Appleton Post Crescent – Appleton, WI, USA
By Terri Dougherty
When coffee’s jolt is too jarring, tea can be the warm hug that gently nudges you through the day.
Just ask Kim Ellenbecker of Neenah. The former coffee drinker has come to see the wisdom of switching her beverage of choice.
“Coffee was hard on my stomach, and it gave me the shakes,” Ellenbecker said. “Tea gets me moving, but I don’t crash.”
When she learned of the beverage’s health benefits — tea may play a role in reducing the instances of heart attack and stroke, lower the risk of certain cancers and contribute to oral health and bone health, according to teausa.com — she couldn’t keep the news to herself. She began sharing her love for tea with her friends and has turned many from coffee to tea.
That doesn’t surprise Sandy White, owner of Botanical Indulgence in Neenah, who introduced Ellenbecker to tea and happily extols its benefits.
“No. 1, it’s a very inexpensive beverage, and unlike coffee the caffeine in tea does not have the peak and the crash,” said White, who has been certified by the New York-based Specialty Tea Institute. “It calms the mind but stimulates the body and gives you more energy.
“Certain teas also help boost metabolism, which can relate to weight loss.”
For Anne Jungwirth of Appleton, tea is a way to escape for a few minutes each day. Each afternoon, the mother of three gets out a pot of tea along with a few little cookies or crackers and relaxes with her sons.
“It’s 15 minutes out of the day where I feel like I’m in high-society England,” Jungwirth said. “It’s a trip to Europe in 15 minutes.”
Her sons, ages 6, 5 and 2, have been drinking the beverage since they were toddlers and join their mom, and sometimes their neighbors, for daily tea time.
“They used to have a half a cup of tea, and I’d fill the rest with milk,” Jungwirth said. “Now they’ve gotten to the point where they just like the tea.”
Jungwirth developed a taste for tea in college, beginning with lemon tea and working her way up to Earl Grey. Her family’s current favorites are Constant Comment and Lady Grey.
Ellenbecker started with a light white tea and especially enjoys Mutan White. Another favorite is Sparkle Green Tea, a tea specially blended for Botanical Indulgence and named for White’s dog.
“It has such a really neat flavor to it, an almond and vanilla taste,” Ellenbecker said. “The first time I had it I couldn’t stop.”
A non-tea drinker might be surprised by how much the flavors of different teas can vary. The taste of a cup of green or black tea depends on where it is grown, how it is processed and how many times the leaves have been brewed.
“Sometimes it’s the fifth infusion that tastes the best to people,” White said.
Herbal teas, which may not have all the health benefits of a cup of green or black tea, blend flavors such as raspberry, lemon and orange into the pot. The best way to discern the nuances of tea’s flavor is by slurping the tea so it spreads over the tongue.
White offers daily samples of tea to her customers and passes on information she has learned as a member of the tea institute. She is almost incredulous that more people don’t give it a try.
“We’re such a soda pop generation,” she said, “and there are over 300 kinds of teas.”
Most black tea comes from India while China produces primarily green tea, which is steamed before being dried and rolled. Japan also produces green tea.
“Some people like Japanese green tea better, some people like Chinese,” White said. “There is a flavor difference.”
The soil and area around a tea plant influences the taste of the tea; a tea grown near a garden can take on floral undertones.
There are so many things that impact its flavor that White compares it to another multifaceted beverage.
“Tea is the new wine,” she said.
White was preparing samples of teas on a recent Friday afternoon to display their varied colors and flavor profiles. A bright cup of Japan’s Green Treasures has a hint of citrus flavor, while Orchard Temple oolong is golden in color and has floral undertones.
Pu-erh, an aged leaf sold in a hardened circle called a plate, has a distinctive earthy taste and dark amber color while matcha, a hearty tea made with ground leaves, is such a special treat that White makes it a point to tell coworkers and customers that she is making a pot.
“When you’re making matcha everyone needs to enjoy this,” she said. “A little 1-ounce serving of matcha is just amazing.”
Matcha contains a higher level of caffeine than most teas because the entire leaf is crushed and mixed with the water. The amount of caffeine in a pot or cup of tea brewed by infusing the tea in the water can be more easily controlled.
“The first 20 seconds of the brew releases the most caffeine in tea,” White said. “You can cut the amount of caffeine in a cup of tea by 50 to 75 percent just by brewing it for 20 seconds, getting rid of the brew and brewing again with the same leaves.”
Matcha offers an instant energy boost, but there are also teas, such as the herbal chamomile, which have a calming effect.
There are also plenty that offer an energy boost, and a flavor profile, that is somewhere in between. And once you find the one that’s right for you, White is sure you’re in for a treat.
“Once it clicks with you,” she said, “there’s nothing to take its place.”
Tea primer
- All tea comes from the same plant, called camellia sinesis. Its taste depends on where it is grown, how it is processed and how much oxygen the leaves come into contact with after they are picked.
- Oxidation, the same process that makes an apple slice turn brown, also affects tea leaves. The more oxygen they come into contact with, the darker their color.
- Green tea is not oxidized at all. To keep the natural green color of the leaves, they are steamed and rolled before being dried. It has a light flavor.
- Black tea comes into contact with oxygen for two to four hours and has a stronger flavor, while oolong tea is partially oxidized. Oolong’s color falls between green and black.
- White tea is picked before the leaves are open fully. It undergoes little processing and has a light, sweet flavor.
- Tea is grown around the world, with India and China being major tea producers. The name of a tea, such as Japanese Green Treasure, often indicates where it came from.
- Tea is typically sold in two forms: loose leaf or in teabags. The teabags contain smaller leaves and are brewed by placing the bag in a cup of hot water. Loose tea leaves are placed an infuser and soaked in the hot water.
- There are also herbal teas, which do not necessarily come from the tea plant. They are a mixture of leaves, roots, bark, seeds or flowers of other plants.
For more information on tea, see www.teausa.com or www.botanicalindulgence.com.
