Organic Tea and the Black, Green, White, and Oolong

There are hundreds of companies out there selling regular tea, organic tea, and loose leaf tea.

And how in the world do you decide which one is the best quality for your money?

Well, that is why I am here. I am going to explain to you a little about each type of teas, how it is manufactured and grown, their benefits and which the best to buy and why.

I promise this will not be a long drawn out explanation of tea. I will make it brief and then get to the good stuff and tell you the best tea to buy and what it can do for your health.

O.k. are you ready?

There are four basic types of true teas: They are black tea, white tea, green tea, and oolong tea (also known as wu-long). And, of course, organic tea which what each one of these teas just mentioned should be.

organic black tea organic white tea organic green tea organic oolong tea



Manufactured

All tea is grown from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. Whether you get green, white, oolong, or black tea differences come from how they are processed – on how much oxygen the leaves are allowed to absorb.

  • Organic tea – without pesticides or fertilizer
  • Black Tea – more oxygen on leaves
  • Green Teas – little oxygen on leaves
  • White tea – unprocessed leaves

    The leaves and leaf buds are use to produce tea. There are two major goals in the processing of tea. The first is to preserve the tea by driving most of the moisture from the leaves. The second objective is to bring flavor out on the surface of the leaves so that it can transfer quickly to the water during the steeping process.

    Organic Tea is grown without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers. The soil is enriched with natural compost and a layer of mulch retains the moisture while providing extra nutrients as it breaks down. Organic tea is also better for the farmer. Tea plants can live more than 100 years, and organic farming methods allow the tea plants to remain healthy for the duration of their lifespan. This means that the farmer has less expense in replacing tea plants.

    Black tea undergoes a full fermentation process composed of four basic steps - withering, rolling, fermenting, and firing (or drying).

    Green tea is often referred to as "unfermented" tea. The freshly picked leaves are allowed to dry, then are heat-treated to stop any fermentation.

    Oolong tea is generally referred to as "semi-fermented" tea and is principally manufactured in China and Taiwan. The leaves are wilted in direct sunlight, and then shaken in bamboo baskets to lightly bruise the edges. Next, the leaves are spread out to dry until the surface of the leaf turns slightly yellow. Oolongs are always whole leaf teas, never broken by rolling.

    White tea is produced on a very limited scale in China and India. It is the least processed of its many varieties. The new tea buds are plucked before they open and simply allowed to dry. The curled-up buds have a silvery appearance and produce a pale and very delicate cup of tea.

    organic tea grown organic tea worker

    Grown

    Organic Tea can be grown almost anywhere, but the best teas are grown in cooler climates and/or at higher elevations.

    Tea is produced in over thirty countries around the world, though the finest comes from just five: China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Japan.

    Home to most of the world's tea drinkers, these countries continue to pay much attention to how organic tea is grown and processed. In many, tea continues to be produced by hand in accordance with age-old traditions.

    China is the birthplace of tea and continues to produce more intricate varieties than any other country. Green teas account for almost two-third of Chinese crop.

    India is the world's largest tea producer, accounting for about a third of the world's total. Only about half of it is available for export. They produce nearly all black tea. Tea continues to be cultivated on small family plots, which number close to forty thousand.

    Sri Lanka is the third largest producer of tea in the world. Their tea fields are situated at elevations between 3,000 and 8,000 feet, where the hot and steamy weather makes the tea bushes flush every seven to eight days. The teas are generally classified by altitude; higher-grown generally regarded as superior.

    Japan is a sizeable producer of almost exclusively green tea. However, because it is a nation of many tea drinkers, only about 2 percent of Japan's crop is available for export.

    Taiwan bulk of the tea produced here is oolong, a cross between black and green. Many consider being the world's finest oolongs. Presently, only about two percent of the island's famous teas are exported. These falls into three categories: dark oolongs, jade oolongs, and the almost-green pouchong tea.

    benefits of organic tea

    Benefits of Organic Tea

    “Much has been written and said about
    the amazing health benefits of tea.”

    If you're drinking tea for health benefits, you don't need to drink a specific kind--just pick a kind that you like. I prefer oolong or green, I like the taste over black tea.

    Organic Tea

    Of course, the obvious reason to drink organic tea – you don’t get all that chemicals added to your leaves. The results are producing and providing a fuller and richer taste as well as all health benefits.

    Black and Green Tea

    They both have about the same amount of healing powers. Consequently, since green tea is process less, it has a little more antioxidant power but not that much more.

    Allergies – the tea blocks the biochemical process involved in producing an allergic response. Green tea may be useful against a wide range of sneeze-starting allergens, including pollen, pet dander, and dust.

    Arthritis – the benefit for arthritis patients by reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown.

    Bone Strength - Tea flavonoids may be bone builders.

    Cancer - "Tea is one of the single best cancer fighters you can put in your body," according to Mitchell Gaynor, MD, director of medical oncology at the world-renowned Strong Cancer Prevention Center in New York City. In a new study, both teas kept healthy cells from turning malignant after exposure to cancer-causing compounds.

    Special Note: People who drink about 4 cups of green tea a day seem to get less cancer. Now we may know why. In recent test-tube studies, a compound called EGCG, a powerful antioxidant in tea, inhibited an enzyme that cancer cells need in order to grow. The cancer cells that couldn't grow big enough to divide self-destructed. It would take about 4 cups of green tea a day to get the blood levels of EGCG that inhibited cancer in the study. Black tea also contains EGCG, but at much lower concentrations.

  • Cholesterol - Tea can lower 'bad' cholesterol levels. Levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) “bad” cholesterol dropped 10 percent among the test subjects who drank tea.

    Heart Disease - Drinking black tea may lower the risk of heart disease because it prevents blood from clumping and forming clots.

    Skin Care - Green tea contains amino acids, Vitamins B1, B2 and B3, Vitamins C, E, F, P and U, and several different minerals for healthy skin cells.

    White Tea

    White and Green teas have the highest concentration of all types of poly-phenols because they are minimally processed. Similar to the black and green tea, the white tea also has the ability to protect against heart disease, and stroke, as well as numerous other conditions. It eases the symptoms of illness and promotes recovery. White tea strengthens the circulatory and immune systems as well as bones and teeth, and builds healthy skin.

    Oolong tea (Wu-Long)

    Aging – appearance of wrinkles, age spots and other signs of growing old.

    Diabetes - Oolong tea is effective in lowering the plasma glucose levels of subjects who have type 2 diabetes.

    tea weight scale

    Weight Loss - the real story behind the leaves.

    Practically everyone has heard that certain teas can help you lose weight. Yes and no!

    Like any diet, the results look much better on paper than they do in real life. I'll say this quite frankly: you are not going to lose a significant amount of weight from drinking tea.

    Now if you reach for a cup of organic tea instead of a diet beverage, then I would say yes, you are on your way to a healthy you and to begin healthy habits to help you lose weight.

    Not only that you will begin to enjoy the healthy side effects you get from tea (see above). By adding tea to your diet you can reach and maintain a healthy weight. In addition, though, you’ll need to get exercise to burn calories and build muscle.

    Tea does speed up metabolism, which produced a significant 4% in energy expenditure. Which is, of course, nice--but it's nowhere near the miraculous results that are usually talked about. Anyone who tells you differently is selling you an inferior product at about twice what you ought to be paying for it.

    However, a faster metabolism is what we're all striving for. As we age, our metabolism naturally slows down, so anything that can help us improve it is welcome.

    For more information, Click Here for an article from WebMD.

    Bottom Line – Any organic tea helps you with weight loss by boosting your metabolic rate regulating your blood sugar, suppressing your appetite and giving you something else besides that high calorie, high sugar coffee beverage to drink in the morning.

    While it’s not the magic bullet, it can definitely give you a boost in weight loss and in your overall health!

    Remember this, while I recommend certain organic tea, there will be people out there recommending several herbal tea which claim to help you lose weight. Stay away.

    Those usually work by being strong diuretics and laxatives, so you'll drop a lot of water weight quickly, but not only will you have to deal with problems related to dehydration, many of them can mess up your digestive system irrevocably.

    Please just start cutting out fats and sweets and switching to non-soda drinks (which tea can help you do!), plus getting out for a walk every so often is a much healthier--and effective—method than a quick fix. Believe me I have been there.

    Recommendations

    I recommend buying loose organic tea leaves, they are usually much better in quality than those you find in tea bags.

    Reasons:

    1. Most of the tea that goes into bags is not very high quality. Tea bags usually contain broken grades so that they will brew too quickly.
    2. Whole-leaf teas come in a larger number of varieties; and the most interesting and enjoyable teas are sometimes not available in bags.
    3. Bags are semi-non-biodegradable additions to the biodegradable tea leaves.

    "Is fancy tea much more expensive than standard commercial tea?"

    Most good organic tea is not very expensive; and it may be cheaper than you think. When you buy tea in bags, most of what you pay for is the process of putting the teas in the bags, and the brand name advertising.

    Fancy tea is generally sold loose, and the price per cup is often lower than for commercial tea.

    If price is a concern, start small. Some truly fine teas retail in the United States for less than US$20 per pound, which means less than 10 cents per cup (the tea prices outside the United States are roughly comparable.)

    Most “teabags” are sold in the US is labeled "Orange Pekoe", it is a blended black tea, unlike what many people think that it is a special kind of tea. But it is not. It is a grading measurement that applies only to the size and physical condition of the leaves, not their kind or quality. Typically these teas come from India and/or Sri Lanka.

    “Water is the only drink for a wise man” -Henry David Thoreau,

    “Tea and water -- even wiser...” -Dan Ritzenthaler,

    organic loose leaves tea

    Most high quality loose leaf teas or organic tea are not available in retail outlets or supermarkets. However, quality tea is easily available through the internet.

    Increasingly companies over the internet has proven to be an efficient and easy way to purchase quality products and offer convenient and low cost home delivery of loose leaf tea. and organic tea.

    When evaluating sites, you should consider sites that are interactive, easy to use and offer rich features such as auto shipping, multiple destination shipments, gift shipments and delivery flexibility. A great supplier is the Adagio Teas Company – See Adagio Teas - Free Shipping with $50 Purchase.



    Adagio Teas

    If you haven’t already heard of Adagio Teas Company, you will. It is all over the press and media. Here are some articles and news release about this great company.

    This company has fresh tea, cool accessories and overabundance of useful information. Adagio Teas is the most popular tea store online, with stellar customer service marks.

    Adagio Teas - Best Tea Online

    It is something of a challenge to select the best green organic tea, especially if you are new to the green tea world. Some of the best green tea examples available on the market today are found below.

    Sencha green tea is one of the most popular types of green tea. As an introduction to the green tea family this is perhaps the best green tea since it is very economical and has a very distinct flavor and taste.

    Kabusecha is another popular choice because it is picked from the finest and the first harvest. This variety is distinguishable by its grassy aroma.

    Kabusecha (被せ茶?) is a Sencha tea, a high grade Japanese tea, is made from tips of leaves from tea bushes sheltered from direct sun. "Kabuse" means "dew" of the mountain. It is produced in very limited amounts. Has a mellow flavor than most other Sencha teas.

    Only place I could find this high grade Japanese tea from a website called Adagio Teas


    pic of tea and tea cup

    Tidbits on Tea

  • Tea made from loose leaves has more antioxidants than tea bags, which tend to have lower-quality, powdered leaves.
  • One cup of black or green tea has more antioxidant power than a serving of broccoli, carrots, or spinach.
  • Tea decaffeinated using a natural CO-2 process retains 90% of its cancer-fighting properties.
  • Java junkies, perk up: Substituting tea for coffee will cut your caffeine intake by more than half.

    The easiest way to find more about organic tea you are looking for, is to simply enter your search term into the Google search bar below.


    From Organic Tea to Organic Beverages

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