The Biggest "Mistake" Modern People Make When Drinking Tea, Are You Guilty?
First, people think the more expensive the tea, the better.
"Nowadays, more and more high-priced teas not only satisfy people's demand for taste but also serve as a symbol of status," said Zhao Yingli, a renowned Chinese tea scholar. "The price of tea is determined by its quality and grade."
Quality mainly refers to the origin and tree species of the tea. "For example, everyone knows that Pu'er tea from Yunnan is good."
Grade is mainly related to the picking time and parts. The price of tender buds, one bud and one leaf, and one bud and two leaves varies significantly. Similarly, for Longjing tea, the Mingqian tea picked before Qingming Festival is the most expensive."
"Ordinary people don't need to buy high-grade tea. They can choose based on their own financial ability and taste preferences." It is suggested that choosing tea priced at 100-300 yuan per catty is more appropriate. "At this price, you can already buy tea of very good quality. It is recommended that when purchasing, people focus on quality over grade. Some high-grade teas are picked too early and too tender, while part of the tea's nutrition is actually in the stem. Some cheaper teas have better health benefits."
Second, people only drink tea but do not savor it
There are two types of tea: one is the tea of "daily necessities" (fuel, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea), and the other is the tea of "elegant arts" (music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, tea).
The first type can satisfy people's needs for "physical health," such as quenching thirst, refreshing, reducing internal heat, and aiding digestion. The second type can satisfy people's needs for "mental nourishment," such as expressing emotions, observing etiquette, and comprehending principles.
The greatest value of tea for people is to nourish the heart first and the body second. "Especially for middle-aged people who are busy with work and under high pressure, they should give themselves some time to patiently brew and savor a pot of tea. When people are irritable, they are prone to making wrong decisions. At such times, it is also advisable to slowly taste a pot of tea before making a decision."
Choose tea based on your body constitution
If you want to maintain health through drinking tea, you must have some knowledge about tea. "Each type of tea has different properties, so you must choose the one that suits you.
For example, everyone says that green tea has good antioxidant effects, but people with a cold body constitution will feel uncomfortable after drinking it." "Drinking tea also pays attention to time and place. Many people drink one type of tea all year round, which is not appropriate. In winter, it is cold, so you can drink more warm-natured tea; in spring and summer, when it is easy to get internal heat, you can drink more green tea or flower tea."
Match tea with its type
Chinese tea is divided into six major categories: green tea, black tea, yellow tea, white tea, Oolong tea, and dark tea. The six types of tea have different properties and different effects on the human body.
For example:
Green tea is cold in nature and suitable for people with a hot body constitution, strong stomach fire, and abundant energy. Green tea has good anti-radiation effects and is very suitable for people who often work in front of computers.
White tea is cool in nature, and its applicable人群 is similar to green tea. However, "aged green tea is like grass, while aged white tea is a treasure." Aged white tea has the effect of dispelling evil and strengthening the body.
Yellow tea is cold in nature, and its effects are roughly similar to green tea, except for the taste. Green tea is refreshing, while yellow tea is mellow.
Oolong tea (dark tea) is neutral in nature and suitable for the widest range of people.
Black tea is warm in nature, suitable for people with cold stomachs, cold hands and feet, weak bodies, or older people. It tastes better with milk or honey.
Dark tea (Pu'er tea) is warm in nature, can remove greasiness, detoxify meat, and lower blood lipids. After proper storage, its taste and efficacy are better.
Drink tea according to the season
Spring: Flower tea and Dancong tea
In spring, the focus is on smoothing liver qi. Aromatic substances have the effect of unblocking orifices, so you can drink more Phoenix Dancong and flower tea. However, fresh green tea is too cold in spring, so it should not be drunk too much, especially by people with cold body constitutions.
Summer: Green tea and Tieguanyin
In summer, green tea is the first choice for cooling and quenching thirst. In addition, Tieguanyin and Taiwan high-mountain tea are also good choices. People with good body constitutions can also drink raw Pu'er tea that has been stored for 3-5 years.
Autumn: Oolong tea is the best
In autumn, it is suitable to drink Oolong tea (green tea). Its nature and taste are between those of green tea and black tea, neither cold nor warm. It can both remove residual heat from the body and generate fluids to nourish yin. In autumn, it is best to drink Tieguanyin from the spring of the same year and Wuyi rock tea from the previous year.
Winter: Black tea and ripe Pu'er tea
In winter, drinking black tea can nourish yang qi and give people a warm feeling. Ripe Pu'er tea can warm the stomach, dispel cold, and help digestion.
Wrong drinking methods can damage nutrition
Speaking of the biggest "mistake" modern people make when drinking tea, using a large teacup with tea leaves soaked all day is the most undesirable. In this way, one cannot taste the true flavor of the tea, and long-term soaking can easily cause heavy metals in the tea to leach out, which is not good for health. "When drinking tea, you must separate the tea from the water. Even if you don't have professional tea sets, you can prepare a teapot or teacup with a filter."
In addition, "not washing new tea, not throwing away leftover tea dregs, and not cleaning tea scale" are also common mistakes people make when drinking tea. Whether it is young new tea or precious aged tea, there may be pesticide residues and dust mite contamination on the surface, so it is best to "rinse" the tea and discard the first infusion. Some people are reluctant to wash the tea scale off the teapot, thinking it helps to nourish the pot. In fact, tea scale is not only harmful to health but also affects the taste of the tea.
