It all started during a visit to Nova Scotia a few years ago, when my husband and I enjoyed a Crème Earl Grey tea at a bed and breakfast.
We were amazed at how rich it tasted. We quickly learned the store-bought teabags we had grown accustomed to were made of the lowest grade of broken down tea leaves. Loose tea, on the other hand, goes through a different process.
A Smart Way To Energize Your Tea
The main difference between loose teas and bagged teas is the size of the leaves. That's what affects the resulting cup of tea. Tea leaves contain essential oils, which are the basis for the delightful flavor of tea. When the tea leaves are broken up, those oils can evaporate leaving you with a tasteless tea. Typical tea bags are filled with the tiniest pieces of broken leaves, called fannings. Loose teas are typically whole leaves or at least large pieces of leaves.
If you rip open your tea bags and compare its contents to loose tea you can actually see the difference. But when you steep it, you can taste the difference and quality too. We were hooked. So we decided to learn more and share its benefits with others. Thus, Steeped Tea was born.
Most people are aware of the benefits of common teas like Green Tea. However, Oolong Tea and Matcha, have much greater health benefits and taste just as good, if not better.
Green Tea as most people know contain catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant which has been proven to help prevent and sometimes treat:
cancer
rheumatoid arthritis
high cholesterol levels
cariovascular disease
infection
impaired immune function
It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. Not only good for your health, but it is also great for your teeth and gums, just ask my dentist!
Your Afternoon Tea Can Be A Life Saver
Oolong Tea can help burn fat (who wouldn’t like that!), reduce cholesterol built-up in the bloodstream, prevent heart ailments, and treat digestive disorders. It improves cognitive functioning and mental well-being and gives you a healthy radiant glow. Matcha is a vibrant green powdered tea often used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies and made from the leaves of shade grown tea trees. Matcha can be enjoyed in everything from smoothies to cupcakes and of course tea. Because the consumer is using the whole leaf, not an infusion of a leaf, the health benefits increase dramatically.
Matcha has: 10X the nutrients of regular green tea, 8X the beta carotene of spinach, 70X the antioxidants of orange juice.
Matcha has one of the highest natural antioxidant levels of any food on the planet!!
I enjoy making myself a Matcha smoothie every morning for breakfast. It’s an incredibly healthy, filling and yummy way to start my day. Here’s how I do it. I use my incredible Magic Bullet, add a few ice cubes, any milk of your choice (I use vanilla soy milk), ½ banana, 1 tsp honey and 1 tsp of Matcha. You can also add some protein powder for an additional boost. Blend it all up and enjoy this healthy breakfast.
Rooibos is another up and coming tea that is full of antioxidants. In fact it has all the same antioxidants as green tea but without the caffeine. This is perfect for moms-to-be or moms who are nursing. Rooibos comes in some amazing flavours like Crème Carmello, Chai, Lemon Drop, Orange Burst and Pina Colada to name a few. The Roobios Pina Colada is great as an iced tea in the summer. Just add some chopped up pineapple with the juice, ice cubes and a splash of Malibu Rum. Enjoy!
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