15 replies to this topic

[wannafulfill]

I drink a lot of green and white tea and I would like to start making my own to save money and to make it however I want. I am looking for advice as to:

where to order loose leaves from that are the freshest, most delicious, and presumably highest in antioxidants?
how to brew? (the reason I ask is that I have never made loose tea, only single servings with bags)

I am looking to make two large pitchers full of teas to keep in my fridge that I can drink through the day. One will be sweetened with stevia extract and some fruit, the other unsweet. I ask here because I know some of you do this. Thanks!

[lemon]

Although I advocate stevia as an alternative to sugar I don't advocate it for use in tea, and definately not in quality loose leaf.

[:o]

If you want the tea habit to become more of a lifestyle than a temporary fad I'd strongly recommend not sweetening your tea. Quality tea has a lot of subtle nuances that are fully appreciated in a tea cup that warms both your hands and spirit.

(o.k. enough of the tea snobbery...)

If you do want to make mass quantities (which I do for work). Just measure in the appropriate ratio of tea leaves to water (1 teaspoon per 6 ounces for green and 2 teaspoons per 6 ounces for white) and allow to steep for three minutes. Then use the same leaves and repeat the process for a little longer... say 5, 6 minutes or so.

Also, remember that your first steeping will have almost all the caffeine and the second pitcher will have very little (caffeine steeps out very quickly in the first 30-40 seconds or so). Use your second steeping closer to the time you go to bed.

[lemon]

...oh, and don't boil the water. You wanna target around 170 degrees which correlate to steaming and the onset of boiling. Don't cook the leaves !

[ajnast4r]

lemon, GREAT advice man...

[Pablo M]

Determination of catechins in matcha green tea by micellar electrokinetic chromatography.

Weiss DJ, Anderton CR.

Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO 80918, USA. dweiss@uccs.edu

Catechins in green tea are known to have many beneficial health properties. Recently, it has been suggested that matcha has greater potential health benefits than other green teas. Matcha is a special powdered green tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony. However, there has been no investigation to quantitate the catechin intake from matcha compared to common green teas. We have developed a rapid method of analysis of five catechins and caffeine in matcha using micellar electrokinetic chromatography. Results are presented for water and methanol extractions of matcha compared with water extraction of a popular green tea. Using a mg catechin/g of dry leaf comparison, results indicate that the concentration of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) available from drinking matcha is 137 times greater than the amount of EGCG available from China Green Tips green tea, and at least three times higher than the largest literature value for other green teas.

PMID: 14518774 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

1) Add matcha, water, lemon (heh, lemon) and sweetener of your choice. Adjust concentration to taste.
2) Drink.

[wannafulfill]

Thanks very much Lemon, I agree with you. When I make hot tea (80% of the tea I drink), I never sweeten it. When I refrigerate it and bottle it, however, I can't drink it unsweetened, it loses all its flavor.

Back to one of my questions, do people buy their leaves locally? Or are there any good online vendors?

[Pablo M]

Back to one of my questions, do people buy their leaves locally?  Or are there any good online vendors?

O-cha.com is probably one of the best. They ship from Japan in nitrogen-flushed bags to prevent the tea leaves from oxidizing. Japanese grocery stores are a good source to buy from locally, and tea shops if your city has one are also good.

One minor caveat with lemon's points: high-quality sencha shouldn't be steeped for more than 90 seconds. Makes it bitter.

[lemon]

dantecubit:

I was coming from the angle of antioxidants (while trying to balance taste and bitterness).

As an F.Y.I. O-Cha has a dedicated tea forum for anyone interested in the brewing of specific tea varieties / cultivars.

[sentrysnipe]

I don't think storing it would be a good idea. I've read somewhere in an article in ncbi that the catechins also deteriorate over time.

So take DC's advice. Matcha definitely! More suggestions:
1. Pau d'arco tea http://www.herb-care.com http://www.princetea.com
2. Kombucha tea + heating tray (cheap culturing of a probiotic source) http://www.earthcall...cha/index.shtml

[wannafulfill]

Yeah so since I made this I've gotten hooked on real, good quality matcha. I have tried o-cha and hibiki-an.com

Hibiki-an.com is much better. Their tea tastes just as good in this neophyte's opinion, costs a lot less, and they give you free shipping. I like senchas as well, but matcha is more... WHAM - green tea all up in your grill.

Now I think white tea is kind of like garbage, and I never used sweetener except in some herbal teas.

Anyone who has never had 'REAL' green tea, that is actually green in color, doesn't know what they're missing.

[wannafulfill]

dirt cheap

interesting choice of words

[lemon]

da_sense,

I'm curious. I'd like to know who makes these "dirt cheap" green tea bags that are actually grean? Neon green even?

[share]

Dear All,

I am a post graduate dental student, doing evaluation of the efficacy of green tea catechin local drug delivery in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. For this study, i require a small amount of Green Tea Extract with 95% EGCG. I would like to know if any of you know where i might be able to purchase this product. All I require is 100 grams. I am presently located in India. Thank you.


Sincerely,
Dr. Share

[icyT]

Sorry, high in antioxidants? Oy...

WHAT antioxidants? There are hundreds of kinds of antioxidants, people throw it around like its a single thing.