correctly will make all the difference!  Lets start with the water, as it makes up over 90% of the end product.! Strange as it may seem, you should never use boiling water, but water just off the boil at a temperature of 85 degrees. Using water that is too hot can result in a bitter tasting tea, and is probably the most common error people make when preparing tea.  And you need good water. The chances are, that if your water tastes good out of the tap, then you will make a good fresh tasting cup of tea. And you should always use fresh water each time you prepare a pot of tea. Water that has boiled previously has lost oxygen which can make your tea taste flat.

The importance of using good water without impurities goes back to the early days when the tea masters, who would sometimes spend as much as two ounces of gold on one or two ounces of their finest tea, demanded only the finest purest water.  This paranoia with water quality and the lengths they went to, to source the best water for their tea can be illustrated by a delightful ancient story.

According to legend, one of the great Song dynasty statesmen, Wang An-Shih, at one time   suffered from a severe pulmonary disease. The emperor presented him with with some special Yang-Hsien tea, which brewed with water taken from mid stream at the second of three rapids along the Yangtze river was believed to be a cure for the disease.  Accordingly, Mr Su, a subordinate to the statesman, was duly ordered to stop on his way back to the capital at the central rapid and collect a big jar of the mid stream water. However, Su was so taken aback by the splendour of the rapids that he forgot his task.  He remembered just as he got to the last rapid so decided to fill the jar with water from the lower level and pretend it was from the mid stream.  When he got back Wang An-Shih was so delighted that he decided to honour Su by making him a pot of the Yang -Hsien tea.   He brewed the tea carefully and waited for it to achieve its characteristic colour. When it did not materialise he asked Su as to where Su had drawn the water. Su assured him that it was from the second rapids to which Wang sternly replied ‘It is wrong of you to deceive an old sick man. Obviously you took it from the lower level’.  Poor Su was overcome with shame and   embarrassment, explained what had happened and begged for forgiveness. He also beseeched his master as to how the lie was detected. Wang revealed that he had learnt from his reading that the upper rapid runs too swiftly, the lower too slowly for the water to be harmonious with the tea, but that the central rapid possessed water which was perfectly in harmony with the tea and     therefore gave the tea its curative properties. Water drawn from the upper rapid would give the tea too much body just as water from the lower rapid would result in tea lacking in body and in taking too long to achieve its correct colour!

The tea masters were right to insist that the flavour of fine tea can be ruined if it is brewed with low quality water. Today, rather than go to the lengths of the ancient tea masters in sourcing the best  water for their tea, a good guideline, is to brew your tea with water that tastes good to drink.

 And always use the best quality leaf tea for the best results. Whichever tea you are using, whether, green, white, oolong or black, make sure there is room for the tea leaves to absorb water and expand as they infuse. This allows water to flow through the leaves and extract a wide range of vitamins, minerals, flavours and aromas. In general terms,  measure a cup of water and a teaspoon of tea for each person, allowing an extra teaspoon for the pot, if you like your tea stronger.  Pour water from a freshly boiled kettle into a cup and then onto the tea in the teapot to get the proportions right. This will also allow the water to cool to the right temperature. Once the tea is brewed, serve the tea liquid into the cup. Pouring all the liquid out of the pot will ensure the leaves don't stew and can be used again for 2 or 3 more infusions.  A tea leaf has so much more to offer than the paltry flavour of a teabag!

Generally, white and green teas don't work with milk, but with black tea, anything goes. Its all a matter of taste.

So go ahead, put your feet up and enjoy the exquisite taste and aroma of a perfectly made cup of tea.

In the beginning ..............

…. centuries ago, in China, green tea was used for ritual offerings or as a medicine, before it became a national beverage. Traditionally,  green tea was also used to clean the mouth, teeth and gums after meals. Ancient Chinese films and books depict the housekeeper of wealthy families  bringing warm tea for cleansing the mouth after eating.  Today, tea is considered a necessity of life in China, along with firewood, rice, cooking oil, salt, soya sauce and vinegar. But there’s a lot more to green tea than what you get in the pot!

Green tea was highly regarded in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to treat everything from headaches to depression. Shennong, the Emperor acknowledged for discovering tea, was also, incidentally,  the writer of the first medicinal book in 2737 BC. He wrote, tea, ‘quenches thirst, lessens the desire for sleep, gladdens and cheers the heart’.

Green tea contains B vitamins, folate (folic acid), manganese, potassium, magnesium, caffeine and other antioxidants.  Antioxidants, are our friends, the secret behind boosting our natural cleansing or detox process and clearing toxins. Reduced toxins equals reduced disease. Amongst other things, green tea is said to boost weight loss, reduce cholesterol, combat cardiovascular disease and prevent cancer.  

Today. traditional Chinese medicine and modern science meet. And in a month that celebrated World Cancer Day (4 February 2015), it was discovered that green tea may well kill oral cancer. According to researchers, a compound found in the tea not only kills cancer cells but also keeps healthy ones undamaged. it is hoped that this discovery will lead to new treatments for oral cancer as well as other forms of cancer.

So, now, the ancient Chinese ritual of cleansing the palate with green tea after eating, doesn't seem quite so strange after all!

Next time you drink green tea, you may be preventing oral cancer.

I love my tea ..............

………loose leaf tea that is! None of your teabags for me, even though there are some rather nice ‘posh’ ones in the shops at the moment. So why do I prefer loose leaf tea? Mainly because it is fresher and tastier. Loose leaf tea is made primarily of whole unbroken leaves whilst tea bags are the opposite, using lower grade smaller pieces of tea, dust and fannings. The smaller pieces of tea used in tea bags lose their essential oils when brewed leaving the tea dull and stale. Loose leaf tea made properly is flavoursome and aromatic. But I’ll share my tips on how to make the perfect cup of tea in my next blog.

So why do we need teabags when loose leaves make a superior cup of tea? In 1968 only 3% of households in Britain used teabags, which were an American invention! Today 55 billion tea bags are used in the UK each year, that´s about 370,000 tons of waste that mainly ends up in landfill sites. So just from an environment perspective it make sense to use loose leaf tea. And the used tea leaves make a superb fertiliser for the garden. The waste isn't just limited to the bags in the landfill sites either.  If you use good quality tea leaves they can be infused several times.  In fact in China it is widely believed that the second or third brew is the best.  Each time you brew the tea it will have different, subtle, delicate flavours.  Don’t leave tea leaves to stew once brewed, strain them,  or you’ll end up with a bitter cup of tea. 

It always amazes me that making a pot of tea is often seen as being troublesome, yet many will happily use a cafetiere for coffee.  All you need for a refreshing, stimulating cup of tea is a teapot, and the hot water and tea leaves to go with it of course! So why not start your tea journey today?