Monthly Archives: 2月 2017

Sencha – Organic Green Tea

What is Sencha?
Sencha is a Japanese term that refers to the tea grown in full sun. The tea is different from the other types of tea like gyokuro, genmaicha which represents tea grown under limited conditions of sunlight. Gyokuro is produced from tea leaves of the tea grown in shade for about 3 weeks and it is mostly used in Japanese tea ceremonies. However, sencha makes about 75% of the total Japanese tea production. Moreover, it is also considered to be the greatest, typical Japanese tea that appeals to all green tea fans world over. In addition, special production techniques are employed to ensure that the organic tea is of the best quality. This ensures that the tea retains the flavor and aroma of the dark green tea leaves used. Sencha tea is also said to contain antioxidants “catechins” and body relaxing elements. According to tea researchers, sencha has contributed to development of high aesthetic sensibilities in Japan.

Taste of Sencha Tea
Sencha is able to retain its balance of natural sweetness and astringency. Moreover, a fine, fresh quality is able to give a robust flavor while manifesting its organic nature without being bitter. However, the tea has to be correctly brewed for it to be a catchy drink. In addition, sencha leaves generally have a clear grassy and a sea-weed smell that distinguishes it from the Chinese green tea.

Sencha Production Process
After freshly picked leaves are taken to the factory, a number of processing steps take place. First, fanning and humidifying is done to avoid loss of quality and maintain the freshness of the tea leaves. This is because the process ensures that moisture is maintained and the heat given off is removed. The tea leaves are then steamed to stop the fermentation and the oxidizing action of the enzymes on the tea leaves. This helps to maintain the green color and also improve the odor. However, longer steaming of the leaves reduces fragrance and astringency. The steamed leaves are then cooled to preserve their bright color, flavor and aroma.

The cooled leaves are then pressed while being exposed to dry, hot air from a fan to enhance color, luster, aroma and flavor. This process helps in removing surface moisture and increasing the drying effect. The leaves then undergo first rolling process to reduce the internal moisture. This is by blowing dry, hot air over the leaves while also applying pressure. The next step is rolling and twisting, where the structure of the leaves is broken by pressing them in a bundle without applying heat. This ensures that the tea components are easily released when making tea. The leaves undergo the second and then the final rolling where they are able now to acquire their needle-like characteristic. Sencha leaves are further dried to reduce the moisture content from about 10-13% after final rolling to 5% to become crude tea.

The crude tea is still not considered a finished product yet despite going through the crude tea manufacturing processes.Therefore, it has to undergo secondary processing to be sold as a finished product. This ensures that it has adapted to the local customer tastes and can easily be stored. The processes involved in secondary processing include; sorting, pan drying, cutting, shaping, grading and electrical sensitivity.

How to make Sencha
To make Sencha, one should use a teaspoon of sencha for every 250-300 mils of water. The water used should be at around 80 degrees Celsius. The tea should then be allowed about 1-2 minutes to steep and not longer as this will make your brew bitter. This results in a sweet flavor and aroma as the tea leaves will not have lost their taste. Moreover, sencha tea should be stored well in an air-tight container to ensure that it remains fresh.

Sencha Recipes
There is a number of Sencha recipes that you can try in your home:
1. Strawberry Sencha Fresca – Here the cold water is replaced by an “agua fresca” with cold sencha for a summer antioxidant.
2. Green Tea Vodka Recipe- This adds a complex peppery taste that makes it ideal in mixing into cocktails.
3. Lemon-Ginger Sencha Recipe- This can be made hot or cold and it is mainly used as a cold remedy.
4. Green Tea Smoothie- This recipe can work with all types of tea especially with strawberries but sencha tastes better.
5. Sencha Cake Recipe- This is made from powdered sencha for green tea in your cake.
6. Green Tea Rice Soup- This is a delicious, healthy soup that can be made from rice leftovers and sencha.

2月 28, 2017Permalink Leave a comment

Overnight Tea Have Numerous Benefits To Your Body!

Drinking tea is common to many people around the world and it comes with benefit to human health. Its important to know that overnight tea have numerous benefits to your body. Now, tea is popular with consumers in many countries and tea culture prevails all over the world. The reason for this is that tea is so good for our health. What’s more, drinking tea is a very graceful art. Tea can be brewed several times. How do you dispose of overnight tea? Dump it into the toilet and flush? Actually, you can do many things with overnight tea.

It can stop bleeding.
Overnight tea contains abundant acid so that it has the function of stopping blood capillary from bleeding. If you suffer from stomatitis, eczema or bleeding gums, you can rinse your mouth with it. If your skin bleeds or wound infects, you can have a bath with it.

It can raise eyesight.
The tea polyphenols contained in overnight tea is good at antibacterial anti-inflammatory. If your eyes appear red, you can wash them with it several times every day.

It can reduce itching.
If you wash your hair or wipe your body with warm overnight tea, the fluorine contained in it can reduce itching immediately and it has the function of fighting against eczema.

It can multiply hair.
Believe it or not, if you wash your hair with overnight tea, your hair will be multiplied again and dandruff will be removed. What’s more amazing is you can make your eyebrows grow by brushing them with it.

It can consolidate and clean teeth.
If you brush your teeth with overnight tea, the fluorine contained in it will make the teeth calcified, so your teeth will be stronger to stand acid substance and your teeth won’t be decayed. What’s more, fluorine can eradicate dental plaque, so I suggest you rinse your mouth for two to three minutes with some tea every day.

It can remove bad breath.
Tea contains some compositions such as essential oil which are fragrant. If you often rinse your mouth with tea, you can remove bad breath effectively.

It can block the sun’s UV rays.
If your skin is sunburned, you can dip a towel into overnight tea and wipe your skin. The tannic acid in tea can contract your skin effectively and the flavonoid contained in tea has the function of anti-radiation.

It can remove oily feeling and the bad smell of fish.
After eating prawn or crab, wash your hands with it, and then your hands won’t smell bad.

There is one thing you should remember. In summer, don’t use the overnight tea which turns stale. The main reason for using tea is to have good health. Make a routine to drinking tea and sometime drink overnight tea to keep your body functions enhanced. It is advisable to take in natural tea rather than one which have preservatives. If you make a daily routine of consuming tea, it can help to staying healthy and fit for many days.

2月 25, 2017Permalink 1 Comment

Tea Is A Great Beverage For Children

In many homes, tea is the preferred beverage for children either for breakfast or at any other time. Tea is a good beverage for children since it offers both stimulant and health benefits. Children are at an age where growth happens continuously, and their bodies need to stay hydrated and stimulated. Depending on the ingredients that are put in the tea, the children get to enjoy benefits of the ingredients such as energy from the milk and sugar components of tea. The tea leaves component of the tea gives stimulation which is important for highly active children since they can endure continuous activity for long hours after they have had their tea.

Children drink tea mostly with an accompaniment like buns or bread, and in this case, the tea is used to ease the process of food ingestion since its liquid state makes it easier to swallow solid food. Children also drink tea after meals, and this helps in avoiding constipation. It eases the digestion process.

One of the major health benefits that children enjoy when they take tea is that they enjoy a stimulant that does not have extreme effects, unlike coffee. Tea is a mild stimulant, and the children do not feel its effect, but it gives the kid’s system an energy boost that is necessary during play time. Growing children need stronger bones to withstand the level of activity they engage in that includes running and climbing. Tea is known to be a great booster of bone strength and density. Various minerals found in tea make the children’s bones stronger, and the calcium content in tea also improves their bone density. When children drink tea, they stay hydrated, and this is an essential health benefit because the water component of tea not only helps in digestion but also in perspiration and excretion. Tea is an antioxidant that when consumed by children, keeps their bodies cleansed from any toxic substances that may arise from the digestion process.

Children that drink tea are faced with the disadvantage of ingesting caffeine which is highly addictive. If kids continuously drink tea over a long period, they become addicted to the stimulating effects of the caffeine. They experience headaches, nervousness, and irritability whenever they do not drink tea, and this poses a health risk at a young age. The stimulating factor of tea might lead to bouts of insomnia if children consume it just before they go to bed. This too may lead to cases of grumpiness in the child mostly when they are young, and they do not understand that it is the effects of tea that are making them sleepless. When children consume tea consistently for a long time, they are faced with the risk of reduced iron absorption in their bodies and iron is an important component of red blood cells that help transport oxygen around the body. Another risk that children are exposed to when they drink tea is browning of their teeth. This is mainly for black tea which has a high concentration of the brown color which if not washed well could stain the children’s teeth.

The best age to allow children to start taking tea is two years. At this age, the child has already weaned and can feed on practically anything that the adults feed on. Their digestion system and their bodies are usually strong enough to withstand the effects of the caffeine found in tea. Children between the age of two years and adolescence require energy for various activities such as vigorous sports and tea gives the endurance they need to play for long hours. Kids in their young ages can be given tea with more milk since they require the minerals and other food components found in milk for their growth while older kids can drink any form of tea including those that are spiced to give the beverage a unique taste.

Having established that children can drink tea, the best tea to give children is green tea. This is because of its antioxidant quality that ensures that the children’s bodies stay cleansed from any oxidants. Since milk and other tea additives do not affect the quality of the green tea, they can be added to make the tea more nutritious for the children.

Where to buy tea? Click here: www.jkteashop.com

2月 22, 2017Permalink 2 Comments

How To Make Chinese Green Tea

The process of making Chinese green tea is very different from Western Method. This process makes the taste of the green tea better and stronger compared to Western methods of making green tea. In China, it is believed that the type of water and pot you use affect the taste of the green tea. They only use small pots in order to obtain maximum flavor. Apart from this, all the leaves used to make the tea are infused using water derived from the place where the leaves originated. This is also believed to have a positive impact on the taste of the tea.

Methods of Making Chinese Green Tea

1. Using Few Leaves. If you want to make a single cup of green tea, This method will work best and will reduce wastage. For this method, you only need about 5 grams of tea leaves. Place the tea leaves in a small pot. Boil water ( avoid using tap or bottled water as it might affect the taste of your tea) to 80-90 degrees and add it to the pot. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes and pour it into a cup.

2. Using Several Leaves ( serving 5 people). For this method, you will need about 30 grams of tea leaves. Place the leaves in a small pot. Next, boil your water to about 80 degrees making sure not to let it boil too much beyond this temperature. Once the water is ready, pour it into the pot or cup and cover it. Wait about 5 minutes and serve your tea.

Tips

There are several things that can affect the taste of your Chinese green tea. These include: quality of water, quality of tea, steeping time, measurement, steeping temperature, whether or not you give the leaf time to expand fully and the separation of leaves from tea. There are several tips you can use to ensure none of these things affect the quality of your green tea.

First and foremost, make sure you use good quality water. You can tell whether or not your water has good quality by how it tastes. If it has a chlorine, metallic or earth-like taste, there is a great likelihood that the taste will be transferred to your tea. This is because water makes up most of your green tea. The best choice of water would be spring water. However, if you happen to have nice tasting tap water, this could work as well.
When making Chinese green tea, it is also very important to ensure you get all your measurements right. It is very important to have a perfect balance between the leaves and the tea. Otherwise, you will end up with an unfavorable flavor. It is advisable to use measuring spoons to measure your leaves in order to ensure you get it right.

The other thing you need to do is keep your water temperatures within the recommended range. Chinese green tea requires water that has been boiled at 80-90 degrees. Cooler or hotter water than this will affect the flavor and quality of your green tea.

Last but not least, choose a pot that has enough room to allow the leaves to expand fully. You need to also allow the leaf to expand up to 5 times its size. The importance of this is the fact that it makes it possible for the flavor to be infused into the water.

Warnings 

– Avoid over steeping the leaves. This will make your tea very bitter.

– Avoid low quality tea leaves

– Avoid using water that was previously boiled. Only use fresh tap or spring water.

– Avoid reheating the green tea over and over again. It might lose its flavor

The difference of making Green Tea Using Chinese methods and Western methods 

There are several differences between making green tea using Chinese methods and Western Methods. First and foremost, when you brew Chinese green tea, there is a lot of concern on the type of water that is used. This is not a concern when using Western methods. To brew tea using Chinese methods you also need to use a small pot. Western methods do not have a specific type of pot for brewing green tea. The brewing time is also shorter when using Chinese methods compared to Western methods. This prevents the tea from having a bitter taste.

2月 16, 2017Permalink Leave a comment

Green Tea Storage Tips

Green tea is generally very sensitive. It contains components that are highly vulnerable to oxidation.

For this reason, caution should be taken when storing green tea. If stored properly, green tea can keep fresh for up to 24 months.

 

The main points to judge the freshness of the tea are;

· Taste-Fresh tea has a clean mellow taste.

· Smell-It should be fresh green

· Leaf Color-It should be light green.

· Liquor color-It should be golden yellow.

If the above factors have changed then we can say that the tea has gone stale.

 

To get maximum health benefits from green tea, one ought to be familiar with below tips to keep the tea fresh.

1. Store in a Refrigerator.

Store green tea in an air tight, opaque container in the cooler compartment to drink any time. If you intend to store the tea for longer then its best to store in the freezer. The tin should also be sealed carefully to prevent moisture and odors from other foods in the refrigerator.When you remove the tea from the refrigerator to replenish the daily container, ensure that it cools to room temperature before opening. The temperature difference can cause condensation which will in turn affect the quality of the tea. Wait for at least half a day before opening.

2. Store in a thermos.

For families that may not have a refrigerator, the tea can be stored in a thermos. Fill the thermos with tea and wax seal it.

Tea stored this way can stay fresh for several months or even an year.

3. Store with quicklime.

Store green tea in an opaque container at room temperature with quicklime around it.

Quicklime keeps the tea dry. Ensure you change the quicklime after several months.

4. Correct choice of tea.

The quality of the tea is dependent on how it was grown, harvested and processed.

Naturally grown tea with minimal fertilizers is better. The right harvesting and processing methods also play a big role. It is also advisable to buy early spring tea that is harvested between February and April, it tends to be of higher quality.

5.Consume within two months.

It is hard to ensure that containers are truly airtight, therefore it is advisable to consume the tea within two months.

6.Store in plastic bags.

Store green tea in thick opaque plastic bags and squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing it.

Put in another plastic bag bag, seal it and then put in the container and seal it. These measures ensure chances of air and moisture getting into the tea are minimized.

Five Thieves to be avoided;

1. Humidity

This is the number one enemy of green tea. Chlorophyll, one of the components of green tea gets oxidized easily and this causes the leaf color to change to brownish as well as the taste of the tea, Green tea that is properly made is dried up to a moisture level of 2% to 3%.

It is nearly impossible to keep it this way as moisture is all over.

Storing in airtight containers minimizes the exposure to moisture. Ensuring also that the containers are not frequently opened also helps.

2. High Temperature

High temperature will speed up some chemical processes and cause decomposition of certain components such as amino acids. Lower temperature on the other hand slows oxidation. Refrigeration is hence recommended.

3. Oxygen

Most tea compounds react with oxygen. Vitamin C for instance is highly oxidized. This causes the color of the tea to change to red or brown. This steals away the original fresh taste of the tea.

To prevent this, store in airtight containers.

4. Light

Both artificial and direct sunlight have adverse effects on green tea quality.

Chlorophyll, the component responsible for the color of the tea is highly sensitive to light. When exposed to light, a chain of chemical reactions starts and the color changes to yellowish brown. This makes the tea to go bad. To prevent this, store green tea in opaque containers.

5. Odor

Green teas often absorb smells from the surroundings. Store it away from other smelly foods and items.

 

Green tea is said to never really go bad. Stale tea can be taken; just that it’s not as good and as tasty as fresh and properly stored tea. To increase and improve the shelf life of green tea, the above storage tips can be adopted.

2月 14, 2017Permalink Leave a comment