Ever since a mob of irate American colonists threw a few tons of British tea into Boston harbor, Americans have shown a distinct preference for Juan Valdez over King George. Coffee has always been the beverage of choice of the cussedly independent colonists in America, unlike the colonists in Canada, Australia, and even Kenya, where coffee is grown in the Ngong Hills. In poems, songs and novels, a cuppa joe has been romantized into a lonely American iconography. Jack Kerouac didn't take tea at four, he drank strong coffee until-four in the morning. The drinking of tea was for the intellectuals, the effetes. It was for Oscar Wilde, not the Wild Bunch. Coffee diners, tea rooms. Sam Spade, little old ladies. One macho, one prissy.
Then Starbucks and Frazier Crane and the crowd in Seattle and the Friends at Central Perk in the Village started giving coffee a cache that took it out of the nicotine stained hands of film noire detectives and into the-well, effete-manicured hands of Yuppies. A Starbucks appeared on every corner in Manhattan and Boston and a cuppa joe became hazelnut caffe latte with cinnamon. Sam Spade rolled over in his grave and the little old lady in the tearoom did not feel quite so prissy in comparison. Then the men from down under, the rowdy Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Simon Baker, revealed they bloody well liked their cuppa tea. And if you do not like it, well, they will just punch your lights out.
So now the melding of the iconography begins. It is not so prissy to drink tea after all if Russell Crowe does it. And the Chinese and Japanese way of dining became American mainstream. No coffee in the sushi bars. Green tea. Those of us who hailed from the British Isles always loved our strong English or Irish breakfast tea with some cream poured in. But now the Orientals have gotten us into drinking green tea. It is the skim milk of tea. A bit weak on flavor. The Indians have brought us their chai. Stronger, it is the coffee of tea. And we Americans, us cuppa joe blokes, are taking our tea and liking it.
And it is a dang good thing. Scientific studies are releasing new headlines every day to show that tea is right up there with aspirin as a miracle remedy for what ails us:
Drinking at least two cups of tea a day may dramatically reduce a person's chances of dying following a heart attack. - American Medical Association Journal.
Protective Effect of Green Tea on the Risks of Chronic Gastritis and Stomach Cancer.
How Green Tea May Fight Inflammation.
Green Tea polyphenols inbibit human vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation stimulated by native LDL.
Tea drinking may strengthen bones - Archives of Internal Medicine.
Tea and Oral Health.
The simple and sublime act of drinking a couple cups of tea a day or drinking iced tea may be the smartest thing we can do to stay healthy. From heart disease to cancer to gums, to, even, bad breath, tea may be the answer, if we are to believe all the studies on the subject being released daily, some sanctioned by the AMA and NIH.
A study at the Harvard Medical School showed that of heart attack victims who drank about 19 cups a week, they were 44 percent less likely than nondrinkers to die three to four years afterwards, according to an article that appeared in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. Even moderate tea drinkers, those who drank less than two cups a day, had a 28 percent lower death rate.
Researchers believe it is the flavenoids - antioxidants found naturally in various foods derived from plants - that are protecting the heart by relaxing the blood vessels so blood can flow more easily. There is also evidence that flavenoids may prevent LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol, from becoming really bad cholesterol and clumping up. The physician who led the study said there seem to be no downsides for the heart from tea drinking, even the caffeine factor being innocuous. While this researcher, Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, believes there is no difference in the effects of green or black tea, chemically identical, herbal teas, which is not really "tea", would have no beneficial effect.
Just a week after the above study was released, a new study showed significant bone benefits occurring in people who averaged about two cups of tea a day-black, green or oolong-for at least six years, according to a Taiwan study published this month in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The flouride and chemical compounds known as flavenoids, which contain estrogen-like plant derivatives, may both enhance bone strength.
The British Tea Health Internet research site suggests that studies show that long-term green tea drinking protects against stomach cancer and chronic gastritis. Gastritis may predispose certain segments of the population to stomach cancer or pre-malignant lesions.
The inflammation of colitis and arthritis may be ameliorated by tea drinking, particularly green tea which has an anti-inflammatory effect as a result of the polyphenols, particularly EGCG, which inhibits the expression of interleukin-8 gene-a key. "This compound can short circuit the cascade that leads to inflammation.", said Dr. Hector Wong of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Wong remarked that green tea is thought to play a role in fighting cancer and heart disease.
University Hospital Zurich reports that green tea constituents and antioxidants may exert vascular protection by inhibiting human vascular smooth muscle cell growth associated with hypercholesterolemia.
Studies in the UK have suggested that tea may be an effective decay preventive dentifrice. Same as Crest, because of the fluoride, which the tea extracts from the soil and accumulates in its leaves, tea drinkers have fewer cavities. The tannic acid in tea inhibits the growth of S. mutans bacteria, a major factor in the buildup of dental plaque. The catechin, caffeine and tocopherol in tea have been shown to be effective in increasing the acid resistance of tooth enamel, as part of preventive measures for dental erosion. The anti-inflammatory aspects described above also prevent gum disease. Drinking tea without sugar may be one of the best things you can do for your smile, which may be why many Asians brush their teeth with green tea.
MedExpress physicians generally do not recommend caffeinated beverages for their patients, however a cup of regular tea has about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee, about four milligrams and considerably less, 60 percent, than a cup of brewed coffee. Caffeine is implicated in hypertension, which in turn affects heart vessels. Most teas are available de-caffeinated.
An interesting case of tea drinkers' woe was reported in the British journal Lancet. A 44-year old Austrian man, a longtime black tea drinker, switched to Earl Grey. Earl Grey is a combination of three different teas and bergamot oil (an essential fragrant oil derived from the rind of the citrusy fruit of the bergamot tree), which is added for scent, but is known to cause side effects if drunk in large quantities. This Austrian gentleman was in the habit of drinking a gallon of tea a day; he found after the switch to Earl Grey, he began having muscle cramps which spread from one foot to the other and into his hands and then was joined by numbness in all limbs and blurred vision. Noting the change might have been associated with the switch, the gentleman switched back, and the symptoms disappeared within a week. According to Lancet, it appears that the bergamot interfered with the absorption of potassium, which plays an important role in the working of the nervous system.
So on the off chance that some brute calls you prissy for having a cup of tea, tell him you will outlive him - or get Russell Crowe to beat him up.
But what about Starbucks? Americans will never give up their cuppa Joe, especially now that it comes expressed through a fancy machine and has cinnamon and hazelnut and all those goodies with latte in it. But that may serve as a model for a tea café chain planned by an entrepreneur. So watch those urban corners for the tea rooms to come.
Black, Oolong, Green, White.
What's the dif?
They all come from the leaves of the same plant, Camellia sinensis. They look and taste different because of the way they are processed.
White tea-steamed and dried.
Green tea - also but at a higher temperature
Oolong - partially fermented (also called red tea), it is mild.
Black tea - fully fermented.
All are effective health boosters but white tea, which we seldom see, may be the best of all. It has a milder, sweeter taste than green tea.
There are an infinite variety of real teas - from India, Sri Lanka and China. Some strong, like India's assam, so strong it should be served with milk; China Black is also a strong tea. The most elegant of teas is the Indian darjeeling black, favored by coinneuseurs. Chai may be the closest to the Starbucks concept of coffee. It is mixed with milk and spices and is a very old tea, also drunk in the Middle East. Many teas have flavorings added like fruits, flowers and spices like lemon, jasmine, orange and cloves, cinnamon, etc. If you have ever been given by a Chinese national a metal box filled with what looks like little pale green BBs, it is gunpowder, the best quality Chinese tea, the leaves tightly rolled. When you add hot water, they unfurl to steep. Lapsang souchong is a light black tea from China that is flavored with wood smoke. So you can envision the tea room entrepreneur naming all these teas a la Starbucks. They are all delightful in different ways. The Starbucks of tea should have a very extensive menu.
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