What are the differences between Green and Black teas?

This is a 2 parts question. First is how are Green and Black teas compared to each other from a production stand point? Second is what and how are they different as end products? Now lets expend on them and discuss further.

Firstly, lets take a look at how Green and Black teas are produced. Green and Black teas are both produced from the same plant which is called Camellia Sinensis. The sub cultivars of each tea maybe different, but they all belong to the Camellia Sinensis family.

The oxidation process is what sets Green and Black teas apart. Green tea is very lightly oxidized (less than 1%-15%), where as Black tea is fully oxidized. The oxidation is a process which the chlorophyll in the tea leaves is enzymatically broken down. Tannins are also released during the oxidation. This oxidation process is often times referred to as "fermentation" in the tea industry.

Green and Black teas got their name from the colors of the produced tea leaves. Because most of the chlorophyll is preserved, Green tea still retain the green appearance of the plant. Black tea appear black because the chlorophyll is broken down.

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Secondly, lets look at the differences between them as final products. Although both types of tea are rich in antioxidants, Green tea is richer in antioxidants than Black tea due to a lower oxidation level.

Studies have found that Both Green and Black tea may help boosting our energy and keeping us alert. Black tea has more caffeine than Green tea. 1 g of black tea has 22 to 28 mg of caffeine, while 1 g of green tea has 11to 20 mg of caffeine. The energizing effect is why Black tea is a stable breakfast drink in many parts of the world.

Some long term studies have shown that Black tea is beneficial to our cardiovascular system. This means regular and long term consumption may help in maintaining a healthier heart.

For Green tea, researches show that the catechins and other nutrients in Green tea may help lowering the blood sugars. Drinking 2 to 3 cups of Green tea is also believe to be very beneficial in weight control.

The conclusion

In conclusion, both Green and Black tea are healthy and can be very beneficial to our health. However, in order to reap the benefits of tea, we need to establish a habit of consuming 2-3 cups of tea a day every day. So the key here is to find the teas that we love to enjoy. Because if we enjoy the experience of drinking tea, it is then very naturalto establish a long term and consistent consumption of this healthy beverage.

So if you are already a regular tea drinker, stick to your favorite teas. If you are new to tea, try different types of teas and find some that you love to enjoy! Cheers

Aged Snowbud White Tea. Click to view product.

What is White Tea

To describe very briefly, White Tea is a kind of tea that has not undergone any oxidation (fermentation) process. When infused, white tea makes a pale yellow to light amber color cup of tea with delicate, floral and fresh flavor.

Production

Take the most common white tea, White Peony (Pai Mu Tan), as an example. Tea leaves are plucked from a special varietal tea bush called Narcissus or chaicha bushes. Secondly the leaves are not steamed or pan-fired (the process used in green teas). The leaves are naturally withered and dried in the sun. If mechanical drying is required it is a baking process at temperatures less that 40’C. Thirdly only special ‘two leaves and a bud’ are selected. These leaves must show a very light green almost gray white color and be covered with velvet peach fuzz down. White teas that are withered in conditions that are too hot with become reddish and in conditions that are too cold they will become blackish.

Health Benefits

Researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute in Oregon tested white teas on selected rats to test for the ability of white teas to inhibit natural mutations in bacteria and to protect the rats from colon cancer. Interestingly, white teas were found to be more effective than green tea in inhibiting the early stages of cancer but researchers were quick to point out that their study was on rats and the effects should not be extrapolated to humans. The researchers also discovered that white tea contains higher levels of caffeine compared to green tea brewed under the same conditions. They suggested that this could occur because white tea oxidizes during withering whereas in green tea the oxidation process is stopped early in the tea making process by steaming or panfiring.

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The western cosmetic industry also has recently discovered the benefits of white tea. In addition to its anticancer properties, tea has a calming and detoxifying effect on the skin. White tea is especially potent in that it is has three times as many antioxidant polyphenols as green or black tea and has been shown to be 100% more effective in mopping up free radicals that cause skin to sag. Some of the world’s top cosmetic companies are becoming very interested in white tea for skin creams and the result is that high grade white tea is becoming even rarer than before.

Matcha is a big energy booster and is packed with nutrients such as antioxidants, fiber, amino acids and many more.

The easiest way to add Matcha to your diet is adding it your smoothies and shakes. 

For two 12 oz. servings of smoothies. We blended 4 bananas, 5 strawberries, 1 grapefruit, and 1 heaping teaspoon of Matcha green tea powder.

Below is a link to our products

 https://www.beantowntea.com/matcha-selection/

Enjoy!

There are many good reasons to drink tea. Drink tea for its good taste and to boost energy are the primary reasons why tea is the most consumed beverage in the world.  However, to the health conscious crowd, tea drinking is not only pallet pleasing but also beneficial to our health. Let's scroll on to find out why.

• Tea is very rich in Antioxidants. Tea has one of the highest contents of flavonoids among common food and beverage products. Catechins are the largest type of flavonoids in tea leaves. While many scientific researches have mixed conclusion on the effects of antioxidants, the antioxidants in tea might help protect against cancer.
• Tea energizes us with its caffeine but in a less abrupt way then coffee does. After drinking tea, the caffeine is released into our body more slowly. So the result is a gentle and longer lasting boost of energy.
• Tea could be beneficial to the cardiovascular system. Researches have showed that tea drinking may associate with a reduced risk of stroke. Research also showed that long-term tea consumption can help lower the cholesterol in our body. In short, tea might be very beneficial to our heart.
• Tea may help protect against age-related cognitive impairment/decline and dementia later in life, based on correlations found in epidemiological studies.
• Tea can help boost metabolism and exercise endurance. Scientists have found that the antioxidant rich tea might help speed up metabolism and increase our body's ability to burn fat as fuel.
• Tea could help control blood sugar. Studies suggest that tea drinking might help our body tometabolize sugar better.
• Tea can have immune boosting effects on our body. Again, because of all the antioxidants tea has, tea might be beneficial to our immune system to fight against common cold and flu.

 In conclusion, moderate long-term tea drinking could be very beneficial to our health. Let's brew some tea now. Enjoy!