How to make Mongolian milk tea: Enjoy the flavor of Oriental grassland

Mongolian milk tea is an important way to supplement nutrition

Mongolian milk tea is a traditional Mongolian drink. Mongolians generally call it “Suutei Tsai “milk tea, also known as Mongolian salty tea.
As the Mongols are a nomadic people, they are hard to get fresh food, milk tea has become an important way for them to obtain nutrition.
Some of the materials used to make Mongolian milk tea, such as beef jerky, Fried rice grains, and brick tea, are dehydrated or fermented to make them easier to preserve.

Homemade Mongolian milk tea recipe

Step 1. Put the pre-prepared broken brick tea into a mesh bag, bring the water to a boil, put it into the pot, and cook it over a warm heat for about 5 minutes. The ratio of tea leaves to water will affect the concentration of milk tea. The recommended ratio is 1:80, which can be adjusted according to personal taste.

Prepare broken tea bricks

Step 2. Add the moderate amount of milk to continue to cook. The ratio of tea juice to milk is recommended to be 2:1 so that the milk tea will be more fragrant. The ratio of milk to tea can also be adjusted at will.

Add the milk into the boiling tea

Step 3. After the milk tea boils, add beef jerky, Fried rice grains, butter, salt, and other seasonings.

Add other ingredients

Step 4. Keep stirring the boiling milk tea, scooping it up with a spoon and then pouring it back in from a height (this is an important step). It will allow the tea to mix well with the milk, giving off the maximum aroma. When you feel the aroma is strong enough, you can stop cooking.

Keep stirring the boiling milk tea

Then it’s the milk tea time. The fragrant smell of milk coming first, and the first taste is full of tea’s aroma. Golden Fried rice grains like stars dotted on the surface of milk tea, let a person salivate, savor, feel the mellow and salty taste. The boiled beef jerky, although not as tough as before, but also do not lose chewy.

Effects of Mongolian milk tea on health

Enjoy the fragrant Mongolian milk tea

As can be seen from its ingredients, Mongolian milk tea is very rich in protein, vitamins, and sugar, plus the caffeine contained in the tea itself, it can bring great energy to the human body.
Mongolian herdsmen take beef, mutton, and dairy products as the staple food; whole grains, vegetables, which are difficult to get, so make them as the supplementary food.
Because dairy products provide the same vitamins as fresh vegetables, Mongolian milk tea has become an important part of dietary habit for them, which is an important way for them to supplement the nutrition needed by the human body.
Every morning, the first thing a Mongolian housewife does is cook a pot of Mongolian milk tea. Drink hot tea, eat Fried rice grains, and then put the remaining of milk tea on a small fire, keeping it warm for drinking any time.
But for ordinary people, because of different living environment and habits, long-term drinking of Mongolian milk tea, intake of excess calories is easy to cause obesity. What is serious, also can cause hyperlipidemia, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases.

Choose the best tea storage container for loose leaf tea

Choose the best tea storage container is an important thing

To enjoy tea, high-quality tea and teaware are needed. But what is often overlooked by people is that a good tea storage container is also essential. A good tea storage container to have good sealing performance, light insulation, moisture-proof, deodorization, anti-oxidation characteristics.
We usually use a container to store loose leaf tea. According to the different material, there are many kinds of tea storage container, how to choose a suitable one?

Tin Tea Storage Container

Tin tea container is the best for storing tea

Tin texture soft and toughness, has a good sealing performance, play a good role in oxidation resistance.
The tea container made of tin has no metal odor, the container can always be kept in a constant temperature so that the tea will not be affected by moisture, but also to avoid light and to maintain the aroma.
Tin tea container is suitable for storing all kinds of tea because of its excellent tightness. In particular, green tea, which contains a lot of tea polyphenols, can effectively slow down its oxidation rate and retain its nutritional value and aroma.
So the tin container is the best choice for storing loose leaf tea.

Silver Tea Storage Container

Silver tea container has an exquisite appearance but expensive

The tea container made by silver has the most beautiful appearance. It has the same advantages as the tin tea container, but silver is much more expensive than the tin one.
The surface of the silver teaware is easy to oxidize and blackening, which needs constant careful maintain.
Because of its exquisite appearance, the collection value of the silver tea storage container is much greater than its use-value.

Iron Tea Storage Container

The iron tea storage container is easy to rust

As a kind of metal teaware, iron is the worst for store loose leaf tea.
Although the iron tea storage container has a good sealing performance, but the iron is very easy to rust, its moisture-proof performance is very poor.
Tea easily absorbs the smell of the surrounding environment, and if the iron tea container rusts, the smell of rust will affect the quality of the tea.
But the price of iron tea container is relatively cheap, so it is still very popular. For short – term storage of tea, there will be no bad effects.

Clay And Porcelain Tea Storage Container

The porcelain tea storage container has a Chinese style

The clay tea storage container has a great breathability. So it is good for storing the tea which needs aging, such as dark tea and brick tea, but not for non-fermented tea, such as green tea.
And porcelain tea storage container, because of the glazing on the surface, its airtightness is greatly improved, can be satisfied to store non-fermented tea.
Clay and porcelain tea storage container are the Chinese traditional teaware, has a very good collection and the appreciation value.

Glass Tea Storage Container

The glass tea container is weak at avoiding light

The glass tea storage container also has an exquisite appearance and great airtightness. But its drawback is the light transmission.
Tea storage should be kept out of the sun as it speeds up the fermentation process. Making the tea lose its aroma and color, and the taste will become bad.
Many tea stores use the glass container to store tea, to enable guests to better view and choose tea. But they will place them in a sunless place, to protect it from the sun.
So the glass container is not recommended for long-term storage of loose leaf tea.

Cardboard Tea Storage Container

The cardboard container is the most common packaging for loose leaf tea selling

Cardboard tea storage container is the sales packaging for many loose leaf tea products. Its has a low price, but poor sealing, easy to be affected with damp, and deformation. Not recommended for storing tea.

Wooden Tea Storage Container

The wooden tea storage container is hard and light

Wooden tea storage has a great advantage – hard. It’s not as fragile as the ceramic one or the glass one, and not as easy to be deformed as the metal one.
But it has a fatal drawback, is more easily to be damp than the iron tea storage container. Once the wood gets wet, moss will grow, had a fatal effect on the quality of tea. So wooden tea storage container is more suitably used to store tea for a short time when going out. Hard and light, make it has strong portability.

4 key points on tea storage

Sunless is an important factor of tea storage

The quality of tea is very important to its taste, temperature, humidity, light and other factors can affect it. If you do bad on tea storage, may make it lose its aroma and taste, even go moldy and cause it to expire early. In some cases may be harmful to the human body.

Here are 4 key points on tea storage

Low-temperature tea storage environment

Temperature can affect the oxidation rate of tea, making the aroma, color, and taste of tea change greatly.
The high-temperature in tea storage environment will accelerate the oxidation or aging of tea, making some soluble substances in tea become insoluble in water, and aromatic substances are also damaged. And the higher the temperature, the faster the deterioration, the color of the tea is more likely to become dark.
The high-temperature tea storage environment making green tea become dark, black tea become old, and herbal tea loses its aroma. Therefore, to maintain or extend the shelf life of the tea, need to be stored in a low-temperature environment.

Stored the tea at low-temperatures

Low-temperature storage can slow down the oxidation process of various components in tea and effectively slow down the aging of tea. Of course, To storage tea at a low-temperature does not mean that the lower the temperature the better. Generally, the suitable refrigeration temperature for tea storage is between 0℃ and 5℃.

Avoid sunlight

The sunlight can also have an adverse effect on tea, speeding up various chemical reactions in the tea.
The uncomplete fermentation tea contains chlorophyll, after sunlight, photosynthesis will occur, leading to oxidation and deterioration of tea, making the color of tea dark.
Besides, tea also contains a small number of carotenoids, which are auxiliary components of photosynthesis and have the property of absorbing light energy. Under the action of sunlight, it is easy to be oxidized. The oxidized carotene will cause a bad smell after long time storage, affects the taste of tea.
Therefore, tea must be stored in a sunless environment to prevent photosynthesis of chlorophyll and other components.

Keep the environment dry

Tea can easily absorb water from the air and has a strong hygroscopic property. In the high-temperature season which the microbial activities frequently, once the water content of tea exceeds 10%, tea will become moldy, color and aroma lose, no longer suitable for drinking.

Tea bags also need to be stored in a dry environment

If dried tea leaves are placed indoors and in direct contact with the air, the water content will increase a lot in a very short time. In the wet weather, the moisture content can increase by 1% for every hour of exposure.
If the tea is affected with damp, will loss of fragrance, or cause heavy mildew. Never placed the damp tea direct in the sunlight, but put them into a clean iron pan or an oven, bake them with low fire and keep rolling the tea until the tea drying out and having the fragrance again.
Tea must be stored in a dry environment from the beginning and cannot be affected by water. The word “dry” has two meanings, one means the environment must be dry, the other means water content of tea before storage should be controlled to a certain extent.
The water content of high-quality tea is not more than 3%~5%. If the tea contains too much water, must be drying before storage. The tea after drying should also be placed in a dry and ventilated place to slow down the aging and deterioration of tea. The loose tea can be stored in a dry tea storage container.

Isolate the air

Air contact is an important factor in the oxidation reaction of tea, so to isolate the air is an important part of tea storage.

Tea is best to have a dedicated location for storage

If the tea is packed in vacuum, check the packaging for air leakage. And the loose tea which stored in a tea storage container, make sure the lid is sealed.
Do not expose the tea to the air for a long time. Because the dried tea has a strong ability to absorb odors, placed with other objects with a strong smell, tea tends to absorb their odors (this is how jasmine tea is made), affecting the quality of the tea. So the environment for tea storage is best to be a dedicated location.

Never Having Green Tea On An Empty Stomach For Losing Weight

Many people think that green tea has an excellent effect on losing weight, especially having green tea on an empty stomach state, and it will work better. Is that true?
The answer is absolutely not! Having green tea on an empty stomach would not get more benefits from green tea, even harmful for the human body.

Having green tea on an empty stomach is not healthy

Why Should Never Have Green Tea On An Empty Stomach

Green tea is a kind of non-fermented tea. And it keeps most of the natural nutrition facts along, the tea polyphenol and caffeine are kept over 85% in the tea leaves.
The tea polyphenol in tea assuredly has a significant effect on losing weight, anti-aging, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory.
EGCG(an ingredient in tea polyphenol) can help reduce weight loss by inhibiting digestive enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract and reducing carbohydrate absorption.
And the caffeine in tea, have the function that relaxes gastrointestinal smooth muscle, can promote gastric juice to secrete, conduce to digest, and improve appetite.
But, these natural ingredients will stimulate a lot to the human body on the empty stomach state, and cause undesirable effects.
Drinking green tea on an empty stomach, by the stimulation of tea polyphenol and caffeine, the stomach will begin to work, even though there is no food in it.
Also, the tannins in tea irritate the stomach to produce more gastric acid, which can cause digestive problems such as acid reflux, constipation, and nausea.
And after absorbing the tea polyphenols and caffeine, the stimulated stomach working more efficiently, which leads to a vicious cycle, and take a burden on the stomach.
From another point of view, the digestive system is under bad influence, leads to inappetence and dyspepsia, affects the absorption of food nutrients, also takes effect on weight loss.
But such a harmful way, will you dare to have a try?
Another thing worth to know that in the empty stomach state, due to the excessive absorption of caffeine, some people will also develop symptoms of palpitation, dizziness, and feeling lost.
Once your onset of the symptoms above, you can take candy or a cup of sugar water, it can help with the symptom relief.

Green tea keeps a lot of natural ingredients of tea leaves

What Moments To Avoid Having Green Tea

Although green tea is a kind of healthy beverage, if you drink it in the wrong way, it will not take any benefit but cause harm to the body.
Including on an empty stomach, there are 6 moments you should avoid to have green tea:

Having Green Tea Before Bed

Except for green tea, all real teas are high in caffeine. Too much caffeine will stimulate the nerves and make people high.
If having green tea before bed, it may influence the quality of sleeping, even cause insomnia.

Stomach Upset

The caffeine and polyphenols in green tea can irritate the stomach. Green tea is not recommended to consume if you have stomach disease, or when your stomach is upset.

Anemic

Catechins in tea polyphenols combine with Fe to form a complex that cannot be absorbed by the body, affecting the absorption of Fe.
And Fe is the essential element that the human body hemopoietic needs, the person that suffers from anemia consumes excessive green tea easily make the disease aggravation.

Menstrual Period

As mentioned above, green tea will affects the body’s absorption of iron. And lots of caffeine also can stimulate the nerve, make menstrual women more irritable and nervous.

Pregnant Women

Pregnant women can drink green tea appropriately. Green tea is rich in Zn, which plays an essential role in the healthy growth and development of the fetus.
Drink some light green tea appropriately, can rise to enhance heart kidney function, promoting haemal circulation, help digest, prevent pregnancy edema, improve the function such as fetal growth and development.
However, green tea can also prevent pregnant women from absorbing Fe. So there is a risk of gestational anemia if consumes too much green tea, and the fetus may also suffer from congenital iron-deficiency anemia.
Therefore, pregnant women should try to avoid drinking too much green tea, while the concentration of green tea should not be too high.

During Medication

Ingredients in green tea may react chemically with the drug, affecting its therapeutic efficacy and possibly causing side effects. Green tea and even other types of real tea should be avoided during medication.
If you really want to enjoy a cup of green tea, consult your doctor first.

What Is The Best Time For Having Green Tea

The suggested best time to enjoy green tea is in the afternoon.
After a lunch break, people often feel a short period of mental exhaustion, and stay in a sleepy state.
Having a cup of green tea this time, the fresh flavor, and caffeine in tea can wake you up at once.
People who work in the office, a cup of green tea may let you work more effectively in the afternoon.

The afternoon is the best time for having green tea

At the same time, the lunch also already began to be digested. A cup of green tea at this moment can help the digest, make the human body absorbs the nutrients of food better.
Especially after eating greasy meat, having green tea can help remove the greasy feeling from your mouth.
Enjoy a cup of green tea in breakfast is also an excellent choice, but never on an empty stomach.

Does jasmine tea have caffeine and other side effects?

We have talked about the benefits of jasmine tea and steeping tips. But does jasmine tea have caffeine or other side effects? This is a question that many people are concerned about. All jasmine teas contain caffeine because they are made from naturally caffeinated tea leaves.
Jasmine tea is a natural drink popular all over the world. Many people like to drink jasmine tea, feel its rich aroma, but also can wake up your brain and refresh.

How much caffeine does jasmine tea contain

It depends on the tea leaves used to make jasmine tea.
1. The jasmine tea made from green tea leaves is the main type of jasmine tea. It contains about 35 milligrams of caffeine per cup (normal size）
2. The jasmine tea made from black tea leaves contains about 50-90 milligrams of caffeine per cup.
3. The jasmine tea made from oolong tea leaves, contains the less, about 30 milligrams.
4. And the jasmine tea made from white tea leaves at least contains about 6 milligrams caffeine per cup(some people think white tea do not contain caffeine, that’s wrong)
The actual amount of caffeine in jasmine tea also depends on several factors, such as how the tea is processed, origin and how it is steeped.
For example, tea bags usually contain more caffeine than full leaves tea, because the fine tea in the tea bag has a faster dissolution rate. Also, too long steeping time can increase the caffeine amount of tea in the cup.

The side effects of jasmine tea

Jasmine tea belongs to the herbal tea beverage, which has a certain medicinal effect, so not everyone is suitable for drinking.
First, insomnia patients should not drink jasmine tea, especially at night before going to sleep. Because caffeine stimulates nerves and keeps the brain in a state of excitatory. This can aggravate the condition of insomnia patient. And heavy consumption of caffeinated jasmine tea or other beverages can cause headaches, jitters or sleep problems.
People suffering from iron deficiency anemia should not drink jasmine tea. This is because the tannic acid in jasmine tea leaves can cause iron in food to form deposits that are not absorbed by the human body, exacerbating anemia.
People suffering from constipation should not drink jasmine tea, because jasmine tea polyphenols have a certain systolic effect on the gastrointestinal mucosa, so constipation patients if drinking tea will aggravate constipation.
Those who suffer from calcium deficiency or fractures are advised not to drink jasmine tea or other caffeine drink. The alkaloids in jasmine tea can inhibit the absorption of calcium in the duodenum, and can also lead to calcium deficiency and osteoporosis, making patients difficult to recover from fractures.
Besides, those who suffer from calcium deficiency or fractures are advised not to drink jasmine tea or other caffeine drink. The alkaloids in jasmine tea can inhibit the absorption of calcium in the duodenum, and can also lead to calcium deficiency and osteoporosis, making patients difficult to recover from fractures.

How does water quality affect tea taste?

The water quality is important for steeping tea

The water quality plays a crucial role in tea. Among various indicators, there are three aspects of water quality has the greatest affect on tea: Purity, Hardness, and pH.

The Purity of water quality

The Purity of water quality refers to the proportion of impurities suspended in water. For steeping tea, the higher water purity, the cleaner the tea, and will not have a bad smell.
If the purity of the water is bad, looks cloudy or smells bad, may has a bad effect on the health of the human body.

The Hardness of water quality

Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with “soft water”). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates (Wikipedia).

The minerals in the water have a great influence on the quality of tea. For example, iron oxide and magnesium will make tea soup dark and taste light, while calcium, aluminum, and manganese will make tea soup astringent and bitter.
Salt compounds are commonly found in natural water sources, and their effect on tea is not serious at normal levels. For example, adding 16mg of sodium chloride in 1L of water to brew green tea will only make the tea taste slightly lighter, while adding 16mg of sulfites will mellow the taste.
In the daily drinking spring, the water from the silicate rock fracture is generally softer than from carbonic acid rock fracture.

The pH of water quality

The “pH” is the abbreviation of the Latin word “Pondushydrogenii” (Pondus=pressure, ium=hydrogen), a measure of the activity of hydrogen ions in a substance. This activity is directly related to acid, neutral and alkaline properties.
In general, the pH value of water is directly proportional to the hardness of water.
Hard water has a higher pH, so we must soft it before steeping tea. The color and flavor of tea have a great relationship with the pH. In the same hardness of water is used to steep tea, the lower the pH, the lighter the color of tea, and the greater the freshness and the sense of convergence when tasting.
When the pH value is greater than 7, it will help the oxidation of thearubigins and theaflavins, making the tea darker in color, bringing the aging taste, and weakening the sense of convergence and consistency.

Choosing the right water for steeping tea

Depending on the type of tea, the water used to steep it varies. Choosing the right water is important for steeping tea.
For example, green tea has a fresh, sweet taste and is ideal for steeping in low-pH water. The low-pH water can make the green tea bright-green in color, a fresh aroma, and more comfortable taste.
And to Pu’er, such complete-fermented tea, the aging process is an oxidation process from tea polyphenols to thearubigins and theaflavins, it’s the same as the direction of an oxidation reaction in the process of steeping tea with high-pH value water.
So, steeping tea with high-pH water not only brings tea an old aging taste but also be softer. When steeping the new Pu’er tea, use the middle-pH water, help people to judge its quality easily.
We can see, low-pH water is better for steeping complete-fermented tea, and the high-water is better for steeping non-fermented tea or partially-fermented tea. And choose the right water for steeping, can make the tea taste more delicious.

Tea tools using guide – six tea gentlemen

The most common tea tools – six tea gentlemen

When steeping tea, some basic tea tools that may not have to use. But if you work with them, you can be more enjoy steeping tea, that’s what the funny of the tea ceremony. Such as the so-called Six Tea Gentlemen, which can help you on steeping tea well.
The Six gentlemen are not the tea tools for steeping tea directly, just for help, usually consists of six gadgets.
These six tea tools, some of them are easy to understand how they use, while others are difficult. Even sometimes people will use them in the wrong way. So, let’s go and learn how to use six tea gentlemen in the right way.

CONTENT

• Tea tools caddy
• Teaspoon
• Tea Funnel
• Tea stirrer
• Tea tweezer
• Tea needle

Tea tools caddy

Bamboo tea tools caddy

Some people use the tea tools caddy for storing tea, that’s very wrong. Tea tools caddy is used to place the tea tools, one of the six tea gentlemen.
And the tea caddy which used to store tea, usually with a cover, and a profession design at storing tea.

Teaspoon

Using a teaspoon to take out the tea from the can

The teaspoon is used to measure the tea, and take out the tea from the tea caddy.
When we taking out the tea from the tea caddy, use a teaspoon will be convenience. And avoid direct use of hand to take tea and contaminate the tea, the whole process is more clean and hygienic.
When you’re proficiency with a teaspoon, you can also easily measure the amount of tea with it to make sure that you don’t use too much or too little tea.

Tea Funnel

Tea funnel has no filter screen, that’s different from tea filter

Tea funnel is not like the tea filter. Tea funnel does not have a filter screen, so it can not filter the tea out from the teapot.
And what is the tea funnel used for? The tea funnel is generally used to cover above the teapot, to prevent the tea spill out when adding, as to keep the table clean.
The tea filter is generally used to cover above the fair cup, to separate tea leaves from tea.

Tea stirrer

Using a tea stirrer to add tea from the teaspoon

Tea stirrer looks like a stick. It’s used for putting the tea from the teaspoon or tea holder, into the teapot.
On another way, after steeping tea, the tea leaves will swell and fill the teapot, it’s difficult to dig them out. At this time we can use the tea stirrer to dig the steeped tea leaves out from the teapot, instead of using a finger.

Tea tweezer

Using a tea tweezer to protect your hands from the hot water

One of the uses of the tea tweezer is the same as that of the tea stirrer, is used for digging out the steeped tea from the teapot.
But the common use of the tea tweezer is to hold the teacup when washing it, to prevent hands burns. It also insulates teacups from contamination to some extent.

Tea needle

Using a tea needle to unclog the outlet of the teapot

The main function of the tea needle is to unclog the outlet of the teapot or the filter hole (ball drain) inside the teapot. When the outlet of a teapot is blocked by tea leaves, use a tea needle to unclog it so that the tea can be poured smoothly.
Some kinds of tea needle are made by metal, also used for pry out the tea from the tea brick.
Although these six tea tools are not necessary, many people who are particular about drinking tea will have a set. Some tea tools made with expensive materials or with special significance are highly collectible and popular with collectors.
The six tea gentlemen are mostly made of bamboo and wood, some are made of metal and other materials. Therefore, after each use must be clean at all, once moldy, not only affects the appearance of the tea tools but also causes adverse effects on health.

https://lastea.com/black-tea-color/

Some people will identify the quality through the black tea color

Although called “black tea,” it shows a beautiful red color. Some people will identify the quality through the black tea color. Is this an effective method? Whether the redder of color, the better the quality?

Why black tea color show red?

Black tea belongs to complete fermentation tea. After such as withering, rolling, fermentation and drying series of processes, a variety of pigment is formed. Such as theabrownin, theaflavin, and thearubigins, makes the green tea leaves turns to red, and the tea it steeped shows red.
Theabrownin, theaflavin, and thearubigins, the different proportions of these three substances determine the color and quality of black tea.

• Theaflavin

Theaflavin is a golden yellow pigment in yellow tea and black tea. It is the product of tea fermentation.
Theaflavins were the first compounds found in the tea to have a definite pharmacological effect. It’s an orange-yellow pigment soluble in ethyl acetate in black tea. They are obtained by oxidation condensation of polyphenols and their derivatives. The content of theaflavins in black tea is generally 0.3% ~ 1.5%, which plays a decisive role in the color, aroma, and quality of black tea.

• Thearubigins

Thearubigins, the most oxidized product in black tea, is found in about 6 to 15% of black tea. This substance is reddish-brown and soluble in water, but its aqueous solution is dark red, so black tea shows red. And its irritation is low and taste sweet.

• Theabrownin

Theabrownin is a kind of complex products formed by oxidation and polymerization of catechin.
During the processing of black tea and Pu ‘er tea, 80% theaflavin and thearubigins oxidize and polymerizes to form theabrownin, and make the content of it increases exponentially, thus significantly reducing the astringency and bitterness of the tea.
Together with the higher sugar and soluble water extract content, it forms the mellow taste of black tea,  color red-brown material basis.

High-quality black tea has a golden ring around the inside wall of the cup

The black tea color, whether the redder the better?

Thearubigins and theabrownin decided that black tea color shows red.
The thearubigins, itself not only has the anti-oxidation, anti-aging, anti-mutation, anti-cancer anti-tumor, anti-inflammation, anti-leukemia, antimycin but also can prevent obesity and deodorization.
However, the higher the content of thearubigins is not the better. Too high a content of thearubigins damages the quality, making the tea tasteless and the color dark; And too low a content of thearubigins, the black tea color show not red enough.
Too much theabrownin can also be detrimental to the quality of black tea. The higher it content, the darker the black tea color shows.
Thus, the black tea color is not the redder the better.

Theaflavin content determines the quality of black tea

High-quality black tea color shows both red and bright

The higher the theaflavin content, the better the quality of the black tea.
There is a word to describe high-quality black tea, “golden ring”.The more obvious the golden ring, the higher the quality of tea.
Theaflavins are the main element of the golden ring. It makes the tea color show red and bright. And is an important element of black tea flavor level and freshness.
Theaflavin also has antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-cancer, prevention of cardiovascular disease, loss weight, and lipid-lowering effect, but also can combine with the cholesterol in the intestinal tract into the insoluble matter, excretion outside the body, reduce the cholesterol content in the blood. Known as the “soft gold” of the tea.
Therefore, it’s not the redder the tea, the better the quality. The optimum ratio of theaflavins, thearubigins and theabrownin should be balanced. The high-quality black tea color shows not only red but bright.

What’s different between boil tea and steep tea?

Boil tea is a different way of having tea

What’s different between boil tea and steep tea? Everyone knows that tea can’t be steeped for a long time. But there are some kinds of tea, such as dark tea, is best to be boiled all the time, to get the best taste.

Steep tea for a long time

First, we should know why tea is not good to steep for a long time. Many people think it’s just because steep for a long time will low the taste of tea. The real reason is not like this at all.
Tea contains anti-cancer tea polyphenols, tea polysaccharides that can lower blood sugar, caffeine that makes the central nervous system activity, as well as various amino acids, vitamins, and other nutrients. How many of these substances can be separated out, has a great relationship with the number and time of steeping.
Usually, the larger the shape of tea, the slower the rate of nutrient separated; The smaller the shape, the faster it will separate. The nutrient of tea will be separated all after steeped about 4 rounds, the aroma and flavor of the tea will also be reduced, the taste will be bad.
Besides, tea will go bad if steeped for a long time or place overnight. The small amounts of carbohydrates and proteins contained in tea can be extremely harmful to health by breeding bacteria. So steep tea for a long time is not good.

Boil tea is different from steep tea

Tea should not be steeped for a long time, but some kinds of tea can be boiled in the water, and the taste of boil tea, is better than the steeped. That because the separate out temperature condition of nutrient contained in tea is different.
The water used for steeping tea is generally less than 95℃, or even below 60℃. And some nutrient of tea must be separate at a high temperature. Such as some kinds of dark tea, must be boil in the water for a time, to get the best taste and benefits.
Boil tea can also make tea polyphenols, caffeine, tea pigment, and other substances fully released, refreshing, loss weight, disease prevention, and other effects can get greater play, a great benefit to human health.

What should pay attention to boil tea?

Just like steep tea, boil tea has many things to pay attention.
First, is the water temperature. It’s not talking about the boiling water temperature, it’s talking about the water temperature at the time we put the tea in.
To the tea which without pre-heat, it’s better to put them into the cold water, and let them boil together; And to the tea which has been pre-heated, if put them into cold water to boil, the taste comes down, so it’s better to put them into the boiling water to boil.
Second, to choose the right teaware. The teaware must be clean, and the teapot should not be too small. The water will be boil dry soon in a small-capacity teapot, so it’s better to choose a middle size teapot.
And pay attention to the balance of tea and water. To boil tea for a long time at a high temperature, tea can’t be put too much, or else the taste will be too bitter.

Dark Tea: 6 Key Points To Identify Its Quality

Having a cup of dark tea in summer to cool down your body

Dark tea, a kind of post-fermented tea. To aging the tea for several months or years, let the bacteria fermentation enough. The tea steeped shows a dark color, so-called“dark tea” And it has about over 400 years of history.
When in hot summer, to drink a cup of dark tea, can both quench thirst and relieve the heat. But how can we choose a high-quality dark tea?

To identify the quality of dark tea, mainly pay attention to 6 points:

Thickness

When the tea slips into your mouth and stimulates your taste buds, stir the tea with the tip of your tongue, you will feel the thick feeling of the dark tea from the tongue.
The thick feeling is not like the concentration, will not make the tea getting bitter. But when tea getting a level of concentration, the feeling of thick will get strong. Because of more substances of tea dissolved in water, thicker will be.

Smooth

The smooth degrees means the “oil feeling” of dark tea, just like the feeling of having chicken soup. Usually, the very smooth tea has a “left behind a layer of oil” feeling after drinking, this feeling distinguished from the “no bitterness so it is easy to swallow“.
The smooth degrees have a great relationship with the thick degrees of tea, the thicker the tea, the smoother the taste. The tea enters the mouth for a moment, flows through the throat to the stomach very smooth and natural, gives the drinker a wonderful feeling. And the low-quality of tea will have a “Throat Lock” feeling.

Sweetness

Sweetness is one of the simplest and most intuitive aspects of identifying the quality of tea. High-quality dark tea can smell sweetness before tasted. Besides, dark tea has almost no bitter taste, so its sweetness is more obvious. The sweetness of the tea will be felt immediately after the contact with the tongue and will spread in the mouth lasting for a long time.

Moist

High-quality dark tea can be moistened the throat, immediately remove the feeling of drying. Senior tea master attaches great importance to the characteristics of throat moist, after drinking high-quality dark tea, people will feel warm and moist, such as spring breeze blowing.
Drink 3-4 rounds dark tea, throat refreshing moisture, the mouth is not dry anymore, the whole belly feeling warm and comfortable, this is the sign of high-quality dark tea moisture.

Purity

The production environment and technology have a great influence on the quality of dark tea

Purity is an important indicator of the fermentation technology of dark tea. Whether the fermentation environment is sanitary, whether the method is correct, whether the fermentation degree is appropriate and whether the storage environment is ideal can be judged from the purity of tea. Especially the tea brick needs a long time for aging, poor storage environment is easy to waste.
Purity dark tea is very comfortable to drink, and even those who don’t prefer dark tea will not find it hard to accept. If it tastes smelly, it indicates that the sanitary conditions are not up to standard in the production process, or it is contaminated in the later storage.

Aroma

The aroma is one of the charms of dark tea

Different ingredients and blend modes bring different aroma, which is one of the charms of dark tea. The piling process will inevitably give the new tea some “piling smell,” but the sophisticated technology and strict production process will reduce this smell to some extent, and after two or three years of aging, the “piling smell” will fade, showing a richer and thicker taste.
The aging aroma is the most basic aroma of dark tea. If stored properly, the aging dark tea after more than five years will be further sublimated and present richer aroma such as camphor, ginseng, medicine, jujube, and wood.

The fuzz on white tea, the part which is rich in benefits

The fuzz on white tea is the main source of aroma

The fuzz on white tea – the main source of the aroma

When we drink the tea of different types, although each kind of tea fragrance has its own merits, and it is more intuitive, such as smell like sweet honey, brown rice, Fried bean, flower, and fruity aroma, is very image and easy to distinguish. However, it is not easy to find analogies for the unique aroma of white tea, which is generally called “fuzz smell,” which is the unique aroma of white tea given by fuzz.
The aroma of white tea, one part comes from the fresh fuzz; another part is from the unique process method.
People in the processing of white tea, will not be frying or rolling, to keep the tea fuzz intact. The fuzz on white tea, has silver color looks, unique smell, and fresh taste.
For the fresh leaves still on the branches, tea fuzz has the function of protection and secretion, and the base has gland cells that can produce aromatic substances. Meanwhile, the content of free amino acid and crude fiber in the fuzz is significantly higher than that in the tea leaves.

common white tea processing method

Among these components, glutamic acid itself has a slightly sour taste, aspartic acid, serine, and alanine have a soft roasted wheat flavor, and crude fiber has a slight woody taste. The mixed flavor of these components becomes an important source of white tea fragrance.
In order to retain the flavor of white tea, tea masters pay special attention to the drying temperature during the processing: if the temperature is not high enough, the color and taste will be too thin; if the temperature is too high, will get a burnt smell.

Tea fuzz on white tea can improve the tea quality

The fuzz on white tea can improve quality

Tea fuzz is not only the main source of white tea aroma but also can improve the quality of tea soup.
As mentioned earlier, the free amino acid in tea fuzz provides white tea with a rich blend of flavors, while the amino acid family also serves as the source of the fresh sweet taste of tea. They cooperate with tea polyphenols, caffeine, etc., dissolve in tea after steeping, and jointly increase the aroma and taste of tea soup.
In some types of tea, the weight of tea fuzz can even reach 10% of the total weight of tea leaves. Not only is the content of amino acid of tea fuzz higher than that of tea leaves, but it also brings the unique “fuzz taste” to white tea, making it taste fresh and cool.

How to choose high-quality white tea?

Of course, if too much tea fuzz on white tea, the tea steeped out will have some turbidity, which often makes people think that such tea is low-quality, that how to distinguish the quality of white tea?
Generally, which white tea has much fuzz on it, the first to third steeped rounds will be slightly turbidity, after that the tea will become clear. And on the case of low-quality white tea, tea will always be turbidity. When we are buying white tea, we can try to steep the white tea for a few rounds, to distinguish the quality.

White tea is also suitable for aging into old tea

If you want to buy high-quality white tea, you can:

• Choose according to the types, such as Silver Needle or White Peony.

• Choose according to the origin, which grows at a high altitude and good ecological environment is the best.

• White tea produced in spring has the best taste and the highest amino acid content.

• White tea is also suitable for aging into old tea, because of white tea after aging will get a more thick and mellow taste, although lose a little fresh and cool taste. It depends on personal taste.