Why is Tea So Good For Us ?

Why is Tea So Good For Us ?

Want to know the the relationship between tea and Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, Caffeine ?

Does Catechins in tea helps to reduce body fat ?

Do all teas offer the same benefits ?

Does milk in tea affect the benefits ?

What's inside Tea ?

According to the feature article from TEA&COFFEE ASIA, the good news about tea's health benefits is beginning to push up sales. But what is it in tea that makes it such a potent brew? The writer wrote a good well researched summary of "Why is Tea So Good For Us ?"

To find out the answers to the above questions and many more, please visit Why is Tea So Good For Us ? - Teacoffeeasia.com

Original Wu Long Tea ! You mean the rest are Fake ?

Original Wu Long Tea ! You mean the rest are Fake ?

I believe some of you have come across some online Wu Long Tea merchants claiming only their Wu Long Tea is the only original. I nearly fell off my chair the first time i see it ! How can someone claim to own the original Wu Long Tea when in fact Wu Long Tea is just a name for a type of Chinese Tea Category Classification similar to Green Tea, White Tea, Black Tea etc ! As long as the processing method is the same and the fermentation level is 40%-50%, that's a Wu Long Tea already. No one owns the Real Wu Long Tea because they are all real unless they are in fact a Green Tea, White Tea or Yellow Tea etc. Do read up more on what Wu Long Tea is about and do not 100% trust what you see on the online tea merchant site. Verify the facts with other Tea sites.

How to Choose a Good Wu Long Tea ?

How to Choose a Good Wu Long Tea ?

Before you made any purchases of Wu Long Tea, you need to find out the following from your suppliers:

1) The Type/Grade of Wu Long Tea

Wu Long Tea is just a name for a type of Chinese Tea Category Classification similar to Green Tea, White Tea, Black Tea etc. For Wu Long Tea, its fermentation is around 40%-50% compared to the 0%-10% of green tea and 10%-20% of white tea. Within Wu Long Tea category itself, there are various grades depending of the source,location and harvest season of the tea which i will cover in the next section below. Common type of Wu Long Tea found are the Ti Kuan Yin (Tie Guan Yin) which is the best grade of Wu Long Tea, Dong Ding Wu Long (Tong Ting Wu Long) from Taiwan (commonly known as Formosa Tea) and Wuyi Cliff Tea (Wuyi Rock Tea) from the Wuyi Mountain in China. Those Wu Long Tea outside these grades are those of normal quality and are only known as Wu Long Tea just because they undergo the same processing method (same fermentation level). So be careful which type of Wu Long Tea is the one you actually buying.

2) Source, location and harvest season of the tea

Wu Long Tea is mostly found in Fujian,China and Taiwan (Formosa). As there are many tea farms in those area, the quality of land, altitude (height of tea farm in the mountain) and harvest seasons will affect the quality and taste of the Wu Long Tea. Personally, my favorite is Ti kuan Yin, as i love its smooth after taste effects, followed by Wuyi Cliff Tea and Dong Ding Wu Long. It is difficult for me to describe the taste for each type of Wu Long Tea for you and the best way to choose it, is by trying it out yourself and see if you love its taste. Tea is not medicine. One should appreciate it and drink it as a form of lifestyle and enjoy the process of drinking it.

3) Is there any proof that the tea's pesticide content is within allowable level ?

One of the most common problem in Wu Long Tea is the high pesticides content especially from China. Locally in Singapore, our government is very strict with tea merchants importing tea. Every batch of tea imported must be lab tested for pesticides content. Any batch that failed the lab test will be destroyed. Therefore, i am quite confident of the tea i obtain locally. For US , i believe as long your FDA approved the product for sale in US, it should be all right. Try not to purchase directly from China. I have yet to find any online tea merchant displaying any lab test report for their tea. You might be interested to ask them to email one to you if available.

How to Prepare a Cold Wu Long Tea ?

How to Prepare a Cold Wu Long Tea ?

Add 1-2 teaspoons of loose Wu Long Tea to your teapot or cup.

Add about 250-300ml (8.4-10.1 ounce) boiling water at 100 °C (212 °F) to the pot.

Let the tea leaves seep in the teapot/cup for 3-5 minutes depending on how much concentration you like your tea to be.

Add Ice to cool the tea down or put in the fridge to cool it.

Once it is chilled, the Wu Long Tea is ready to be served. (Simple ?)

Correct Method to brew Good Wu Long Tea ?

Correct Method to brew Good Wu Long Tea ?

Add 1-2 teaspoons of loose Wu Long Tea to your teapot or cup.


Add about 250-300ml (8.4-10.1 ounce) boiling water at 100 °C (212 °F) to the pot.

Let the tea leaves seep in the teapot/cup for 3-5 minutes depending on how much concentration you like your tea to be.

The Wu Long Tea is ready to be served. (Simple ?)

After finishing the Tea, you can still add more boiling water to the teapot to brew the 2nd time. (Allow longer seeping time of additional 1 minute)

Usually you can consume up to 3-4 times of that pot of Wu Long Tea until there is no longer any tea taste in the liquid.

Do Slimming Wu Long Tea Really Work

Do Slimming Wu Long Tea Really Work ?

Various Research has been conducted in both China and Japan with regards to the effectiveness of using Wu Long Tea to control Obesity.

What i found from the internet :

From www.oolongtea.org, it states that the presence of Polyphenol in Wu Long Tea is effective in controlling obesity by activating the enzyme that is responsible for dissolving triglyceride (sugar and fat are synthesized into triglyceride in the liver and the small intestine when we consume food). From its clinical tests, it was confirmed that the continuous intake of Wu Long Tea promotes the function of fat metabolism and contributes to controlling obesity.

From DRAGONWATER TEA BLOG, according to a research conducted by the Japanese medical field, it was concluded that the level of polymerized poly-phenols was found to be higher in Wu Long tea when compared to green tea and that is loosely associated with the weight loss results found by the researchers. Wu Long Tea appeared to increase energy expenditure by 10%, Green Tea by 4% while water 0%. This means that you burn more fat when you drink Wu Long or Green tea after a meal. See reference for more details :

"Oolong tea increases energy metabolism in Japanese females", The Journal of Investigative Medicine, p170, Tatsushi Komatsu, Masayo Nakamori, Keiko Komatsu, Kazuaki Hosoda, Mariko Okamura, Kenji Toyama, Yoshiyuki Ishikura, Tohru Sakai, Daisuke Kunii and Shigeru Yamamoto

From my own personal experience as well as from friends drinking Wu Long Tea, I found that some friends were able to achieve weight control through regular drinking of Wu Long Tea especially after heavy meals. But there are also others that have no effects on them. For myself, I am not fat and i love to drink Wu Long Tea. I am not getting any fatter too with my usual diet of oily stuff and fast food.

So, my conclusion is that Wu Long Tea may helps some people in achieving weight control. But it will depend on other factors too. There is NO 100% guarantees. If you find those merchant trying to sell you Wu Long Tea with 100% guarantee. Dump them. There is no truth in it. To know the answer, you got to buy one yourself to try it yourself. But remember to buy those without any additional additives other than natural Wu Long Tea leaves. So Slimming tea has extra chemicals or additives that are known to cause some side effects. So Remember to buy with care. I usually shop for my tea online at only NaturaWorks.com (a Singapore firm that is known for their quality tea) and TeafromTaiwan.com (Famous for their Taiwan Tea)
Anyway there is no harm in trying Wu Long Tea (Just be careful whom you buy from) as it is after all a healthy drink with a long history in China. I just love it.

Is Wu Long Tea the Same as Oolong Tea ?

Is Wu Long Tea the Same as Oolong Tea ?

Yes.

The term Wu Long is actually the Han Yu Pin Yin term for Oolong (烏龍) in Chinese. The actual Han Yu Pin Yin term should be wū lóng with the symbols indicating how to pronounce the term correctly in Chinese. Han Yu Pin Yin terms are commonly used in countries to teach Chinese like Singapore, Malaysia, China and Taiwan.