If you don’t consider yourself a tea drinker, now may be a good time to start. Tea shops and tea bars are appearing throughout the country, and grocery store shelves are stocked with a variety of flavors and types.

Second only to water as the world’s most popular beverage, tea has been used throughout history, not only as a warming beverage but also as medicine. It seems the ever-popular cup of joe has finally met its match.

Tea Types

What defines a true tea? It must originate from the plant Camellia sinensis. The type of tea that finally makes it to your cup is dependent on processing methods.

• Black
  This is a completely fermented tea. Withered leaves fully absorb oxygen from the air, providing black tea with its distinctive color and taste. This variety has more caffeine than other types.

   

• Green
  Fresh leaves are steamed at high temperatures. This tea is nonfermented and a popular choice in China and Japan. Recent studies on its health benefits have increased its popularity worldwide.

   

• Oolong
  This is a semifermented tea that requires precise picking and proc-essing times. The caffeine content is between that of black and green teas.

   

• White
  Still relatively rare, this tea is growing in popularity. It’s made from young buds and leaves that are steamed and dried quickly without oxidation.

Herbal “teas” are actually caffeine-free infusions of herbs and spices such as chamomile, peppermint, or cinnamon, to name a few. The increasingly popular rooibos, or red tea, comes from the dried needles of a South African redbush.

A recent study supports chamomile tea’s long history of use for relieving menstrual cramps in women as well as having calming, mildly sedative effects. Subjects who drank this herbal tea for two weeks had higher levels of an amino acid proven to relieve muscle spasms and act as a nerve relaxant. Levels of phenolics, some of which are associated with antibacterial activity, also increased during the study, perhaps explaining why the tea appears to boost the immune system’s response to infections and colds, researchers note.

A Healthy Brew

Studies have shown that virtually every type of tea offers some health benefits. Green tea has been perhaps the most widely researched. It provides greater amounts of polyphenols such as ECGC, an antioxidant that is more powerful than vitamins E and C. Phytonutrients called catechins in green tea add other benefits—they help to lower cholesterol levels and may reduce stroke rates.

While the advantages of drinking green tea have been widely reported, keep in mind that other teas may be just as healthy. Some experts surmise that black and oolong teas could have other antioxidants that compare favorably to green tea’s ECGC. A study of 1,500 individuals found that those who drank between half a cup and two and a half cups of green or oolong tea per day reduced their chances of developing high blood pressure by 46 percent compared to those who drank no tea. Subjects who drank more than two and a half cups daily saw even better results. Their risk for hypertension was reduced by 65 percent.

Lowering your risk of ovarian cancer may be as simple as drinking a few cups of tea. Recent research reports that a group of Swedish women who drank at least two cups of tea a day had 46 percent less risk of developing this cancer than those who drank no tea. Interestingly, most of the tea consumed was black.

The reason tea is so beneficial? Studies suggest that tea’s powerful antioxidants may help repair and even prevent DNA damage, which can lead to cancer. In other words, keep on sipping.

How To Brew

1. Pour boiling water into a teapot to preheat it. Discard the water.
2. For each cup of tea you wish to brew, add 1 teaspoon of loose tea or 1 tea bag.
3. Pour freshly boiled water over the loose tea or tea bag. The water should be 210° when brewing black tea, near boiling (212°) for herbal, and 180° to 185° for green.
4. For black and herbal varieties, let the tea steep for 5 minutes. Green tea should steep for 3 minutes.
5. Pour steeped tea into a cup and enjoy! (Pour through a strainer if you used loose tea.)