Tea For Dummies 9781119986256, 9781119986270, 9781119986263, 1119986257
Soothe the body, mind, spirit, and senses―with tea Tea For Dummies is your guide to enjoying the delicate flavors and h
198 68 39MB
English Pages 336 [339]
Table of contents :
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started with Tea
Chapter 1 It’s Time for Tea
Understanding the Popularity of Tea
Meeting tea drinkers the world over
Seeing why tea is so popular
Discovering some benefits of tea
Begin Your Tea Journey Here
Tea knows no age
Teas to try first
Where to buy your tea
How much tea to buy
Storing your tea leaves
Chapter 2 Tea for You, Tea for Me
Brewing the Perfect Cup of Tea
Basic equipment
Ways to heat water
Cup or mug
Strainer
Making a cup of hot tea!
Measuring your tea leaves
Heating your water
Brewing hot tea
Making iced tea
One Lump or Two: Discovering Other Ways to Enjoy Tea
Milk and Sugar
Lemon
Tea Lattes
Carbonated
Trends and Fads
Chapter 3 From Garden to Cup
The Tea Plant, Where It All Begins
Varieties
Environment, or terroir
Gardens
Harvesting
Discovering How Leaves Become Tea
Processing steps
Types of tea produced
The Often-Confusing Terminology of Tea
The “orange” of orange pekoe
Orthodox versus CTC
SFTGFOP
The flush
Sparrow beak
Single estate
Understanding How Teas Are Flavored
Blending
Oils and extracts
Scented teas
Part 2 Talking about Different Types of Tea
Chapter 4 Black Tea
Taking a Closer Look at Black Tea
Considering the tea varieties
How black tea is made
Flavor profiles of black tea
Searching Far and Wide for Black Tea
China
Gunpowder
Keemun (qimen, qihong)
Lapsang souchong
Yunnan
India
Assam
Darjeeling
Sri Lanka: Ceylon tea
Japan
Wild-grown
Classic blends
Breakfast blends
Earl grey
Masala chai
Chapter 5 Green Tea
Taking a Closer Look at Green Tea
How green tea is made
Flavor profiles of green tea
The difference between Chinese and Japanese green teas
Looking at Chinese Green Teas
Biluochun (green snail, bi lo chun, Dongting biluochun)
Gunpowder
Huangshan maofeng (Yellow Mountain fur peak)
Jasmine and other scented teas
Lung ching (dragon well, long jing)
Palace needle (ocean green needle)
Discovering Japanese Green Teas
Bancha
Genmaicha and matcha genmaicha
Gyokuro (jade dew)
Hojicha (houjicha)
Kamairicha (tamaryokucha)
Kukicha (twig tea, stem tea)
Matcha and tencha
Sencha and Kabusecha
Finding Green Teas from Other Countries
Chapter 6 Oolong (Wulong) Tea
Taking a Closer Look at Oolong Tea
How oolong tea is made
Flavor profiles of oolong tea
Discovering the Varieties of Oolong Teas
Dan cong (guangdong, phoenix)
Dong ding (tung ting)
Dongfang meiren (oriental beauty)
High mountain
Jun chiyabari
Taifu
Tieguanyin (iron goddess of mercy, iron Buddha, ti kuan yin)
Wuyi rock tea (da hong pao)
Chapter 7 White Tea
Taking a Closer Look at White Tea
How white tea is made
Flavor profiles of white tea
Discovering the Different White Teas
China
Silver needle (baihao yinzhen)
Pai mu tan (bai mu dan, white peony)
Other white tea producers
South Indian white tea from the state of Tamil Nadu
Malawi antlers
Chapter 8 Other Teas
Exploring Fermented Teas
Pu-erh tea
Yellow tea
Getting Chilly with Frost and Frozen Teas
Nilgiri frost tea
Frozen black tea
Discovering Additional Rarities
GABA teas
Milk or milky oolong
Old tree bancha
Flowering or blooming tea
Purple tea
Chapter 9 Herbal Teas
Why Are Herbal Teas Called “Tea” When They’re Not Tea?
Herbal Does Not Mean Caffeine Free
Guayusa
Guarana
Mate (yerba mate, maté)
Herbal Teas That Won’t Keep You Up at Night
Rooibos
Honeybush (mountain tea, cape tea)
Fruit teas
Ayurvedic teas
All the rest
Flowers
Spices
Seeds
Leaves
Chapter 10 Drinking Tea Like an Expert
Tasting — By the Experts
Tea professionals
Words the experts use
How experts taste tea
Examine the leaf
Brew the tea
Smell the tea and leaves
Taste the tea
Describe the tea
Tasting — And Figuring Out How to Describe What You Taste
It’s simple: Look, smell, and taste
Coming up with the (right?) words
Accessories: Going Down the Rabbit Hole
So, you want to buy a teapot
Teapot material
Teapot size
Teapot shape
Other considerations
And maybe some teacups
A note regarding aroma
Size
Material and porosity
Handle
Heat retention
Color
Convenience
Other convenient accessories
Tea tins
Tea-measuring spoons and scales
Timers
Water kettles
Infuser mugs
Strainers and brewing baskets
Coasters and tea trays
Cozies and warmers
Tea pets
Part 3 Getting Curious about Caffeine
Chapter 11 Caffeine: Tempest in a Teacup?
The Ins and Outs (or Ups and Downs) of Caffeine
Caffeine, a Stone Age drug?
What caffeine is
How caffeine works
The benefits of caffeine
The drawbacks of caffeine
The Magic of Caffeine plus L-theanine, the Calming Factor
Determining How Much Caffeine Is in Your Cup (Hint: It’s Complicated)
First, the tea plant itself
Second, how the tea is processed
Third, the caffeine-to-theanine ratio
Fourth, how you brew and drink your tea
Misconceptions and Myths about Caffeine in Tea
Caffeine is bad for you
You can avoid the caffeine by throwing out the first steep or “washing out” the caffeine
Caffeine is separate from flavor
Certain teas have less caffeine than other teas
Chapter 12 Less Is Not Always More — Decaffeinated Tea
Removing Caffeine from Tea Leaves
Decaffeinating methods
Organic solvents
Water
Carbon dioxide
Putting the caffeine to other uses
The Problems with Decaffeinating Tea
Degradation of tea leaves
Cost
Demand
Decaffeinated does not mean caffeine free
Part 4 Spilling the Tea about Health Benefits
Chapter 13 Tea and Its Powerful Antioxidants
Polyphenols and Why They Matter
Green Tea and Its Polyphenols
Black Tea, with Polyphenol Conversion
The Best Tea to Drink
The benefits of green tea
The benefits of black tea
Does it matter which tea you drink?
Chapter 14 Investigating the Health Benefits of Tea
Seeking the Truth behind Health Claims
Health benefits versus health claims
The reliability of the research
Real-world applications versus observational and laboratory studies
Analysis on the ground
Analysis in the lab
What these studies mean to you
Looking at the Potential Role of Tea in Illness and Disease
Disease
Cancer
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes
Osteoporosis
Immune system and infection
Neurological
Pain
Topical treatment
Weight control
Aging Well, with a Nod to Tea
Cognition and dementia
Motor function and muscle strength
Life span
Stay Calm and Drink Tea: Relieving Stress
Tea for Two: Enhancing Your Social Life
Chapter 15 Investigating the Health Benefits of Herbal Tea
Seeking the Truth behind Health Claims
Health benefits versus health claims
The reliability of the research
Real-world applications versus observational and laboratory studies
Bioavailability complicates things
Evaluating Common Herbal Teas
Some that show promise
Ashwagandha (winter cherry)
Blackberry leaves
Cinnamon
Cornflowers
Fireweed
Fruit
Greek mountain (shepherd’s tea, ironwort)
Guarana
Hibiscus
Honeybush (mountain tea, cape tea)
Japanese mulberry leaves
Licorice
Mate (yerba mate, maté)
Moringa
Nettle (stinging nettle)
Rooibos
Rose hips
The jury is still out
Astragalus
Barley
Cistus incanus
Chamomile
Dandelion
Echinacea
Elderberries
Ginger
Ginkgo
Ginseng (Asian ginseng)
Goldenrod
Lavender
Lemon balm
Lemongrass (lemon grass)
Milk thistle (silymarin)
Mint
Valerian
The many misconceptions around turmeric
The problem with claims about herbal blends
But if It Works for You, Then It Works
Part 5 My Cup of Tea — Around the World
Chapter 16 Exploring Tea-Producing Regions of the World
Looking at Where Tea Is Grown
Asia
China
India
Assam
Darjeeling
South India
Indonesia
Japan
Nepal
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Turkey
Vietnam
Europe
Africa
South Pacific
The Americas
United States
South America
Chapter 17 Embracing Age-Old Traditions and Ceremonies
Heading to China, Where It All Began
Tea ceremony
The gaiwan
Investigating India
Examining Tea Traditions Around the World
Japan
Korea
Britain (and the art of having tea)
The Himalayas
Morocco
Germany
Ireland
Turkey
Russia
United States
South America
Chapter 18 Insight into the Tea Industry
Looking at the Lives of Tea Workers
Living and working conditions/wages
Working in Japan, China, and India
Working on large plantations
Difficulties with medical care
The struggle of the small farmer
The dangers of chemical exposure
Reviewing Tea Certifications
Looking at Tea Purity and Quality
Purity
Quality
Developing New Cultivars
Fingerprinting Tea
Traveling from the Garden to You
Noting the Environmental Impact of Tea
Repurposing spent tea leaves
Impact of climate change
Contemplating the Future of Tea
Part 6 Let’s Have Tea — In the Kitchen, at the Bar
Chapter 19 Cooking and Baking with Tea
Tea as a Spice
Tea as a Dry Ingredient
Tea as an Infusion
Recipes: Snacks
Recipes: Mains
Recipes: Sides
Recipes: Desserts
Chapter 20 Tea and Food Pairing
Noting the Similarities to Wine
Getting Scientific: How Our Senses Come into Play
Using a tasting wheel
Thinking about the tongue
Perfectly Pairing Tea with Food
Matching tea with different foods
Putting together a menu
Chapter 21 Tea Mixology
Deconstructing Cocktails
Essential cocktail ingredients
Extraction chemistry
Extraction
Solvent
Putting Tea into Cocktails
Choosing the method
Start with the tea
Start with the cocktail
Types of tea infusions
Tea syrups
Tea-infused spirits
Tea tinctures and bitters
Recipes for Tea Syrups, Infusions, Tinctures, and Bitters
Tea Cocktail Recipes
Part 7 The Part of Tens
Chapter 22 Ten Plus Things to Do with Tea That You Don’t Like
Try to Brew It Differently
Embellish It
Chill It
Combine It with Something Else
Combine It with Something Alcoholic
Use It as a Spice
Get Crafty with It
Put It to Work Around the House
Put It to Work for You
Offer It on Social Media
Gift It
Chapter 23 More Than Ten Myths about Tea
Price Equals Quality
Rinse the Tea Leaves
You Can Wash Caffeine Out
Tea Has More Caffeine than Coffee
Never Rinse the Teapot
Experts Always Know What They’re Tasting
Green Tea Is the Healthiest
Earl Grey Origin Story
Tea Is Bitter
Tea Expires
Pinky Should Be Raised
The Brits Drink the Most Tea
Glossary
Index
EULA
