Going from a novice tea enthusiast to a seasoned tea connoisseur doesn't happen overnight. "Rome wasn't built in a day." First, you'd need to taste about 90% of the teas from China's six major tea categories, not to mention the various physical discomforts you might experience in the early stages of drinking tea.
In the initial stages of drinking tea, developing good habits is crucial. Those bad tea drinking habits must be resolutely avoided. (I don't tell just anyone this; it's collector's-level advice.)
Bad Habit One: Drinking Tea Immediately After Meals
Even if you are a dedicated foodie with an overstuffed stomach, it's best not to drink tea immediately after a meal! This is no joke. Tea contains a large amount of tannic acid, which can react with the iron in food to form substances that are difficult to dissolve. Drinking tea like this long-term can lead to iron deficiency in the body, even inducing anemia, resulting in constant lethargy and low spirits.
How can you, who loves beauty and style, allow such a state to occur? The editor suggests that drinking tea one hour after a meal is the best choice.
Bad Habit Two: Frequently Drinking the First Infusion
The first infusion, known in professional tea terminology as "rinsing the tea" or "awakening the tea." Rinsing not only cleans the tea leaves but also awakens the "sleeping" leaves, allowing them to unfurl, and dispels any off-flavors. Therefore, the primary purpose of the first infusion is cleansing. Considering that this water may contain impurities attached to the tea leaves, residual pesticides, and other harmful substances, it is recommended that newcomers to tea drinking consume less of the first infusion.
Bad Habit Three: Frequently Drinking Strong Tea at Night
You might often hear others say, "I drink strong tea all the time and still sleep soundly at night." Little do they know, that's something only seasoned, veteran tea drinkers can manage. As a novice tea drinker, you need to take it easy and progress slowly.
Strong tea contains a large amount of caffeine, which keeps the brain in a prolonged state of excitement. This not only makes it difficult to fall asleep but also容易导致半夜易醒, severely reducing sleep quality. So, novice tea drinkers should remember to use less tea leaves when drinking at night, don't brew it too strong, otherwise, counting stars won't save you!
Bad Habit Four: Preferring to Drink New Tea
New tea generally refers to tea that has been stored for a very short time from picking to finished product. Tea stored for less than half a month should be consumed even less. This type of tea contains relatively high levels of unoxidized polyphenols, aldehydes, alcohols, and other substances. Frequently drinking new tea can have a strong irritating effect on the gastrointestinal mucosa and can easily lead to stomach problems.
Bad Habit Five: Drinking Tea During Menstruation
Menstruation is a monthly occurrence for women. During this special period, extra care for the body is needed. Drinking tea during menstruation can easily induce or worsen premenstrual syndrome (PMS)! Research shows that people with tea-drinking habits are 2.4 times more likely to experience premenstrual tension than those who don't drink tea.
Even more seriously, drinking tea during menstruation, exceeding 4 cups a day, can increase the probability to 3 times! Therefore, the editor specifically advises these women: never drink tea during your period. Taking care of your body is entirely up to you.
Taking care of your body is a major issue. Eliminating these bad tea drinking habits can benefit you for a lifetime. If you pay enough attention to these common-sense tips and are willing to change these bad habits, wouldn't living to 99 be a beautiful thing?