Wednesday TeaDay 11/04/09 Healthy beverage?

[funkmaster nice]

Eh not really for the health benefit. I enjoy the light taste. I like to think that drinking tea with all its antioxidants cancel out all the free radicals I get from pipe smoking. haha fat chance!

[Chip]

Quiet TD it seems.

Great TD, Matcha from Zencha was next in a ShyRabbit Chawan. Love the fruity aroma of the powder in the warmed chawan!
Next up was Hatsumi from O-Cha in Deishi Biwa Hagi with DW.
Yeah, a great TD.

[Janine]

Most often, when choosing tea in the morning, I try just to pay attention to whatever I feel like drinking as I peruse my shelves of tea.

But the concerns about health always manage to creep in somehow. I think about why I feel like drinking a certain tea. I just got over some awful cold that the whole world seems to be getting: it's been nearly three weeks of symptoms and I'm still not completely finished with them (coughing, congestion, etc.). These days I'm back to red teas (that's black teas in the Western sense), but for awhile I was strictly on herbals that eased my throat.

Now I can feel the potency of Yunan hongcha restoring me. And I'm sure the needed warmth has something to do with my choice (which for me was a standard before the cold for many months anyway)... I'm certain my choice for red teas has to do with the state of my health and various changes as I get older. The warming teas have become better for me. Somehow I just don't think you can escape health considerations whether we are speaking of any kind of food, including tea. Besides, I drink Chinese teas (and Western herbals) and in a very Chinese orientation - not to stereotype - every food is some kind of medicine.

Today I dug out a stored bag of Queens Red, a tea from The Tea Gallery, which looks remarkably like a Yunan red I've been drinking from Cha Ma Gu Dao. It's a little mellower than it was, and still has that wonderful rich quality of a great Yunan tea, plus an absolutely gorgeous red color, very clear and perfect for fall.

[tea fish]

Yes I'd say that the well-being that tea creates in my life counts as a "health benefit." Not because it'll ward off cancer or whatever but because it soothes the nerves and that's got to count for something in the long run.

Earlier today I had some Dayuling (thanks Victoria!) and was reminded how good lighter greens can be. My wuyi mania appears to abating a bit...

[Victoria]

Not really important to me. If there are some health benefits that's a plus.
Tried the Korakundha FOP in the Lochan tasting today.