Do you really know how to drink tea? Nowadays, more and more people are enjoying tea, but how can you drink tea in the healthiest way? How can you achieve good health benefits through tea drinking? In fact, there are many things to pay attention to when drinking tea. First, you need to consider your own physical constitution, and choose tea based on region, season, dietary habits, and age. There are many varieties of tea leaves, and it is especially important to choose the right tea for yourself among the wide selection.

 

Choosing Tea by Season:

Spring gives birth, summer grows, autumn harvests, winter stores—the same applies to the growth of tea leaves. After a winter of dormancy, tea trees sprout tender buds in spring, absorbing the essence of nature, with fewer pests and richer nutrients. Therefore, tea leaves picked before Qingming Festival are rich in water-soluble substances and have an especially fresh taste. This is why "pre-Qingming tea is as precious as gold."

Depending on the variety and processing method, tea can be warm, hot, cool, or cold in nature. Moreover, there are significant climate differences between northern and southern China, leading to different health preservation methods. Generally, the health principles in the south follow "nourish yin in spring and summer, nourish yang in autumn and winter." Hence, tea drinking varies by season.

In early spring, due to alternating cold and warm air currents, there is more rain, with weather changing between cloudy, rainy, and windy. People often find it hard to adapt to the climate changes quickly and are prone to external wind and dampness. At this time, warm-natured tea is most suitable, as it can dispel cold pathogens from the body and promote the growth of yang energy.

 

From Qingming to the end of Guyu, it is called late spring, a transition period between spring and summer. The temperature starts to become warm, so it is advisable to choose cool and light foods. During this season, it is suitable to drink slightly fermented white tea, yellow tea, and lightly fermented oolong tea, or raw Pu'er tea, which have cooling, heart-strengthening, and thirst-quenching effects.

In summer, with scorching heat and high temperatures, the body sweats a lot and consumes internal fluids. It is suitable to drink unfermented green tea. Its nature is cold, and cold can clear heat, best for reducing internal heat, promoting fluid production to quench thirst, aiding digestion, and resolving phlegm. Its taste is sweet and slightly bitter, rich in vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and other nutrients. Drinking green tea at this time is refreshing, cools and detoxifies, reduces dryness, quenches thirst, and invigorates the mind.

Autumn weather is dry, causing dry mouth, tongue, and lips, which is called "autumn dryness" in traditional Chinese medicine. At this time, it is suitable to drink oolong tea. Oolong tea, also known as Wulong tea, is a semi-fermented tea, falling between green and black tea. It has the fresh aroma of green tea and natural floral notes, as well as the mellow taste of black tea. Neither cold nor hot, it is moderately warm, moisturizing the skin, throat, promoting fluid production, clearing internal heat, and helping the body adapt to changes in the natural environment.

In winter, the weather is freezing, everything is dormant, and cold pathogens attack. Human physiological functions decline, and yang energy weakens. Traditional Chinese medicine says: "In the cold winter, all living things close and store, and the body's physiological activities are in a state of inhibition. The way of health preservation lies in keeping warm and protecting against cold." Therefore, drinking black tea in winter is considered the best choice. Black tea is warm and can nourish the body's yang energy; it is rich in protein and polysaccharides, generates heat, warms the abdomen, enhances the body's cold resistance, and aids digestion and removes greasiness.

Additionally, white tea is neutral, and dark tea is warm, suitable for long-term consumption. Everyone has a different constitution, tea-drinking habits, and preferences. It is recommended that everyone choose tea scientifically based on their own physical condition.

 

Choosing Tea by Time:

Drink a cup of light green tea in the morning to wake up the mind; enjoy jasmine tea in the morning for its fragrance and to improve work efficiency; have a cup of black tea in the afternoon to relieve sleepiness and refresh; in the evening, brew a pot of oolong or Pu'er tea with family or friends for a special enjoyment that does not affect sleep.

Choosing Tea by Age:

For the elderly, red tea and Pu'er tea can be consumed in slightly larger amounts, while green tea and oolong tea should be consumed in smaller amounts. Especially oolong tea, as its infusion is already strong, so it should be drunk in moderation.