Loose, Bag, or Pre-Brewed Teas – The Benefits of Each

Because tea comes in so many different forms, it can be confusing to know which type of tea is best. Tea drinkers around the world have their preference as to which tea is the best quality, is easier to brew, tastes better, or gives the most value for your money. Below are some of the different forms and types of tea which are available.

Loose Tea

Most loose teas are hand-picked and processed in produced in a specific manner using tea leaves of high-quality in order to produce the best tea. This is sometimes referred to as the artisan method. When you use loose tea, you are most likely getting the best, most robust flavor and scent which adds to the quality of the tea.

  • Preparing a Perfect Cup of Loose Tea – The steeping time for loose leaf can vary, depending upon your preference. Most teas can be steeped for between 8 -15 minutes. Steeping longer increases the strength of the tea. Care should be taken to avoid over-steeping. Teas made with Camellia sinensis or certain other herbs can be high in tannins. These tannins can make a tea bitter.
  • Loose Tea Can Offer Better Value – Buying tea in a tin or in bulk can cost more. However, in terms of economy, loose tea can offer tea drinkers not only a noticeably better tea in terms of quality, but it can also prove to be better value for the money. When using loose tea, the same leaves may be steeped multiple times for additional cups of tea. Just keep the tea in your tea ball or strainer in the fridge until the next time. You’ll get 70-90 cups of tea from each 5 oz can of Jason Winters loose leaf tea blends.
  • Environmentally Friendly – You just can’t get any more environmentally friendly than loose leaf tea! Like every other kind of leaf, the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant and other herbs found in loose teas are completely compostable. Once you are finished with them, they can be put back into the earth to enrich the soil as compost and be used in the garden.

Tea Bags

The accidental discovery of bagged tea was due in large part to a marketing scheme. It was a way for a New York tea producer, Thomas Sullivan, in the early 1900’s the ability to offer samples of new tea blends to his customers inexpensively. Sullivan put the samples in small, hand-stitched silk bags. This gave him the ability to ship new teas to his customers around the world without the added expense of putting his tea in tins. Sullivan’s customers found that even though they were supposed to remove the tea from the silk bags, it was very convenient to just leave it in the bag and brew their tea.

Over time the idea caught on. Even though Sullivan patented his idea, other tea companies around the world followed his initial idea. Over the coming decades, tea bags transitioned from silk to cotton to paper as well as changing their configuration of different shapes, sizes and ways of being mass produced into what we see on the market today.

  • Tea Bags Offer Convenience – Pre-packaged or bagged tea does have the value of being very convenient for tea drinkers. As in the past, tea bags offer a way to enjoy tea which is easily transportable and can be used anytime. Most companies offer bagged versions of their tea. Teabags give you the ability to get just the optimal amount of tea for brewing just a cup at a time. If a tea drinker wishes to have a pot of tea instead, they can simply use multiple bags to brew a pot.
  • Quality Plays a Role – Some tea companies will offer this convenience in lieu of quality. The most common complaint among tea drinkers of all times is that many commercially available bagged teas are of poorer quality than their loose leaf counterparts. The bagged tea which many consumers buy in the grocery store brews a cup of tea that few true tea connoisseurs would drink. Other companies, such as Sir Jason Winters Teas, for example, take great pride in offering teas that are equivalent to our loose leaf teas. With tea bags, you don’t need to have an infuser to clean out so it’s very convenient when you are traveling.

Pre-Brewed Teas – For tea connoisseurs who demand the fine taste which loose leaf tea is famous for, but don’t want to wait 15 minutes, pre-brewed teas can provide the perfect answer. Sir Jason Winters pre-brewed teas are ready to drink in just two minutes.

Sir Jason Winters developed a method to help tea drinkers a way to get a consistently good cup of tea in the shortest amount of time, every time they sit down for a cup of tea. He did this by extracting the three ingredients that make up the Jason Winters Formula and then spraying that over a base of Oolong tea.

This process allows tea lovers to enjoy their tea without having to expend as much effort in brewing and steeping their tea before they enjoy it. Sir Jason Winters offers the original tea which he created almost 40 years ago, as well as the Green Herbal Tea or G.H.T, Raspberry, Peach, and Cinnamon flavors.

Drinking tea offers a convenient way to potentially boost your immune system and relax you. There are lots of good reasons to choose to purchase your tea in the loose, tea bag or pre-brewed forms. Which form and flavor you choose depends solely on your own personal taste and preferences.

Why not try a little of each kind and see which one you prefer?

Resources

The Tea Bag – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_bag

“The Way of Tea” by Master Lam Kam Chuyen, Lam Kai Sin and Lam Tin Yu, 2002, Barron’s Educational Series, NY

“The Tea Box” by Giles Brochard, 2001, Barron’s Educational Series, Happauge, NY

“The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide” by Mary Lou Heiss, 2007, Ten Speed Press

“Most UK Teabags Not Fully Biodegradable” by Rebecca Smithers, July 2, 2010, The Guardian, (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jul/02/teabags-biodegradeable)

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The Benefits of Drinking Green Tea Every Day – Even Before Bedtime

There have been recent studies about the benefits of drinking green tea throughout the day. In fact, some researchers are now even extolling the benefits of drinking tea before bed. It doesn’t matter if you prefer to drink green tea hot or cold; you can enjoy it any time of the day – or night. Why is drinking green tea regularly so good for you?

The Age Defying Benefits of Green Tea

Researchers around the world have found that green tea has a number of benefits for nearly anyone of any age, but especially in adults.

  • Healthy Bones and Teeth – In addition to being one of the most effective antioxidant herbs in the world, green tea has been found to benefit both bones and teeth. Scientists in China have found that green tea has the potential to treat and potentially prevent bone diseases such as osteoporosis and some forms of osteoarthritis.It does this by helping to balance and to nourish cells known as osteoblasts. Osteoblasts help build up and strengthen bone tissue while osteoclast cells cause degeneration or degradation in teeth and bones. Patients participating in the study that revealed this were exposed to epigallocatechin or ECG. This is a major component of green tea. What the scientists found is that ECG acted as a stimulant for their bone tissue and helped to promote bone growth by as much as 80%. Such increased levels of ECG was found to be a major factor in helping to prevent the loss of bone density and could keep those who drank green tea less likely to develop bone problems when consumed regularly.Also, the antioxidant catechin found in green tea can kill bacteria in the mouth that can lead to tooth decay, gum recession, tooth loss and other dental diseases. Scientists have also established a clear link between dental disease and increased incidences of heart disease. As with strengthening the bones, green tea can also support good dental health.
  • Heart Benefits –According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 610,000 people in the United States die of the heart-related disease each year. Heart disease affects both men and women. One of the ways to potentially lessen incidents of heart disease is by consuming the heart-healthy drink of green tea.Camelia Sinensis, or the herb that makes up all green tea, contains a number of chemical constituents within it that can help widen the blood vessels and arteries and improve their overall elasticity. Researchers learned that in as little as four minutes after consuming a cup of green tea, the blood vessels could be widened by as much as 4 percent, thus potentially preventing blood clots from forming within the arteries. Studies conducted at Harvard University suggested that green tea consumed over a prolonged period of time could potentially reduce the chance of developing heart disease by as much as 44 percent.
  • Building Up the Immune System – Since its discovery in China thousands of years ago, herbalists and healers have learned many ways that green tea can benefit the body. One way is by stimulating the body’s natural defense against illness through antioxidants. These can come in the form of flavonoids, catechins, and polyphenols which help the body to throw off potential viruses, colds, or other diseases by building up the body’s own immunity. This is particularly important for the elderly and those who are often exposed to illness. Some researchers have found that consuming a cup of green tea three times a day all year long is ideal.
  • Potential Cancer Prevention – Researchers have also found that the antioxidant properties of green tea can potentially decrease some forms of cancer. These include breast, prostate, bone, colorectal, and other cancers within the body.
  • Lessening the Onset of Diabetes – Recent studies have given results which may indicate that green tea can also help regulate glucose levels by reducing the speed at which blood sugar rises after eating. This can help reduce some forms of diabetes such as Type II. Green tea can help the body to regulate bodily blood sugar levels and reducing the chance of insulin sensitivity for those who experience insulin levels that are either too high or too low.
  • Drinking Green Tea Before Bed – In spite of what you may have heard about not drinking anything with caffeine in it before calling it a night, there can be some real benefits to enjoying a cup of green tea before bedtime. Of course, there are some people who do have medical conditions who just cannot tolerate any caffeine at all. Thankfully, such conditions are usually rare.Believe it or not, the levels of caffeine found in green tea can actually help some people in achieving a more relaxed state. Warm drinks can help make you feel sleepy; however, one of the chemical constituents in green tea is the amino acid L-theanine. On its own, L-theanine found in green tea can actually help you to relax and achieve restful sleep.In fact, recent studies have shown that research subjects who drank green tea regularly before bedtime found themselves to be more alert and demonstrated greater cognitive function during the day. At the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease in 2015, the Lundbeck Foundation presented a paper which indicated that drinking green tea 1 – 6 times per week markedly reduced mental decline. Those participating in the study who consumed green tea scored higher on thinking and memory tests than those who didn’t consume green tea.
  • Other Benefits – The presence of epigallocatechin-3-gallate or EGCG in green tea also helps to further reduce free radicals in the body and can help detoxify your liver, all while you are sleeping. While almost everyone is aware of how green tea can be a great help to reduce cravings during the day and can in give a boost when you’re trying to lose weight, it can also do the same while you’re sleeping, too! Consuming a cup of green tea just before going to bed has also been shown to aid in digestion and can reduce nighttime cravings in the wee hours of the night. Also, for those who have nighttime bouts with acid reflux, green tea can also help reduce the incidents of reflux and its severity.

As you can see, there are plenty of benefits to drinking green tea every day. Is it any wonder that other than water, green tea has become the most popular drink in the world?

Resources

Brochard, Giles. “The Tea Box”, 2002, Barron’s Press, New York, N.Y

Haley, James. The Green Tea Handbook: a Natural Wonder for Weight Loss, Cancer, Heart, Bone, Oral Health, and Your Immune System – Benefits, Extracts, Recipes & More”, 2013, Kindle Edition, Amazon Digital Services.

Zak, Victoria. “20,000 Secrets of Tea”, 1999, Random House, New York, N.Y.

Centers for Disease Controlhttps://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm

https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20150403/green-tea-dementia

https://www.healtholino.com/12-benefits-of-drinking-green-tea-before-going-to-bed/

https://docksci.com/the-effect-of-green-tea-extract-on-oxidative-stress-and-spatial-learning-in-stre_59f168ead64ab2ebebfd0b59.html