http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/index/ en alnedra.mofi@gmail.com Copyright 2010 2010-03-20T09:09:13+00:00 http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/resurrecting_tea/ http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/resurrecting_tea/#When:15:15:00Z A friend came to me in some distress recently, as she had bought a batch of white tea some months before, deposited it in a cupboard and promptly forgot about it till a few days ago. The tea had absorbed the musty odour of the cupboard (the cupboard though, she says, smells quite nice now - talk about an expensive deodorant!), and was quite undrinkable. Looking at the leaves, though, they were still white, crisp and fuzzy, so it was not an entirely lost cause. I asked her to try microwaving the tea leaves as a last-ditch effort to salvage them. Use a very clean, very dry plate, place the leaves only on the plate and put in the microwave. Turn the microwave on to medium for about 2 to 3 minutes. Take out and sniff them. Repeat until the musty odour is almost gone. The downside of this method is that it “roasts” the leaves, so strictly speaking, the leaves are no longer white. The tea steeped from the leaves will also be inferior in taste, colour and fragrance. However, better a lower-grade tea than no tea at all, or a tea with a nauseating odour of stale cupboard. One can try this with wulong and black tea that have been kept too long, although one must expect that the leaves will no longer, and never will be, as good as they were when first bought. Tea, Other uses 2008-06-06T15:15:00+00:00 http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/a_tea_for_every_occasion/ http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/a_tea_for_every_occasion/#When:14:38:02Z It is a common Chinese medical belief that tea “leeches” away certain medicines, so tea-drinking soon after taking medication is frowned upon. However, tea doesn’t always counteract medication. In fact, tea can actually boost or complement the effect of certain herbs, flowers or medicines. Tea is already chockful of antioxidants and aids in digestion, allowing beneficial components to be absorbed by the body more quickly. Ginseng tea, of course, is a good example. Ginseng powder or slices mixed with tea leaves make for a good energy supplement. For those who want to detox, or clear their complexion, green tea with jasmine, rose or dried mango is a good beverage to cleanse the blood and skin; when you’re done drinking, steep the leaves again for a few hours and use the liquid as a wash or wipe for the face - although this might be useful for only oily faces. For people who have trouble with the “cooling” effects of tea, especially green and wulong tea, mixing the tea leaves with nourishing and slightly “heaty” herbs and dried fruits will help maintain a harmonious balance. Try tea with wolfberries (枸杞 gǒu qǐ), or dried red dates, as both herbs are slightly heaty (the red dates more so than wolfberries), and will help counteract the tea’s “cooling” effect. Moreoever, the two herbs help with blood circulation, which will aid tea’s detoxifying. An excellent way of warming the stomach, especially if you have caught a chill, is to use freshly cut slices of ginger and steep them with tea leaves. Use as many slices as you can stand! The Indian tea chai masala also uses warming spices, such as cardamon, cloves and star anise (there are many variants on the recipe), to counter the “cooling” effect of tea. However, the benefits of tea are found to be negated by the addition of milk, so chai masala loses out in that respect. However, as a warming beverage, it is quite efficacious. Tea at room temperature can also be put to several uses. Use it as a rinse after dental surgery, to sooth the gums, discourage proliferation of bacteria in the mouth and simply because it’s nicer than just plain water. Mix tea with honey (especially Manuka honey) to boost the immune system - using hot tea will destroy many of the nutrients in the tea. Tea is also good for watering down hard liquor, such as brandy, rum and whiskey. For those who have trouble with the bitterness of liquor, try mixing with cool sweetened tea. For a bedtime beverage though, I would not recommend anything with alcohol. I’ve found white tea to be very good as a tea to drink just before bed (at least an hour before), and when mixed with chamomile blossoms, makes for a pretty good soporific. Tea, Other uses 2008-05-16T14:38:02+00:00 http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/too_much_of_a_good_thing/ http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/too_much_of_a_good_thing/#When:08:56:00Z While talking to some friends yesterday, they divulged that they had friends who relied on “slimming teas” to retain their figure, drinking it every day. Slimming teas, if they are not dark black teas, such as Pu’er, are usually laxatives. Continual use of laxatives are not healthy at all; after a while, your bowels become somewhat atrophied, and relies on the laxatives to work properly. Laxatives per se are fairly useful, for specific problems. Just as you wouldn’t take antihistamines continually for months, you don’t consume laxative teas continually in order to slim down. Many “slimming teas” are not teas at all. They are laxative herbs, such as senna leaves or cascara. In the past few years, though, I have noticed that some black teas are marketed as slimming teas as well. Teas such as Tuo Cha 沱茶 and Pu’er are good for aiding digestion, and some studies have tentatively shown that drinking such teas help lower blood cholesterol. How effective they are as slimming beverages, though, I have my doubts.  Tea, Black, Other uses, Tea Related 2008-05-10T08:56:00+00:00 http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/iced_tea/ http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/iced_tea/#When:14:31:00Z Within the realm of traditional Chinese medicine, cold or iced tea is an abomination. It is said to harm the stomach (傷胃 shāngwèi) and to be injurious to the health. Iced tea is generally regarded as an American innovation and is first recorded a being drunk at the 1904 World Trade Fair in St Louis, Missouri. The heat of the American south induced Richard Blechyndon to serve his tea poured over ice cubes, and in America, it is estimated that even today, 80% of the tea drunk there is drunk iced. Iced tea breaks all the rules of tea drinking. The fragrance of tea is released by heat, and when iced, the only flavour that really registers is the characteristic astringency of tea. This means that in America, iced tea is more often served with lemon and sugar, and strong black teas are used because the delicate fragrances of green and oolong teas are more difficult to detect on ice. In Asia (including Singapore, Taiwan and China) there has recently arisen a fashion for cold bottled green tea (of which one brand is “Oishi”). Most of these teas are sold flavoured with fruit or other scents because the characteristic green tea smell is much weakened by the temperature. A much better way is to make iced green tea yourself. Americans usually make iced tea from cooling strong hot black tea with boiling water, but with green tea, most people recommend using cold water to start with. This means using twice the usual amount of leaves and infusing the tea in the refrigerator for an hour (or even overnight). I am no fan of iced tea. To me, this is the equivalent of batter fried fish. Tasmania gets some of the freshest, sweetest, tastiest fish in the whole world, but many Tasmanians still cook it English fashion: i.e., battered and fried until very very dead. Battered fried fish is lovely if the fish is freshly caught, and Tasmania therefore has some of the most delicious battered fried fish in the world; but fresh fish tastes even more delicious if it is grilled or steamed or prepared in any one of a million other ways. So why would you ever batter it and fry it? I approach cold green tea with the same sort of mind. Cold green tea is really only worth doing if you have a large quantity of fresh, intensely fragrant green tea leaves, because faded old leaves make bloody awful cold green tea; but you need twice the amount of leaves and they can only be used once; also, the fragrance is not as strong as if you made the tea hot. So why do it at all? Why not savour the tea hot and at its best? Why not fill your house with the smell of freshly brewed green tea, instead of sipping a weaker more insipid version from the refrigerator? [Miss Neddy has to make a small disclaimer here: The opinions stated in this or other entries by her good friends are not necessarily her own. So there.] Tea, Other uses 2008-05-07T14:31:00+00:00 http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/what_else_is_tea_good_for/ http://www.leavesofjade.com/index.php/tea_blog/what_else_is_tea_good_for/#When:09:43:01Z If you have any old tea leaves which don’t taste so good anymore, don’t throw them away! Tea and tea leaves can be put to use in a variety of ways. Put the old tea leaves in a pot of boiling water and steep for at least 10 minutes. Sieve out the tea leaves (or if you had the foresight to put them in tea bags or herb bags, leave them aside) and let the tea cool down. Once down to room temperature, you can chill it in the refrigerator; this will keep for around a week. For abrasions and small cuts, tea is a good antiseptic. Pat some tea onto your injuries and let dry. After washing your hair, rinse with tea. Do not rinse off. This will give your dark hair a deep lustre and shine. For lighter haired people, try chamomile infusions instead. For people with oily or acne-prone faces, try rinsing with tea after washing your face. For sore and tired feet, soak them in cool or warm tea for 15 to 20 minutes. Make the tea stronger for this, by at least doubling the amount of tea leaves you use for steeping. Water your houseplants (especially ferns) occasionally with tea to fertilize them, or sprinkle some used tea leaves on the soil. If you’ve been handling anything that leaves a strong smell on your hands (raw fish, strong cheese, certain fruits), rinse with strong tea to get the smell off. If you use tea bags, don’t throw them away after a brew. Wet or dry, they have their uses too. You can also chill used tea bags and use them for your eyes. Place cool tea bags on your eyelids for around 10 minutes. As tea is astringent, make sure you moisturise afterwards. Hang used tea bags out to dry, and when thoroughly dried, you can use them as cupboard and shoe deodorants. Place the tea bags directly into your shoes at home, or hang them in your cupboards to remove musty and other unpleasant odours. The tea bags can last up to two weeks. Tea, Other uses 2007-12-03T09:43:01+00:00