Information about Tea

Tea is known by everybody, but not everybody knows how healthy and also how tasty a good tea can be. After water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. In the Asian world the hot extractive water is even more popular and more important than in the western world.

What most western people don't know is that the original Tea is made basically of the Camella Sinensis plant. Today the word Tea is also used for extractions of other plants, leaves, herbs, spicery and additional natural things. So there are thousands of different variants and herb combinations, but you can find at least 6 greater varieties of the original tea: green, white, yellow, black, pu-erh and oolong tea. Some of these may seem strange to you, but the oolong tea for example is the tea mostly served in the general Chinese restaurant.

As already said, Tea has a whole other position in the western world compared to the Asian world. In the West, most tea comes in bags that you put into your cup. After waiting a short time you'll throw the tea bag away and the tea is ready. As this tea can also be good, it's not comparable with a really good handmade Asian style tea. This tea isn't made of tea bags. You got a pot with the herbs and leaves in it and the water comes in an outer pot. The first one ore two teas made of the same plants are generally thrown away, because the tea becomes better with more extraction runs. Unlike the tea from tea bags, you'll taste a real aroma. So it's no surprise that tea houses, restaurant solely for the purpose of drinking tea are wide spread in the East.

There is a popular Chinese legend about the legendary Emperor of China, Shennong who was also said to be the inventor of agriculture and Chinese medicine. When he was drinking a bowl of hot water around 2737 BC a few leaves were blown into his water. After that, the water changed its color and made Shennong curious. When he sipped from the brew he was surprised by the aroma and taste.

Whether there is a true basis of this and other legends or not, it shows that tea is known in Asia at least for a very long time if you compare it to Europe etc. So the first record of tea in a more occidental writing is found in the text of an Arabian traveler around the year 879, who reported about the trading in Canton (Guangzhou), the capital of the Chinese province Guangdong.

From then, there were many travelers who mentioned tea, but it seemed no one of them brought any samples home. So it took until the early 17th century, when a ship of the Dutch East Indian Company brought some green tea leaves to Amsterdam. Around the same time, the Russian Czar Michael I was offered tea as a gift from China. Although it took some time, this were the roots of tea spreading all over the world.

Today there are many sorts of tea, especially a lot of tea varieties not from the original tea plant. Variants from the south American natives, as they developed without the influence of the Asian tea, are very interesting: For example the Stevia tea, which is made of the really sweet Stevia Rebaudiana plant.

You see, that there are so many of different types of tea, it's up to you to try something new...

Information about White Tea

All teas contain a high level of antioxidants; however white tea antioxidants are higher than in other types of teas. The high antioxidant level in the tea is caused by sunlight. Green plants get energy to grow from sunlight and chlorophyll, but sunlight can also be damaging to them. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can be especially harmful to plants and antioxidants basically help protect plants from this possible damage.

Where do antioxidants come from? Living cells of plants can be destroyed as the plants are trying to protect themselves from the harmful sunlight rays. Free radicals are created in leaf cells by the UV radiation in direct sunlight. Animals are born with advanced immune systems that protect them from these free radicals, but plants are not. Plants instead produce chemicals (called phytonutrients) to protect themselves, antioxidants being the most important ones.

There is more to the process of antioxidant activity, such as searching for free radicals (chemicals created by sunlight hitting the plant leaves). The antioxidants attack the free radical cells and may kill them, causing the plants to age and sometimes catch diseases. Free radical activity is limited by the antioxidants. Since antioxidants are present in high amounts in white tea plants, it takes a lot of balance to keep the plants alive as this battle is ongoing.

There are many antioxidants contain in this tea, most from the catechin family, including epicatechin, epicatechin gallate and epigallocatechin. EGCG, or epigallocatechin gallate, is the most prominent antioxidant. Nearly half of the antioxidant is comprised of EGCG and it is a very potent ingredient. Laboratory tests have determined that EGCG is able to be 100 times more active than vitamins A & C. A cup of white tea is believed to have more antioxidants in it than a serving of broccoli, spinach, strawberries and other healthy vegetables and fruits. This is a perfect example of white tea antioxidants at work.

White tea antioxidants are mostly present in strong quantities because of the EGCG contained in it. EGCG has been proven to reduce several health ailments and diseases such as skin, lung and breast cancers. It also reduces the risk of serious conditions such as stroke, heart disease and diabetes. EGCG can also slow the aging process, prolonging youthfulness and health in the consumer.

White tea is the least processed of all teas so during the harvesting process the healthy antioxidants remain in stronger quantities than in other types of teas. The leaves are comprised of more than 30 percent of healthy antioxidants.

The antioxidants present in white tea help fight off many diseases and conditions, making it one of the healthiest teas to consume. Its preventative qualities are just an added benefit to this delicious choice of beverage. White tea antioxidants are important to maintain good health and reducing health risks.