I'm not a keen food culinary snob. I just like what I like.Preferably without fuss. But I've been drinking green tea brewed cold for years. It's less bitter that way.
It turns out that hot brewing releases different Catechins , a type of disease-fighting flavonoid and antioxidant, than does cold steeping. So I've started to brew up jugs of tea with hot water. But not just any old hot water. I'm trying to keep the initial brew temp within the 60-80 degree centigrade range in the hope that I can avoid the taste of bitter tannins.
This range is supposedly serendipitous for green tea.
That may seem fastidious but it works. The flavours are stronger but I use green tea as a cordial anyway.
Since I use a thermometer to make my yogurt -- an essential -- the tea temp thing comes easily to me.
I indulged myself last week and bought 50 grams of locally grown Sencha. Ouch! Vereey priceey.
The literature may be keen to distinguish green teas one from the other in way of benefits but I think there's not much in it. In Summer cold green tea is my preferred daytime tipple but I'm gonna stick with the supermarket blends as that's my price range -- esp my preferred Madura Green Tea and Papaya Leaf. I rip the strings bits off the teabags and steep the little pockets of tea. The Papaya Leaf is supposedly a therapy addition but I just like the taste...and besides Pawpaw/Papaya is my favorite fruit.
Why bother with green tea?
While I like drinking it I'm currently extra keen to exploit any means of pain relief I can find. It has been a very painful last 8 months inside my body and after obtaining some relief with Curcumin (Tumeric) I'm looking for similar options. I've been a bit desperate you see...
This snippet- Natural anti-inflammatory agents for pain relief - caught my attention:
Green tea has long been recognized to have cardiovascular and cancer preventative characteristics due to its antioxidant properties. Its use in the treatment of arthritic disease as an anti-inflammatory agent has been recognized more recently. The constituents of green tea are polyphenolic compounds called catechins, and epigallocatechin-3 galate is the most abundant catechin in green tea.Epigallocatechin-3 galate inhibits IL-1–induced proteoglycan release and type 2 collagen degradation in cartilage explants.In human in vitro models, it also suppresses IL-1b and attenuates activation of the transcription factor NF-kB. Green tea also inhibits the aggrecanases which degrade cartilage.Green tea research now demonstrates both anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective effects. Additionally, green tea research includes the “Asian paradox”, which theorizes that increased green tea consumption in Asia may lead to significant cardiovascular, neuroprotective and cancer prevention properties. The usual recommendation is 3–4 cups of tea a day. Green tea extract has a typical dosage of 300–400 mg. Green tea can cause stomach irritation in some, and because of its caffeine content, a decaffeinated variety is also available; but the polyphenol content is currently unknown.Mind you I drink black tea too. That's my favorite drink. Maybe four large cups per day (although my black tea is low caffeine). And I drink coffee -- black -- each morning.
