Herbal Tea And Common Tea (37)

Many Westerners are fascinated with Chinese teas. In the old times, European explorers came to China looking for teas, spices and silk. Now, some myths about tea still remain in the Western world. For all practical purposes, tea is just a cup of water with something dissolved to make a different taste, or a different effect. There are basically two categories of Chinese tea: herbal and common teas.

What's the difference between them?
• Herbal tea tastes yucky. Common tea tastes good.
• Herbal tea serves a medicinal purpose. Common tea is for pleasure.
• Herbal tea is made from brewing raw medicinal herbs in a pot for some time. It's always brown or black in color, never green.
• On the other hand, you make common tea by just pouring boiling water into a cup containing some processed tealeaves.
• Herbal tea should be prescribed by an herbalist for a special health condition. However, you drink common tea anytime you feel like.

More about Chinese common tea:
• As the name implies, they are commonly available and consumed.
• Over a hundred varieties of common tea exist with different smells and tastes. The great majority is brown or black in color. Some are green or reddish.
• You can buy common tea in the supermarket or in the restaurant. For the expensive and exquisite varieties, you can only buy them in a special Chinese teashop.
• Depending on the uniqueness of taste, the price of Chinese common tea ranges from a few dollars a kilogram to hundreds of dollars.
• Most Chinese drink the inexpensive varieties at home or in the restaurant. Some favorites are: Jasmine, Chrysanthemum, Po Li, even the English brand Lipton.
• The Chinese drink common tea for pleasure because it tastes better than bland water. They talk about the tastes but seldom the health effects, unless with a Westerner. Why? Everybody likes to talk up his own cultural myths with a foreigner.

Is common tea good for health?
• You may say so because common tea is flavored water and water is good for health. Also, the taste of common tea makes you feel good so it must be good for your health.
• How about green tea? The same logic applies. Strictly speaking, green tea leaf is not a medicinal herb and is not documented in the herbal dictionary.
• Businessmen advertise many good things about green tea. Many people want to believe in its magic.
• Some medicinal herbs that have a sweet taste and easily soften in hot water are also used to make common tea. Examples are Gou Qi Zi and Chrysanthemum. However, their health effects are limited because they are not strong enough when being used singly.

What is common tea really good for besides flavor?
• If not diluted, common tea can help ease digestion. Try it after you've had a heavy meal.
• Common tea also helps dissolve some fat in the food. The Cantonese must drink tea with Dim Sum, a tasty, colorful, but oily food.
• After you've eaten crabs with your fingers, wash them with common tea. It helps getting rid of the fishy smell.
• If you drink common tea everyday like you drink water, it will have a good cleansing effect on your digestive system.

For further information, go to www.herbsandtea.com
Raw herbs or capsules can be tailor-made for your special needs.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Chinese
• medicine
• herb
• prescription
• formula
• product
• natural
• alternative
• healing
• herbalist
• common
• tea

[yomeyo99]

When you use the loose tea, can you drink the tea leaves too?

[askjohnfung]

Common tea is for pleasure. If the flavor of the tea solution is not enough, just add more tea leaves. It's common practice to throw away the tea leaves after extracting all the flavors. Why do you want to drink the coarse tea leaves? What do you do with the bone after you finish the chicken wing?

[InsideTheUnknown]

i been drinking crysanthamun for years , love it , made from yellow flower :)