Why People Drink Red Clover Herbal Tea

There are all kinds of wonderful teas that you can drink in order to improve your health, and green, black, and white teas all contain awesome nutrients. Red clover tea is one of the amazing teas that you can drink for your health, and you will find that many people enjoy this delicious tea for its unique flavor as well as for all that it can do for you. Here are some of the reasons that people drink red clover herbal tea:

Cancer Fighting - Antioxidants are some of the best nutrients that you can consume if you want to fight off free radicals, and you will find that dealing with these free radicals will be one of the best things that you can do to prevent cancer. There isn't really anything that is guaranteed to stop cancer in its tracks, but taking red clover herbal tea can be an effective prevention.

Menopause Therapy - Menopause is a rough time in the average woman's life, as it is the time when her estrogen levels are fluctuating drastically. Many people drink red clover herbal tea as a means of dealing with menopause, as it will help to reduce the strength of the symptoms of menopause. You will find that the isoflavones in the red clover herbal tea will be very effective at preventing the hot flashes, mood swings, and other symptoms from being very problematic.

Source of Antioxidants - Antioxidants are excellent for your overall health, and you will find that getting more of these nutrients will be one of the best things that you can do to improve your health in many ways. They will help to fight cholesterol, keep your heart healthy, fight off cancer, promote weight loss, speed up your metabolism, and more.

Cholesterol Reduction - An interesting thing about the red clover herbal tea is that it will help to cut back on the amount of bad LDL cholesterol in your body. Seeing as cardiac disorders is one of the primary killers of people in the U.S., you can see why so many people drink the tea in order to fight their cholesterol levels getting out of control. You may find that the herbal tea will be an excellent remedy for lowering your cholesterol, so it's worth considering.

Respiratory Aid - One thing for which red clover has been for many centuries is as an aid for those with respiratory problems, such as colds, congestion, coughs, and even bronchitis. It is a natural expectorant, which means that it will help to loosen up the phlegm that is blocking your throat. You will find that drinking the tea can help to make it easier for you to cough up the phlegm, making it easier for you to breathe.

Fair Trade Tea Tasting Better Than Ever

History leads us to believe that tea was discovered by accident in the year 2737bc when some leaves from a tea bush fell into a cup of boiling hot water Emperor Shen Nung was drinking from. Since then it has now become one of the most popular drinks around the world, with its health benefits being discovered and listened to by all avid tea drinkers. During the last decade alone it has reached an all-time record high of tea consumption.

But some smaller farmers are starting to notice a problem with production and demand around the world. Climate change such as drought and floods are having a big impact, this in turn is affecting costs and livelihoods.

Deforestation is having a global impact and farmers in countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malawi are replacing natural forest in favour of the money spinning tea plant. This is also creating other related problems such as job security, decent housing and healthcare for the tea workers. These new plantations are having a draining effect on soil erosion and water pollution from fertilisers. These once wild plants are now being cultivated and protected in a very modern way.

Fair trade tea in these and other countries are trying to ensure a stable economy so these smaller farmers can make a decent living. These stabilised prices given to tea traders are covered by a certificate to ensure money is returned back into their communities by keeping it above the market price.

In Vietnam for instance, they are working hard to keep up with demand and the new flavours that everyone is searching for. We have all heard how tea is good for us but the taste is important too. Lotus leaf tea is a speciality product currently only available from Vietnam. This is creating a specific demand for this particular tea that no one else can deliver. The lotus leaves are put in with the fresh collected green tea leaves and left for a day to infuse and acquire the scent.

Also these green teas are traditionally very potent and are still almost pure. This tea is also very bitter if it is not brewed correctly. To make the best green tea, the water needs to be hot, not boiling, only 70 degrees and the bag can also be used three to four times before the benefits are lessened. This will make the beautiful green tea with lotus flower a much more palatable sweeter taste. Jasmine is also added to these fresh green tea leaves and in Vietnam it is a popular chaser to coffee. The tea being poured into the same cup as having just had a coffee and left to chill!

Hangover? There Is A Cup Of Tea For That

Rid that headache with a cup of Tung ting oolong tea. From the mountains of Taiwan, this part fermented blue tea is soothing and relaxing for the mind. This blended tea is a mix of green and black tea, the only ingredient is pure Formosan Tung ting tea. Because the whole of the leaf is used this tea is high in caffeine and will also help you to stay slimmer as a dietary addition.

Here is another tea that will help with that horrible "the morning after a great night before"; it will also help make you feel younger. Forget the full English breakfast and hair of the dog, have a spicy wake up with a cup of hot or cold Chilli Chai. Sounds just like it tastes too, extra spicy and not for the mild curry eater, this one has a kick to wake you up and rehydrate quickly. A traditional twist on an authentic Indian recipe that contains real chilli flakes! A blend from Assam containing ginger chunks and cardamom, this tea sounds expensive but it really isn't.

Bordering Bangladesh and Burma, Assam in India is the world's largest tea growing region. During the monsoon season they get up to 12 inches of rainfall per day and with temperatures of 40 degrees this is a veritable hot house of a country, this is truly tropical.

Apparently, the renowned Robert the Bruce first discovered this tea bush while trading in the country. Bruce noticed local tribes picking and brewing the leaves but before the plant was verified he unfortunately died. It was his brother Charles who decided to step in and supervised the bush being sent for analysis and cultivation in Calcutta's botanical gardens.

The Chinese got involved with the English East India committee in 1834 to try to refine the plant. They found that the bush thrived in the climate with the addition of the Chinese tea seeds which replaced some of the wildness of the Assam plant.

The tea is grown in the lowlands and is picked by hand twice a year. The bush is covered in white blossoms and it's during March that the first flush is harvested. The gold tipped leaf that is picked in the second flush has a sweeter and fuller body some saying it is much more superior in taste. This tea is nicknamed "tippy tea" and is highly praised by many experts in the industry.

The Different Types of Japanese Green Tea Explained

Green tea is a very popular beverage and one reason for its popularity is because of its health benefits. It has a high content of flavonoids which are a group of phytochemicals that have anti-oxidative and anti-carcinogenic properties. What that means is that phytochemicals can help fight off or prevent a number of diseases. Green tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis but there are a number of varieties created by variations in growing conditions, harvesting time, and processing. On this page we are going to focus on four popular varieties of Japanese green tea.

Macha

Macha comes in powdered form and is the tea that is used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. There is an un-powdered form of Macha that is called Tencha. Macha tea leaves are grown in shaded fields much like the Gyukoro variety. The leaves are steamed and dried and only the blades of the leaves are used, not the stems and veins. This variety of tea has a mellow sweetness and a subtle bitterness.

Gyokuro

Many people consider Gyokuro the very best Japanese green tea. This variety is grown under diffused light and it is made from single buds that are picked in April and May. The leaves are very small when they are plucked and they undergo minimal processing but they are steamed for approximately 30 minutes to stop fermentation and seal in flavor. They are then dried to a 30% moisture content and they are rolled until they are formed into thin, dark green needles. They are then dried again to a 4 to 6% moisture content. The flavor of this variety has been described as rich and sweet with a little bit of a briny taste and an almost buttery aftertaste.

Hojicha

The Hojicha of Japanese green tea is made from a mixture of leaves and stems that are pan fired to give it a flavor that is very much like roasted grain. This variety of Japanese green tea has less caffeine than other varieties.

Sencha

Sencha is made from the top parts of the tea leaves and buds. The whole leaves are steamed for a short period to stop oxidation. They are then rolled into long cylinders and dried. The final step is to fire the leaves which will preserve them and give them their flavor. The flavor of the Sencha variety of Japanese green tea is mildly sweet with herbal flavors.

The Boston Tea Party

In 1698, The East Indian Company had sole monopoly to import tea to all British colonies. A bill was passed by The English Parliament as they still had authority over the colonies stating that the British American colonies could not import their tea from anywhere else like China.

This eliminated foreign competition and also gave Britain the chance to heavily tax all tea that was imported from Britain. The tea was auctioned off wholesale and the British companies that bought the tea were able to export it out the colonies and merchants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston. There then arose a big problem. The tea was taxed at 25% to be paid by the East India Company to bring it into Britain and an additional tax was on the tea only consumed in England. However when the tea was bought by the Dutch government, no such taxes existed.

So it was inevitable that the British Americans smuggled the Dutch tea in at cheaper prices and no tax. Eventually over a period of 5 years, the Tea Act brought in lower taxes and the tea was then readmitted into the American colonies at a cheaper rate than the smuggled tea. The East Indian Company that was once facing bankruptcy was back in business and seven ships were sent to the colonies. Two thousand chests spread between the seven ships were on route when a protest erupted, the smugglers and the Dutch tea company were out of business. Legitimate tea importers were outraged that the Tea Act of 1773 gave the monopoly back to the East Indian Company.

The tea ship, the Dartmouth, arrived into Boston Harbour late in November of 1773. A mass meeting had been called and thousands of people turned up. By British law the Dartmouth had 20 days to unload its tea cargo before it was confiscated by customs officials. The meeting passed a resolution that the Dartmouth captain was to turn back without unloading and paying the import duty. Governor Hutchinson refused permission for the Dartmouth to leave without paying the duty! On the last day of the Dartmouth's deadline 7000 people gathered at the Old South Meeting House. Govern Hutchinson still refused the ship to leave without paying, and the tea party began.

While control of the meeting was trying to be regained by Samuel Adams, with some people dressed in Mohawk costumes and as warriors, this was an attempt to put a national American symbolism over European tradition. That evening the three ships were boarded and over the next few hours 342 chests of tea were dumped overboard and into the water of Boston Harbour.

Delicious Tea Varieties For The Tea Connoisseurs

If you are fond of tea then you should try out the different kinds of it that comes with its respective taste and health benefits. Right from the time the Chinese had popularised the beverage, the drink has had its very own reputation and in a health conscious world people are keener towards consuming tea than depending on coffee or any other refreshing drink. If you want delicious taste along with the health benefits then you can opt for flavoured black and green teas or the delicious white teas. The categorization happens on the basis of the method of leaf selection and processing.

While on the face of it the processing and consequent differentiation is through the processing of leaves, there are other methods like the means by which leaf shoots are plucked and other such. There are several kinds of tea under the different categories. Some of the recently mentioned categories are Guangzhou Milk Oolong, Keemun Ho ya, Fukujyu, Super Butterfly Oolong, Queen's China Oolong. These exotic ranges of rare beverages derive their individual names from inextricable links to legends and myths that have been surrounding the cause of creaminess in one drink and aroma in another. The different brewing techniques depend on the leaves and also the desired taste.

The flavoured green tea and the black tea are highly consumed by people and will surely refresh your morning with not just fine taste but also with great health benefits.

Some of the major advantages of drinking teas regularly are:-

The antioxidants in this particular tea work miraculously to fight against the free radicals which might be the cause of some of the worst diseases.

This is a natural means of slowing down the process of ageing.

This and also green tea helps in encouraging the good cholesterol over the wrong cholesterol thus promoting the well-being of the heart.

The consumption of tea is good for the complete care of the heart and ensures a better circulation of blood, thus reducing chances of stroke.

The fluoride in the teeth can help fight against teeth cavity and decay thus protecting your complete teeth enamel.

The herbal beverage is beneficial for those who suffer from diabetes because the ingredients help to reduce the glucoses levels in blood.

For all those who loved this beverage from an early age will probably know the differences in plucking and manufacturing of a variety of tea leaves. Today, their are many business centres in the market where one can easily find all varieties of teas at a most affordable price. Their are many shopping sites also where you can even purchase this unique beverage online in either tea bag format or buy loose tea. It is advisable to go for the later because in this you have the choice on the amount of tea used according to the number of people served, hence it is more economical and beneficial.

Vadim Naroditsky is a passionate tea lover for about 20 years now. His favourite teas are Japanese teas, Jasmine teas, Herbal teas etc. At Apollo tea house come and see his collection and easily buy loose tea, black teas, green teas etc of your choice.

The Online Tea Shop - So Many Teas Available

Fancy a cuppa of the most refreshing tea you have had in a while? Look no further than different flavours of Oolong Tea. A strange but memorable name and that is exactly how you feel after you have brewed your first cup. The bags are Tung ting temples and that is how we like to think of our bodies!

No matter what your mood there will be a tea bag to help. Whether you are drinking on the go or looking to put your feet up and relax, a helpful mood-o-meter is fun to use and is actually interesting to read, even if you are just researching what to drink when you are next feeling adventurous, bloated or just in a tea drinking rut.

All the traditional tea like green, white, black and oolong comes from the camellia sinensis bush and will naturally contain caffeine. These bushes are grown in quite a few countries all around the world and as such are widely available.

Tea for the temples doesn't just come from China or India which is where we think tea is grown but from other countries such as Rwanda. They are also working towards maintaining the rainforests which makes us all feel better. All tea packaging from fair-trade is recyclable and even the temple bags are made from corn starch and can be thrown on the compost heap when finished with.

For caffeine free drinks, herbal tea does not come from these bushes and there are hundreds of infusion blends to choose from. Herbal teas are drunk black with just hot water and the temple dunked or left in, either for a few seconds or until you get to the bottom of the cup. Strength of herbal tea like any other is personal preference; some are even better iced instead. The only natural non caffeinated tea produced that can be drunk as usual with milk and sugar is rooibos tea. No artificial flavours are used and you can trust its all natural. You will not find dusty tea in flat bags; these are all real whole leaves.

If you are a blogger you can leave your own comments on the website and help others with what is new, limited edition of just the traditional but also exceptional. A few more cafes are now stocking this type of tea and it is also by word of mouth "have you tried the new herbal blends, it's a fabulous refreshing change, and it better than many of the usual brands"!

You can buy a range of teas online including herbal teas and green teas; with various flavours of each available you can find the right tea for the right occasion.

Tea the Real Story

Everyone knows what tea is, right? Tea, technically, comes from the leaves of one plant: camellia sinensis. Anything other than the leaves from this plant is not actually tea, although "tea" is often used as a catchall word to include all the different herbal beverages used these days.

Legend has it that tea was discovered long ago in China quite by accident. Some leaves from a nearby plant blew into a cup of hot water; a nice brown colored beverage resulted, was found to have a refreshing taste, and tea was born. However it was discovered, tea is very refreshing, whether it is black, green, oolong or white. Tea has been proven in more recent times to have wonderful health benefits. We have all heard of antioxidants in tea, helping to fight free radicals that can cause harm to the body. Tea is far lower in caffeine than coffee. It is refreshing, whether used hot or cold.

There are various types of tea, all beginning with the same leaves. Black tea is created by bruising or crushing the green leaves to expose them to oxidation and allowing them to ferment, then rolling the leaves and drying. This produces a beautifully colored beverage and has the strongest flavor of all the varieties of tea. Oolong tea (pronounced 'OH-long') is oxidized and fermented the same as black tea, but only for about half the amount of time and the resulting product is a lighter, more reddish beverage with a flavor all its own, somewhere in strength between black tea and green tea. For green tea, the leaves are heated immediately, stopping the fermentation process entirely, then dried and rolled. It produces a lovely light colored beverage, and is said to have the most health benefits. The processing of white tea is similar to that of green tea, but only the unopened buds of the leaves are used. It has the same health properties as green tea, but the flavor is the lightest and most delicate.

Good quality tea is a wonderful beverage. Whole rolled or twisted leaves are the best quality; the smaller the leaf, the higher the quality of the tea. The top grades are called Flowery, Golden Flowery or Tippy. Seconds, termed "Choppy," are the leaves that have broken into smaller pieces. They brew a great tea, and are usually less expensive. The smallest particles leftover from the tea process, called "Fannings", are what is used in tea bags. It brews tea of course, but once tasting a tea brewed from a wonderful full leaf Darjeeling Black Tea, for example, it is hard to return to a tea bag for optimal flavor.

"Orange Pekoe" (rhymes with "gecko") is a western terminology applied to a grade of black tea; the word orange in the name has nothing to do with flavor, but could be a reference to the Dutch House of Orange using the name Orange as an implied "seal" of some sort. Pekoe may be a westernized interpretation for a Chinese word meaning "white hairs", referring to the fine white down on the tea leaves.

So, what are herbal beverages called? Herbal beverages are called tisanes, and may be prepared by different methods; usually infusion or decoction. It is incorrect to apply the term "tea" to anything infused or decocted, although tea is actually infused. Infusion is the preparation method of choice for leaves, flowers or buds; plant matter that will release its properties easily into a drinkable beverage. Placed into heated or boiled water and allowed to steep, the herbs release their goodness into the water, and then are strained out. Decoction is the method used for harder or denser plant materials, such as roots or barks that take longer to release their flavors or health benefits. With a decoction, the plant materials are brought to a boil, simmered gently for 15 minutes or more allowing the liquid to reduce, and then straining.

No matter which you prefer, tea or tisane, for pure enjoyment or for health benefits, look for the best quality. Discover your favorites among the different types of loose teas. Taste the different herbal tisanes and discover new flavors. Above all, enjoy!

My name is Chris Rawstern and I have been on a cooking and baking journey for 42 years. Many people have asked what "A Harmony of Flavors" means. Have you ever had a meal where the visual presentation was stunning, the smells were incredible, the taste was so remarkable that you ate slowly savoring every bite, wishing the experience would never end? Then you have experienced what a truly harmonious meal can be like.

My passion is to teach people how to create a "Harmony of Flavors" with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things.

How to Easily Drink the Recommended Daily Amount of Tea for Maximum Health Benefits

You won't find many people these days who are not aware that tea is healthy. It seems a new report touting the health benefits of drinking tea is released on a daily basis. As a result, many people would like to drink more tea, but they have a hard time reaching the recommended daily amount, which is usually said to be at least four cups and often up to ten. How can we consume that much tea on a daily basis?

One solution is to drink nothing but tea all day long. That seems like a lot of work when you consider the effort required to brew a cup of tea and the small size of your average cup, but what about increasing the size of the cup itself?

Personally, I found the answer when working in China. I already enjoyed drinking tea, but did so only at home, having a cup or two after work, but once I started my job in China, I began to notice that my coworkers were all walking around with large (about 0.5 L) lidded cups. Those cups were filled with tea that had tea leaves floating around in it.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed a strainer built into the top of the cup, keeping the loose tea leaves out of their mouths. This struck me as brilliant; not only could you carry your tea with you, as the cup had a lid, but you could easily enjoy loose leaf tea, which is almost always far superior in taste and quality to a tea bag.

Naturally, I asked my coworkers where they got these cups. When I learned they are sold all over the place, I immediately went to a nearby department store and purchased one for myself. I also questioned them about different varieties of tea and picked up a large bag of loose leaf green tea at the same time.

The next morning, I put some tea leaves in my new cup and filled it with hot water. I had never bothered to make myself tea in the morning before, since I never really had enough time to drink it, but now I could just take it with me on the bus and sip it on the way to work.

Throughout the day at work, whenever I finished a cup of tea, I would simply sprinkle a few more dry leaves onto the wet ones still in the bottom and make a new cup. I took the cup home after work and had more tea at home. At night, after my last cup, I would dump the leaves in the toilet and wash out the cup.

Since that day, I have been drinking tea like this just about every day. I drink it all day long, since it really takes very little effort to heat up some water and sprinkle some leaves in the cup. And while the tea is more expensive than tap water, even expensive teas are cheaper than any other kind of drink, including bottled water.

That becomes even more true, when you consider that this method of drinking tea does not require expensive teas. Higher quality teas need to be brewed in a certain way to get the most out of them. Brewing them in a cup like this is not really ideal, so you can use cheaper leaves and still get the same taste. That said, some quality teas, notably Chinese green teas like Longjing (Dragon Well Tea), are actually best brewed in this fashion.

As I bought my cup in China, I don't really have a recommendation, but a Google search for "travel tea cup" brought up a few options. I'm sure you can find one on Amazon.com as well. So, get yourself a cup like this as soon as you can and start drinking tea all day, every day. Your body will thank you.

A History of Chai Tea As a Coffee Alternative

Since antiquity, tea in various forms has been used as a medicinal product from China to South Asia. The British were entranced by it; the world came to love it. Tea is one of the oldest and most common beverages worldwide.

In India and Asia, however, a very special tradition sprang up: chai masala, or chai tea, as it has come to be known. This widely varied but universally delightful spiced tea has spread in usage and popularity from the shores of India to your teacup; today, David Rio offers the very latest in a long tradition of excellence in taste and quality.

Dedicated to the ancient practices of mixing the finest and most aromatic spices with classic black tea, David Rio Tiger Spice Chai has reached beyond its Asian-Indian heritage to offer a truly North American experience.

While more popular among certain cultures for obvious reasons, chai tea is slowly developing a loyal following in western Canada and spreading. Specialty coffee and tea shops offer the unique experience of a chai beverage to customers who then go looking for it to consume at home.

Integrating premium spices from cinnamon to cardamom, and also including clove, David Rio Tiger Spice Chai blends the flavors of the old world with the preferences of the new.

Many choose chai as an alternative to coffee. With its powerful flavor and rich body, it's no wonder coffee has found competition! There's nothing quite like waking up to the heady scent of aromatic spices in the morning, freshly brewed in your own home.

Available as a box set of 12 single-serve packets, a 14oz canister, and the 4lb bag, there's a format for every kind of tea-drinker. Whether you're the dedicated aficionado or just ready to experiment, accommodation is a breeze. You may just find that your morning coffee becomes a morning chai.

Just look at the advantage in price. The 4lb bag is sold for only $36.45, and provides 51 servings. That's less than $0.75 a cup! And how much would you be paying for a chai at your local cafe? Often, it will be more than $3.00 for a product that may not even compare in quality to the David Rio Tiger Spice Chai.

Don't wait another minute: treat yourself today to the affordable luxury of delicious chai teas. Steeped in tradition, cultivated for modern tastes, chai is a gift the world can't do without.

Scott T. James is a supplier to Cafes across Canada. With David Rio Chai, making professional-quality Chai lattes or regular Chais is simple. Traditionally only sold to Cafes, premium tiger spice chai tea is now available to people all across Canada!

Food and Drink: Tea

Food and Drink: Tea