To celebrate hot tea
month this year, I dragged out the infusers and the teas I “have been meaning
to try.” And put them front and center in the kitchen so that I can enjoy them
morning and night. I also took my hot pot to the office so I can
make hot tea at work. I think this will start a new and tastier
habit for me in the office as well as show off my new tea blends as I make and
test them in the weeks before I start to sell them.
So if you enjoy wrapping
your hands around a warm cup of tea, you might want to make it a habit too. And
if you need incentive, the evidence continues to mount that tea is good for
you.
Heart health is the most
notable benefit, says Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidant Research
Laboratory at Tufts University: "People who drink more tea do appear to
have less risk of heart disease, and for those who have developed some cardiac
event like a heart attack, those who are tea drinkers seem to have a lower incidence
of a second event."
Herbal teas are more
than just decaffeinated alternatives to regular black tea. In fact, they can be
very powerful & beneficial, and whether you’re looking to improve
your digestion, boost detoxification, curb your sweet tooth or if you need
a natural sleep aid – there’s an herbal tea that can help! The secret
is to buy the right tea & brew it the right way.
Tea is a bit like food
– quality matters. There is the food in its natural state and then
there’s the nicely packaged processed food, which is often void of any original
goodness. In tea language, this means that the processed teabags with dust-like
tea inside are more than likely devoid of any original aroma or nutritional
value. Meanwhile, whole leaf teas are the very best choice and well worth the
price difference. These teas have whole or slightly broken down pieces of
leaves & stems and are not bagged but instead bought as a loose tea. These
teas are full of uncompromised nutritional benefits, and aside from having a
higher content of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, they also
contain the fragile essential oils which are responsible for the
medicinal properties of herbal tea. Loose and Fresh can truly make a difference
to your health and improve your overall wellbeing. Check out the more than 25
varieties of Backyard Patch Herb Teas in our Etsy Shop.
After buying the right tea, brewing it
right is just as essential. It all goes back to the beneficial essential oils.
These oils are fragile and need to be preserved as best possible. Covering your tea while
steeping it helps preserve these oils that otherwise easily escape in the
steam, rendering the herb less effective medicinally.
Here are a few more useful brewing tips:
o Make
a whole pot of tea and use a tight lid to cover while steeping. Any tea pot
with a lid or French press tea maker is good as long as it is covered up. If you like your tea very hot get a cozy as
well. These are made by PawPrints onEtsy and are my favorite style that will fit any sizes of pot!
o Let
your tea steep for 10-15 minutes to maximize the health benefits of the herb.
o
Get a good tea cup infuser tool. The larger
the better to give the leaf room to unfurl and release minerals and oils. We have been making beaded infusers for a
year now.
o Remember that herbal teas have medicinal
properties and some of them can interact with certain medications. Check with
your health care provider before taking any new herbal teas if you are on
medication and if you are pregnant or nursing.
And finally,
if you want to enjoy our teas and tea accessories like infusers, shortbreads
and scones, use this discount code at checkout on Etsy for 20% off – TEASALE11
