Green tea

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brothers
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Green tea

Post by brothers »

A few months ago I realized I had never even tried a cup of green tea. I seldom if ever drink tea I leave that to the wife. Surprisingly, I took an immediate fondness for it. Now I look forward to my strong boiling hot 16 ounce mug of green mid-morning and late afternoon on a daily basis. Knowing absolutely nothing about it, I believe green tea has a good amount of caffeine. I also have a large carafe of medium roast Community coffee (Baton Rouge) first thing every morning. And another smaller mug of decaf in the evening.
Gary

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Re: Green tea

Post by drmoss_ca »

It should have less caffeine than black tea, which again has less than coffee. A nice sencha tastes best, to me, with a little honey in it. In fact, being of the American persuasion, you might try some iced sweet tea made from green rather than black tea.

One day you'll have to seek out some of the hard stuff: lapsang souchong. A smoked tea that tastes of campfires and woodsmoke. It's like drinking an English pipe tobacco with plenty of latakia in it.
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Re: Green tea

Post by ShadowsDad »

Yes Gary, green tea has a pleasant mild flavor and not a large amount of caffeine. I have mine with either some erythritol or monk fruit extract as a sweetener.
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Re: Green tea

Post by Rufus »

drmoss_ca wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:35 am It should have less caffeine than black tea, which again has less than coffee. A nice sencha tastes best, to me, with a little honey in it. In fact, being of the American persuasion, you might try some iced sweet tea made from green rather than black tea.

One day you'll have to seek out some of the hard stuff: lapsang souchong. A smoked tea that tastes of campfires and woodsmoke. It's like drinking an English pipe tobacco with plenty of latakia in it.
Another one to try is Smoked Earl Grey, but it’s hard to find. You can try mixing Earl Grey with lapsang souchong, but you have to go easy with the latter otherwise it’ll overpower the Earl Grey. If you like intense flavours and if you like Earl Grey, give Double Bergamot Earl Grey a try. I don’t think any of these would make very good ice tea, but then I’m not partial to America-style ice tea even though I lived in Texas for 10 years and learnt to tolerate it.
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Re: Green tea

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Not a green tea, but some form of gunpowder oolong is also delicious. My tea ball was half-filled, and this is how much the contents swelled after being soaked for three minutes in boiling water:
Oolong.jpeg
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Re: Green tea

Post by slackskin »

Or you could go balls-to-the-wall and get Fortnum & Mason tea. The good news is that you don't have to go to London (Picadilly, established 1707) to get it nowadays. For a long time, Williams-Sonoma was the only F&M stocklist in California. Nowadays, I see several sources listed on Google. You can see F&M's complete green tea selection at https://www.fortnumandmason.com/tea/all-teas/green
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Re: Green tea

Post by drmoss_ca »

This was "David's Tea" which is a pretty ubiquitous outlet. The oolong in 'gunpowder' (ie rolled up into 'corns') looks like this after brewing - whole tea leaves:
Oolong.jpeg
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Re: Green tea

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We all knew for decades that the tea in tea bags was the stuff swept up off the floor. Now we have decades of tea drinkers who don't understand how they have been shortchanged. Don't buy tea in tea bags! Be prepared for a completely different experience by buying something just a little bit more expensive. It won't taste anything like tea from a teabag. It will transport you somewhere celestial.

No doubt this is like saying instant coffee is what coffee ought to taste like. Most of us understand that instant coffee is an approximation, at best, of what coffee tastes like. There is a whole world of coffee flavour out there beyond freeze-dried granules. It's the same for tea, which is nothing at all like the crap in "orange pekoe" teabags.
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Re: Green tea

Post by brothers »

Looks like I have something I can happily add to the next shopping list.There's already a serviceable tea ball in the kitchen drawer, ready for something green in the near future.
Gary

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Re: Green tea

Post by brothers »

New question for those in the know. Is there anything wrong with consuming green tea without benefit of the tea-brewing activity. In plain language is it ok to consume tea leaves without making it into a tea to drink?

Edit: Here's what I read on the internet. Everything anyone posts on the internet is 100% true! Or so I'm told.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF EATING GREEN TEA LEAVES?
Eating green tea leaves has the same benefits as drinking green tea, but in a more concentrated way.

When you eat green tea leaves, you get all of the powerful antioxidants without leaving any behind.

Eating green tea leaves is also more convenient than brewing tea, making them easier to incorporate this super food into your diet.

HOW OFTEN CAN I EAT GREEN TEA LEAVES?
It's safe to eat green tea leaves every day as long as you don't overdo it regarding caffeine.

One to three daily servings is ideal, however, eating more won't hurt you. Try to spread your servings of green tea leaves over the day to moderate your caffeine consumption and maximize your body's absorbency of the beneficial compounds.
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Re: Green tea

Post by Rufus »

I don’t know about, or even heard of, eating green tea leaves. I do, however, like green tea ice cream.
Last edited by Rufus on Tue Mar 22, 2022 3:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Green tea

Post by brothers »

Bryan, I figure if we (collectively, not me!) eat mushrooms and chitlins and tartar, then a nutritious green vegetable has to be OK. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll post back with a report on my results..
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Re: Green tea

Post by Rufus »

I love mushrooms, but the only chitlins I’ve eaten are sausage skins. I do, however, like tripe and onions. I look forward to your report on green tea. I wonder if prolonged eating of green tea leaves can stain one’s teeth; drinking coffee, black tea and red wine can.
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Re: Green tea

Post by brothers »

That's a good point. I've yet to see any of the loose leaves to see just how green they might be, but placing an order is imminent. I might consider options of the process of eating the tea, and I suppose there are a lot of possibilities. Eating like chips or jerky seems the most direct option, but maybe they could be processed to create something resembling many of the popular herbs for the purpose of mixing with other foodstuffs. Or even beverages.
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Re: Green tea

Post by brothers »

Follow up: Rec'd 15 oz loose tea leaves. Two days simply brewing the normal way and all's good. Plenty of time to contemplate alternative modes of consuming the green leaves, if practical.
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Re: Green tea

Post by brothers »

After brewing a fresh kettle of the green leaves every day I set them to dry thoroughly before freezing with the previously frozen others. So far they've been added to my soup. My strategy seems to be eating the spent (and occasionally not brewed possibly) leaves so the beneficial health results - if any - may be gained. It's not used by me for any imagined seasoning purposes. There are lots of other stuff for the palate.
Gary

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Re: Green tea

Post by drmoss_ca »

I'm not sure why you don't just drink the tea, Gary. I guess there's fibre in them thar leaves, but all studies about possible medical benefits of green tea have been done on the infusion, rather than munching leaves like a giraffe! :D
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Re: Green tea

Post by brothers »

Good point Chris! Remember I'm the bloke that puts after shave balm in my hair! 🤪 I love my brewed green and I drink it every day. Maybe the brewing process leaves some of the beneficial nutrients behind in the wet tea leaves? I have no idea but I figure it can't hurt!
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Re: Green tea

Post by Rufus »

brothers wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 7:32 pm Good point Chris! Remember I'm the bloke that puts after shave balm in my hair! 🤪 I love my brewed green and I drink it every day. Maybe the brewing process leaves some of the beneficial nutrients behind in the wet tea leaves? I have no idea but I figure it can't hurt!
Per Chris, perhaps you have giraffe genes. Let your inner giraffe come out. :mrgreen:
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Re: Green tea

Post by drmoss_ca »

Be careful shaving your neck....
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