Kangoo Cardio
I have always infused my water bottles with a couple Green Tea Bags (generally I used Ito En Japanese Green tea) but recently added Oolong to the mix for the extra flavor and color change. I found these facts online.
I have actually been using Twinings Brand (stumbled onto a couple of great flavors for cold-brewed tea); and I am sure the quality is as good.
Although widely consumed by the Chinese and Japanese people in the Far East, the mention of oolong tea often intrigues my Westerners friends.
Want to lose weight fast?
This tea has a huge reputation for promoting weight loss, a benefit touted even in advanced tea drinking nations such as China and Japan. But if you are thinking just about weight loss, you are in the wrong place. Oolong tea is not just a slimming tea! Its ONE outstanding quality is its aroma, as it contains the highest concentration of essential oils of any tea types.
What Is Oxidation?
All teas come from the tea plant Camellia sinensis, but they are processed differently to make different teas. Just like apples turn brown when they are exposed to oxygen, tea leaves go through the same process when they come into contact with oxygen. Green tea is green is because they are unoxidised. Black tea (most likely the tea you drink daily) is black because it is fully oxidised.
In between the two – you have oolong tea – which undergoes the most complex making process mastered only by the Chinese makers. Depending on the variety, it can range from 10% to 70% oxidised.
Five Key Facts Everyone Should Know
Oo means Black. Long means Dragon. So the word oolong means Black Dragon.
How does this tea compare to its famous cousin green tea? Green tea has more proven health benefits, partly because it is more extensively studied. However, with its stronger fragrance and aftertaste, oolong tea has a larger spectrum of tastes and flavours than green tea. If you are only just beginning to discover tea, you may find it easier to appreciate.
Any Health Benefits? It has been found to promote heart health by reducing triglycerides, cholesterols and atherosclerosis. It is also good for people suffering from eczema, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Any Side Effects? Like black tea and green tea, it is a healthy beverage. But like any other tea, it does have some side effects. The best way to avoid side effects? Buy a high quality tea from a knowledgeable seller.
How About Caffeine? It has slightly less caffeine than a high grade green tea or a black tea. However, it may also contain less theanine (a calming relaxant) than a high grade green.
How many cups of tea should you drink daily? As a rule of thumb, tea contains half the amount of caffeine found in coffee. The UK Tea Council recommends drinking not more than 6 cups of tea or 300 milligrams of caffeine a day as being safe for most people.
Re-posted from http://www.amazing-green-tea.com
SEE THE UPDATE – DATED September 5, 2009 for Caution during preparation of Sun Tea! Share this with a friend via email: eMail
Thanks Jason! I appreciate your comment and insight.
[...] Continued here: Oolong Tea | Gina Jackson Personal Fitness [...]
UPDATE to COLD Brewed Tea – Caution in Preparation
Just got back from two days of sun with a pitcher of cold brewed tea to notice some “glop” in the bottom of the container. Turns out to be bacteria….either from the water or the tea….a Google search for the terms “residue from sun tea” revealed the following:
Claim: “Sun tea” (tea brewed by being left to steep in sunlight) can harbor dangerous bacteria.
Status: True.
I heard that making sun tea (putting tea bags in a container of water and putting the container outdoors in the sun) can be poisonous because the water needs to be boiled. True or not?
Origins: As the weather warms up, people look for ways to cool off. One of the methods habitually resorted to is making alterations in their choices of beverage, with most folks tending to reduce their
intake of hot drinks in favor of chilled or room temperature potables. (Which is not to say that choice is necessarily right — there is a school of thought that advocates beating the heat with hot beverages rather than cold.)
Sales of iced tea and sodas can be counted upon to increase in the summer. So too does interest in “sun tea” grow as the mercury rises, prompting folks to look for less costly hot weather replacements for their more usual coffee and tea. Sodas and juices are expensive, after all, and there is only so much water one can drink without becoming heartily sick of it. At first glance, sun tea appears a viable and healthful alternative, harnessing as it does the energy of the sun to produce a zero-calorie drink one would presume contains all the benefits of tea brewed in the more usual fashion.
Yet therein lies the rub. Tea made by placing loose or bagged tea leaves in glass jars of water which are then left in direct sunlight can harbor bacteria that can make you ill.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, using the sun’s rays to make tea can facilitate the growth of bacteria. Tea steeped in a jar on your porch won’t get any hotter than 130° Fahrenheit, about the temperature of a really hot bath and not nearly hot enough to kill nasties lurking either in the water or on the tea itself. For that, water needs to be heated to 195° for three to five minutes.
Alcaligenes viscolactis, a bacteria commonly found in water, consequently turns up in sun tea. While the caffeine in black tea will help prevent that microbe from flourishing for a few hours, its effects won’t last beyond that. Herbal teas are an even worse bet for brewing in sunlight because they tend to lack caffeine, which means even that barrier to Alcaligenes viscolactis turning your summertime drink into its own breeding ground is missing.
Better to brew tea the more usual way with boiling water than to risk giving up any of your summer to illness caused by what you drank.
The following rules have been recommended for those who brew sun tea:
* Use a container that has been scrubbed in warm, soapy water. As an additional precaution, dip the container in a bleach solution made with 1-1/2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water.
* If the container has a spigot, clean it carefully after each use, preferably by taking it apart. If you can’t clean inside the spigot, don’t brew sun tea in that vessel — find yourself something else to use.
* Do not leave tea to brew in the sunlight for more than three to four hours.
* Do not prepare more tea than you plan to use that day.
* Refrigerate the drink as soon as it is ready and keep it refrigerated.
* Discard tea if it appears thick or syrupy. Those ropy strands are bacteria.
A safer alternative to “sun tea” is “refrigerator tea.” To make it, fill a pitcher with a quart of cold water, add four to six tea bags, and refrigerate it at least six hours or overnight. Squeeze and remove the tea bags, and serve the tea over ice.
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/suntea.asp
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson. This material may not be reproduced without permission.
snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.
Sources:
Fantasia, Ruth. “Sun Tea a Steep Safety Risk.” The [Albany] Times Union. 14 June 2001 (Food; p. 1).
Stith, Barbara. “If You Must Make Sun Tea, Follow These Safety Steps.” The [Syracuse] Post-Standard. 28 June 2000 (p. C8).
Swiger, Gwen. “Ask Betty.” Chattanooga Free Press. 9 June 1998 (p. D2).
Toroian, Diane. “Brew-Hoo: Sun Tea May Harbor Bacteria.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 29 May 2002 (p. 4).
Thanks for sharing such useful information. I like this site. I will visit it in future.
Well I am using Oolong tea. I like its taste, delicious.
Green tea and green tea extracts contain caffeine. Caffeine can cause insomnia, anxiety, irritability, upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea, acneeor frequent urination in some people.Green tea contains small amounts of vitamin K, which can make anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin, less effective.
Green tea and green tea extracts contain caffeine. Caffeine can cause insomnia, anxiety, irritability, upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea, acneeor frequent urination in some people.Green tea contains small amounts of vitamin K, which can make anticoagulant drugs, such as warfarin, less effective.
Yes, Oolong does have benefits other teas don’t have as much of, like weight loss help. However, all teas are similar in their health benefits with just mild variations. Either choose the tea you like to drink so you can commit to doing it or, if you want the best of what it does to heal you, switch off between the different kinds of tea each day.