Whether you like your tea Gong Fu style, Western style, or just good ol' Grandpa style — there are always a few things to keep in mind when enjoying some brewed-up Camellia Sinensis leaves.
In China, tea has been cultivated for over 2000 years. And the first book on tea was written during China's Tang Dynasty (618 to 907) by a scholar called Lu Yu, otherwise known as the Sage of Tea. It should be no surprise that over this long period of time, people developed the knowledge of how to properly brew tea and what definitely not to do.
The Don'ts Of Tea
Don't:
• Drink tea on an empty stomach.
Tempting as it is to get up in the morning and brew your favorite tea to get that Qi flowing, it's best to eat at least something first. This is especially true for teas with higher caffeine content. Have you ever felt slightly nauseous when drinking green tea in the morning? That's the green tea caffeine content and tannins irritating the stomach. To avoid this, try eating a little something beforehand. Or perhaps start your morning with a revitalizing herbal tea and switch to green tea sometime after you have eaten.
Note:
Although it's not for everyone, you can also try drinking pu-erh tea in the morning. When anything is fermented, a variety of microorganisms are produced to aid our bodies. The same is true of pu-erh. The micro-organisms that thrive in our fermented friend pu-erh help increase the healthy bacteria in our stomachs, in turn benefiting our digestion. These enzymes help to wake up the stomach, body, and mind gently.
• Gong fu cha shortly before going to bed.
Although the content is lower than in a cup of coffee, tea still contains caffeine. Brewing tea gong fu style means we get many concentrated infusions. It might just get you tea drunk, and that's not always what we want before bed!
• Brew green and white teas with boiling water.
Green and white teas are minimally processed, which makes them quite gentle. Brewing them with boiling water will actually put the hard work of the farmers to waste. To preserve the fresh qualities of green tea, tea farmers heat the leaves only in quick rounds, thus preserving all the bountiful benefits. Brewing the tea with boiling water will only kill more of its great qualities. On the other hand, many oolongs, pu-erh, and tisanes should be brewed with boiling water.
Note:
For green and white teas especially, try making cold brew tea! This will even further preserve the health benefits of these teas.
• Over-steep tea.
As you may have noticed, the longer you steep tea leaves, the darker and more bitter the tea gets. Every tea has an ideal brewing time, and it is best to follow it to enjoy a sweet-tasting, delicious tea.
• Brew tea in tea bags.
The convenience of tea bags may be appealing at first, but we find the reasons not to more compelling:
The tea leaves in tea bags are usually of lesser quality.
• In tea bags, unbroken loose-leaf tea doesn't have enough room to expand and brew properly.
• Buying loose-leaf tea is more economical.
• Tea bags are most often not environmentally friendly and may even be hazardous to health.
• You can, however, buy or make your own sustainable tea bags to make tea brewing easier if you are on the go.
Read more on why not to brew tea in teabags.
