"black tea" news and stories

"Anna likened you to Phosphor the morning star, and herself to Hesper, the mortal star of evening, and when I told her those twin stars were one and the same, and not a star at all but the planet Venus..." - John Barth

A perfumist friend made me a delightful custom scent he called Gin Hesper -- inspired by the aromas of DH Krahn gin and perhaps my "Hesper'ness." A relatively new gin on the market, DH Krahn offers a less pronounced juniper flavor with a nice citrusy note. I took the perfume's name as inspiration for this drink I created during the 2008 holiday season -- perfect for festive occasions with its beautiful, deep ruby-red color. Even better, it combines both the DH Krahn gin and my love for rye whiskey.

Dusting off the crock pot and having mugs out for guests is one of my favorite ways to serve a holiday gathering of friends and family. Self-serving out of the crock pot sure beats your having to worry about serving guests individually. And wouldn't you rather be caroling, eating, opening presents or most importantly, just basking in the glow of those around you?

When I first began to dabble in green tea, I absolutely hated it. It was bitter, drying to the mouth, wretched taste, and I was left for a long time feeling that green tea just wasn't for me. Many people I knew who drank black tea felt the same way, so I concluded that green tea was for the few who had the palette for it.

Of course, this was during a time when the only other tea drinkers I knew were buying Bigelow or Lipton bags and, like myself, just throwing them in some boiling hot water and coming back whenever we remembered to take the bag out, squeezing the bag thoroughly to get the last drops into the cup.

I shudder these days when I think about how badly I was scalding my first attempts at green tea, and I marvel that I enjoyed any tea at all, considering the way in which I was preparing it. This is a predicament many novice tea drinkers find themselves when it comes to anything other than black tea: you're scalding (and probably over-steeping it).

With all the research out there touting the health benefits of tea, it's a wonder that everyone doesn't drink a cup (or two) every day. Now there's one more reason. New research shows that drinking at least one cup of black tea a day reduces the likelihood of getting Parkinson's Disease by 71%.

The researchers specifically used black tea rather than green tea, which is unusual, but I suspect that's because the majority of Britton's(where the research was conducted) drink black tea. The testers don't really know how black tea reduces the risk of Parkinson's, but they think it's due to the antioxidant levels in the beverage. One industry backed researcher said "Tea is one of the strongest dietary antioxidants available."

Of course this is only the beginning and more research is needed. But wouldn't it be great if the scientists get things all figured out, and it turns out that all we have to do is drink tea every day to stave off life threatening conditions later in life? Ah tea, the miracle drink.

We've heard this for years about all kinds of black and green teas - not just Oolong - but now there seems to be even more medical evidence that it's true: drinking tea can help you lose weight.

Not to get all technical, but it seems that the polyphenol compound in tea enhances the function of fat metabolism, which helps you lose weight. Researchers in China have been studying this for five years, paying special attention to how it affects kids. And Oolong seems to work the best.

I wonder if the obesity-fighting is hurt if you add a lot of milk and sugar?

Having tea with milk or cream in it is not quite as popular in the US as it is abroad, but the practice is far from uncommon. Milk mellows the flavor of black teas and rounds them into a mild, satisfying drink. It seems that the addition of milk might also reduce the effects of some of the flavonoids in tea, so that those who take tea with milk are not getting all the "protective effects against heart disease" that they would be getting if they took their tea black.

This conclusion was published in the European Heart Journal just this month. The study looked at the ability of women's arteries to relax and expand after drinking tea, either with or without milk. The otherwise healthy participants showed a significant improvement in their blood flow after drinking plain tea, while the tea with 10% skim milk showed no benefits. Similar experiments were conducted on rats with the same results.

Source